Meet Natalie Glance, Duolingo’s Chief Engineering Officer, as she digs into the contradictions of modern leadership: How do you give employees the space to fail and learn while still hitting your team’s targets? Can you really build a diverse, empowering culture when you're sprinting on the startup treadmill?

In this conversation, she reveals what it felt like to be a math-loving girl and to encounter unsettling data at age 12. That experience still informs how she thinks about managing (and equipping others to manage) folks from underrepresented groups. 

She describes how she strives to scope roles thoughtfully and set folks up for success vs. “meddle” and explores why she now resists the temptation to over-invest in ensuring the success of a single team member, opting instead to attack problems at a “design level”. 

Joining the conversation is Natalie’s executive coach and founder + CEO of Talentism, Jeff Hunter. Together, with host Angie D’Sa, they expose Natalie’s journey with executive coaching and hard won lessons from the perspective of a woman in tech.

Talentism frameworks referenced in this episode: