BM Brent Maxwell

Professional

Leadership coursework I run with engineering teams

Two paired tracks. Fourteen modules. Refined over years of running them at companies I've led -- Style Arcade, DEFY, Synthetix -- when the team needs to mature its leadership and management craft together. Sources cited where relevant; the framing and emphasis are mine.

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How I run it

  • Format

    Lightweight workshops, usually 60-90 minutes per module. Small groups, lots of discussion. The modules ship with material; the value is in the conversation.

  • Audience

    Engineering ICs growing into tech leads. Tech leads growing into managers. Managers growing into leaders. Most modules work for any layer.

  • Pairing

    Leadership and Management modules are designed to pair. Communication and Culture, for instance, has a Leadership half (the why) and a Management half (the mechanics). Run them in sequence for the full effect.

  • Bias

    Outcomes over theory. Every module ends with "what will you do differently on Monday?" -- written down, owned, followed up.

The curriculum

2 tracks, 14 modules. Click any module to expand its key concepts.

Track 1

Leadership

The why and the influence.

Six modules on the human side of leading: communication, trust, story, charisma, power, and strategy. The substrate that decides whether anyone follows you anywhere.

6 modules

  1. Communication and Culture

    Words shape behaviour. Be deliberate, be explicit, and do the homework.

    Culture only sticks when communication is intentional. This module covers writing culture down, eliminating the "I shouldn't have to spell this out" reflex, and the behaviours from Netflix and Amazon that consistently produce strong teams.

    Key concepts 8

    • Be Deliberate

      If you want it, write it down. Then evolve the document as the culture evolves -- it's a mix of how you currently work and how you aspire to work.

    • Be Explicit

      If you ever think "I shouldn't need to spell this out" -- red flag. Take the extra 30 seconds. Implicit communication is a tax that compounds.

    • Repeat Back to Confirm

      Shortcut to clear communication: paraphrase the other person back in your own words. Drops misunderstanding to near-zero.

    • Do Your Homework

      Form your own thesis first, then research. You learn humility, build confidence, and earn the right to be heard.

    • Bias for Action

      Take the first step, then plan. But map every plan step to a learning -- don't just sprint in random directions.

    • Disagree and Commit

      Solicit disagreement, evaluate it openly, decide, and ship. People commit when they feel heard, not when they "win".

    • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled

      The Netflix model. Share information openly. Encourage independent decisions. Avoid rules; lean on context and good judgement.

    • Conflict is Misaligned Expectations

      Most conflict dissolves with explicit communication. Don't mediate the conflict; align the expectations.

  2. Empathy and Trust

    Trust is the foundation. Earn it through action, give it generously.

    Trust is the single most important thing -- everything else compounds on it. This module unpacks what trust actually consists of, why giving it is the fastest way to earn it, and why "lead by example" is the only kind of leadership that actually scales.

    Key concepts 4

    • Trust is Earned

      Words rarely build trust deeply. Actions do. The only fast track is to give trust first and accept that some of it will be abused.

    • The 3% Tax

      Per Kat Cole: being let down occasionally is a 3% tax on the investment of trusting people. Worth paying.

    • Three Dimensions of Trust

      Per Jon Levy: competence (you can do it), integrity (you're truthful), benevolence (you have my interests at heart). Not equally weighted.

    • Lead by Example

      Don't tell people to take leave while you don't. Don't ask for time tracking while you skip it. The gap between word and deed is where trust dies.

    Sources
    • Jon Levy on the Art and Science of Cultivating Influence · Jon Levy
    • Kat Cole interview · Kat Cole

  3. Storytelling

    Without a story you can't hire or sell. Be deliberate about the one you tell.

    People follow stories. If you don't tell yours, someone else will tell it for you. This module covers why story is structural to leadership, the "Start with Why" frame, and four story shapes that work for hiring, selling, and leading change.

    Key concepts 5

    • Start with Why

      The strongest stories rest on a clear why. Lead with it -- before the what or the how. People sign up for the why.

    • Hero's Journey

      Context, hero, villain, conflict, escalating stakes, transformation. The deepest story shape we have; recognised across cultures.

    • StoryBrand (SB7)

      The customer is the hero, you are the guide. Reframes pitches and brand work around the listener's problem rather than your product.

    • Pixar Framework

      Once upon a time... every day... but one day... because of that... until finally... Six beats. Useful for change narratives.

    • Context, Action, Results

      CAR. Set the scene, give the call, show the transformation. The minimum viable story for executive comms.

  4. Charisma

    Pick your persona deliberately. "Strong" is overrated; positive reinforcement compounds.

    Charisma in leadership isn't volume or assertiveness. It's the consistent, deliberate persona you choose to project -- and the way you reinforce the behaviour you want from the team. This module unpacks how to choose, then how to operate the lever.

    Key concepts 4

    • Wartime vs Peacetime

      Per Ben Horowitz: the same persona doesn't fit every situation. Wartime CEOs are decisive and singular; peacetime CEOs are inclusive and exploratory. Match the moment.

    • Pick Your Persona

      Don't default into a leadership style. Choose it consciously -- match it to the team, the moment, and what you can actually sustain.

    • Positive Reinforcement Compounds

      "Good thinking", "well said", "good call" -- said sincerely, said often -- shapes behaviour faster than feedback in 1-1s.

    • Earn the Right to Be Hard

      Positive reinforcement banks the credit you draw on when you need to push back, escalate, or remove someone. Skip it and the negative feedback lands wrong.

    Sources
    • The Hard Thing About Hard Things · Ben Horowitz

  5. Power

    Power is influence. Influence is earned through connection, trust, and shared community.

    Power isn't the org chart. It's the influence you accumulate across the network. This module covers Cialdini's six principles, the three vectors of personal influence, and why an internal locus of control is the single biggest driver of how powerful you actually are.

    Key concepts 9

    • Reciprocity

      People return favours. The cheapest way to bank social capital is to give it first, without ledgering.

    • Commitment and Consistency

      People honour what they've already publicly committed to. Get small commitments early; the bigger ones follow naturally.

    • Social Proof

      People look sideways for what to do. The team's behaviour is shaped by what the team sees other team members doing.

    • Liking

      We comply with people we like. Easy to dismiss, harder to deny -- relationship work is influence work.

    • Authority

      People defer to perceived expertise. Title is one form; demonstrated competence is the durable form.

    • Scarcity

      Things become more attractive as they become harder to have. Use sparingly; cynicism here erodes trust fast.

    • Three Vectors of Influence

      Per Jon Levy: who you're connected to, how much people trust you, and the sense of community you share. Influence is the product, not the sum.

    • Internal Locus of Control

      The single biggest driver of personal power. Balanced against the stoic ability to let go of the things you genuinely cannot control.

    • Entitlement is Earned

      And only applies to mutually agreed scenarios. Treat every "owed to me" instinct as a hypothesis to verify.

    Sources
    • Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion · Robert Cialdini
    • You're Invited · Jon Levy

  6. Strategy

    Strategy is the HOW that turns outcomes into action. Goals aren't strategy.

    Most "strategy" decks are goals dressed up as plans. Real strategy diagnoses the situation, picks a guiding policy, and commits to coherent action -- including everything you say no to. This module covers the kernel of good strategy and the four signatures of bad strategy.

    Key concepts 7

    • Outcomes Are the Pre-Req

      Strategy is HOW you get to outcomes. No clear outcomes means no strategy is possible -- you're just describing activity.

    • The Kernel

      Per Rumelt: a diagnosis (what's actually going on), a guiding policy (the approach), and coherent action (specific moves). Three parts. All required.

    • Strategy is What You Don't Do

      Good strategy demands leaders willing to say no to a wide range of attractive options. The discipline is in the refusal.

    • Bad Strategy: Fluff

      Gibberish dressed up as strategic concepts. Reword "leverage synergistic capabilities" until it means something or kill it.

    • Bad Strategy: Failure to Face the Challenge

      If you can't define the challenge, you can't evaluate the strategy. Most "strategy" sessions stop before the challenge is named.

    • Bad Strategy: Goals Mistaken for Strategy

      The most common pattern. "We're going to target the mid-market" is coherent action -- but without diagnosis and guiding policy, it's just intent.

    • Bad Strategy: Bad Strategic Objectives

      Objectives that fail to address the real issue, or are flat-out impracticable. A polished objective with no traction is worse than no objective.

    Sources
    • Good Strategy / Bad Strategy · Richard Rumelt

Track 2

Management

The how and the mechanics.

Eight modules on the operating system: comms and culture, HR, scheduling, structure, leverage, psychology, project management, and process. The day-to-day craft of making teams effective.

8 modules

  1. Communication and Culture

    Culture is the soil; communication is the gardener. Both must be deliberate.

    Culture is how the company makes decisions when you're not in the room. Communication is the enabler -- in a startup, most things that need to happen aren't written down yet. This module pairs with the Leadership counterpart and goes deeper on the day-to-day mechanics: sync vs async, RACI, meetings, maker mindset, and managing upwards.

    Key concepts 8

    • Culture is How Decisions Get Made Without You

      Per Ben Horowitz. Defined by behaviour, not slogans. Communication is the lever you pull to shape it.

    • Sync vs Async

      Sync wins for trust, relationships, and creative ideation. Async wins for methodical work and paper trails. Match channel to purpose.

    • RACI

      Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed. The simplest map of who owns what -- and the antidote to the meeting where everyone thinks someone else is driving.

    • Meetings, Chat, Email

      Three channels with three jobs. Pick consciously. The default-to-meeting habit is one of the most expensive in startups.

    • Maker Mindset

      Everyone is a builder. Everyone should be thinking about how to automate their job and never deal with the same thing twice.

    • Be Explicit (Always)

      Always describe the action you're going to take, and what you think the other person will take. Bonus points if they say it first.

    • Start with Why

      Increases compliance even when people don't fully understand the what. People follow context, not orders.

    • Manage Upwards

      Real leverage isn't expanding your remit. It's influencing the person above you to change how your peers operate.

  2. Human Resources

    People are the hardest part. No surprises, real money, real conversations.

    The HR you can't outsource: hiring, firing, career development, real 1-1s, real feedback, and the personal-life questions every manager eventually faces. The bar is "no staff member should ever be surprised about anything in their job".

    Key concepts 8

    • No Surprises

      On hiring or firing. If someone is shocked by a performance conversation, you've already failed earlier. Calibrate continuously.

    • IC vs Management Pathways

      Both are real careers. ~20% of people are most motivated by clear promotion paths -- make them visible and credible.

    • Match Incentives to Life Stage

      Money, progression, learning, time, ownership -- people want different things at different life stages. Predictable enough to plan around.

    • Pay More

      20% more pay routinely buys 50% more output -- and it compounds. Smaller, better-paid teams beat bigger, average-paid teams.

    • Equity Converts Employees to Owners

      The most powerful lever for shifting how people think about the company. Use deliberately.

    • 1-1 Agenda

      Ask about today, then about the last few weeks. Cross-team relationships. Then positive feedback. Then conversational improvement areas -- with room to be wrong.

    • Get Personal (Carefully)

      Set the tone with vulnerability. The payoff is when someone feels safe enough to say "things are tough at home, can I shift my hours?" instead of soldiering through to a divorce.

    • Feedback Mechanics

      Specific, timely, with compassion, and genuinely curious. Anchor on the behaviour you observed, then the consequence -- so they can correct your facts if you missed something.

  3. Scheduling

    Time is your finite resource. Protect makers, facilitate ruthlessly, hate meetings.

    Manager time and maker time aren't the same time. This module covers Paul Graham's schedule split, why facilitation is a core management skill, and a working set of meeting hygiene rules that respect everyone's calendar.

    Key concepts 6

    • Maker vs Manager Schedules

      Per Paul Graham. Makers need uninterrupted blocks; managers chunk their day into appointments. A poorly-placed meeting wastes a maker's entire afternoon.

    • Facilitation as Core Skill

      Drives outcome-orientation. Allows valuable diversions without derailing. Hands the mic to the quieter people -- where most of the missed insight lives.

    • Meeting Math

      8 people x 1 hour = 8 hours of lost productivity. Is the outcome worth it -- or could those eight people ship something instead?

    • You Booked It, You Chair It

      Booking is owning. Chase RSVPs. Drive to a conclusion. Capture decisions and actions with names and timeframes. Hand the mic over inside the meeting if you want to, but the admin stays yours.

    • Default to Async

      Always ask: could this be a Slack thread or an email? If yes, do that instead. Synchronous attention is the most expensive resource in the company.

    • Agenda or No Meeting

      Calendar invite without an agenda is a calendar invite to be politely declined. State the decision being made or the question being answered.

  4. Skills and Structure

    Org design is system design. Define the interfaces, respect Dunbar, don't grow the team to grow the team.

    You are not building an org chart -- you are designing a system that produces outputs. This module covers cross-functional vs domain-specific structures, the interface-thinking that prevents the obvious failures, and a hard rule for individual skill-building: research first, first-principles second.

    Key concepts 7

    • Outputs, Not Headcount

      The goal of org design is amazing outputs. Growing the team is sometimes the way; usually it isn't.

    • Define the Interfaces

      Treat teams like services. The interface (what they accept, what they emit, what their SLAs are) matters more than the internal structure.

    • Org Chart vs ERD

      Most people see a company as boxes-and-lines. Look at it as entities and relationships instead -- you see the actual coupling and information flow.

    • Dunbar's Number

      Stable social relationships max out around 150. Org structures that ignore this fragment trust at predictable scales.

    • Cross-Functional vs Domain-Specific

      Tribes and guilds (Spotify-flavoured) keep cross-functional delivery teams while preserving deep-craft connections. Both topologies are tools, not ideologies.

    • Learn From Others First

      Default approach for individual skill-building: research how the problem has already been solved, then evaluate. Pure first-principles thinking without homework wastes time and re-invents weak wheels.

    • First Principles for Important Domains

      For the few domains where unique insight matters: think first-principles first, then check yourself against how others approach it. Doing the order wrong clouds your thinking.

    Sources
    • Dunbar's Number · Robin Dunbar

  5. Configuring for Success

    Your output equals your team's plus everyone you influence. Optimise for leverage.

    A manager's output is the output of their organisation plus the output of the neighbouring organisations under their influence. This module covers Andy Grove's leverage frame, how to know when to delegate, when to create a manager role -- and the dangerous habits of doing each at the wrong time.

    Key concepts 7

    • Manager Output

      Per Andy Grove: output of the org + output of neighbouring orgs you influence. If you're only counting your direct team's output, you're leaving most of your leverage on the table.

    • Outcomes Over Tasks

      Define the outcome, then trust the team to find the path. Tasks are how junior managers signal busyness; outcomes are how senior managers signal trust.

    • Never Twice

      For every task in the org: how long would it take to automate vs how often it recurs and how long it takes? Use the math to choose the right moment to automate. If it'll fix itself, just keep doing it manually.

    • Get Your Hands Dirty

      Senior leaders who never touch the work lose the right to set the bar for it. Sample the work occasionally -- not to do it, to know what good looks like.

    • Influence Adjacencies

      Engineering managers influencing the brand team. Marketing managers influencing product. Lateral influence is where compounding management leverage lives.

    • Headcount Has Hidden Costs

      Each new hire adds connections, comms overhead, and signal attenuation. Productivity-per-person beats team size for a long time before it stops.

    • When to Create a Manager Role

      Not because you don't understand a domain (upskill instead). Not because there are too many tasks (that's an IC). Do it when you can no longer define the outcomes -- before, not after, you lose capacity for ownership.

  6. Psychology

    Humans rationalise but aren't rational. Lead emotion-first, navigate with logic.

    You manage humans, which means you manage psychology. This module covers operant conditioning as a leadership tool, the difference between authoritative and authoritarian, the logical fallacies that wreck startup decisions, and the working principle that emotion drives while logic navigates.

    Key concepts 8

    • Operant Conditioning

      Positive reinforcement -- "good thinking", "well said", "good call" -- shapes behaviour over time. The absence of it is itself negative reinforcement.

    • Authoritative, Not Authoritarian

      Authority earned through competence and clarity. Not authority imposed through hierarchy and fear.

    • Trust Is Always Earned

      Even when someone starts out trusting. Treat the early days as a probationary period in both directions.

    • Sunk Cost Fallacy

      The most common business killer. "We've already spent six months on this" is not an argument for spending the seventh.

    • Appeal to Authority

      "Stripe does it this way" is data, not destiny. The senior person's opinion is a hypothesis to check, not a decision to defer to.

    • Know the Motivations

      For everyone you work with: what do they actually want? Without that map, your empathy and motivation play are random.

    • Order and Chaos

      Both required. Too much order and the team can't adapt; too much chaos and they can't execute. The job is constant rebalancing.

    • Emotions Drive, Logic Navigates

      Decisions get made emotionally and rationalised logically. Lead with the emotional case; back it with the logical one. Skipping the first is why "obviously correct" plans fail to land.

  7. Project Management

    Scope it, prioritise it, resource it, deliver it. Delegate up the ladder as trust grows.

    Project management as a manager skill, not a profession. Four levers, one change-management trigger, and a structured way to grow the scope of trust you give people without burning them.

    Key concepts 6

    • Scope

      What is the specific problem you're going to solve, over what time frame? If you can't answer this in two sentences you're not ready to start.

    • Prioritisation

      What is the most important thing to deliver, and what are the value milestones along the path? Every project is a sequence of value drops, not a single launch.

    • Resourcing

      How many people, what tools, what redundancy? Single-person key-person risk is a project failure waiting for a holiday or resignation.

    • Delivery

      How will you structure the release of value to users? Big-bang launches lose to incremental delivery in almost every case.

    • Change Management at Ten

      Once your team's output touches more than ~10 people across the company, change management stops being optional. Plan the comms with the same rigour as the work.

    • Tasks → Outcomes → Ownership

      Three levels of delegation. Start someone on tasks, graduate them to outcomes, and finally to ownership. Each step expands the scope of trust as competence is demonstrated.

  8. Process

    Static process kills companies. Dynamic process captures learnings. Start with a checklist.

    Process is a dirty word in startups -- usually because most people's only experience of it is the bureaucratic kind. This module reframes process as people-programming: a way to capture learnings without forcing the team to relearn them every time. The catch: it has to stay alive.

    Key concepts 8

    • Process is People-Programming

      A script executed by a higher-order CPU. Humans take the script, make it better, or discard it when it stops fitting.

    • Start with a Checklist

      Step one: write the checklist. Step two: get input from the team. Step three: actually run it. Don't pre-engineer the process before the first execution.

    • Iterate by Running

      Update the checklist after each run. Add comments for nuances. Track time per step. Identify blockers. Reduce them. Repeat.

    • Don't Say "Process"

      Most people have process trauma. Use "checklist", "playbook", "runbook" -- whatever lands. Focus on the why.

    • Lightweight or Dead

      A process should make things easier, faster, or better at the macro level. The moment it stops doing that the team rebels -- and they're right to.

    • Don't Automate Too Soon

      Run the human version long enough to capture learning. Automating before you understand the edge cases bakes in the wrong assumptions and you lose the open-ended questions only humans ask.

    • Process Has an Owner

      If a process doesn't change in a month, it's not being nurtured. Owner is responsible for keeping it lean and making sure everyone who touches it contributes back.

    • You Are Not the Gatekeeper

      Your job isn't to be the only person who can update the process. Your job is to make the team competent and confident at improving it themselves.