People management can be a difficult skill to grasp—especially for technical employees trained to solve machines rather than personnel. 

A former pilot instructor and SpaceX training head, Matt Gjertsen has experience building teams with stellar technical skills. While techs have many attributes that make them ideal managers, they don't always realize that management can mean stepping away from problems.

Gjertsen is promoting his upcoming book based on that experience: In this episode, Fleet Maintenance's John Hitch asks Gjertsen how to step back from the wrench, build genuine trust, and help technical management truly blast off.

Check out Gjertsen's podcast, Leadership Launchpad, here.

Timestamps:

• 01:16 – Introduction
• 02:39 – Matt Gjertsen’s background
• 06:59 – Shift from tech to people
• 09:54 – The "delegation doom loop"
• 14:21 – Building trust in diverse workplaces
• 17:33 – First principles leadership
• 24:47 – Navigating generational shifts and labor shortages
• 30:25 – Root cause analysis for people problems
• 42:34 – Technique vs. procedure management

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