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Moving from Values on the Wall to Authenticity in the Room ft. Henry Suryawirawan

Uncommon Leadership

Release Date: 01/14/2026

Moving from Values on the Wall to Authenticity in the Room ft. Henry Suryawirawan show art Moving from Values on the Wall to Authenticity in the Room ft. Henry Suryawirawan

Uncommon Leadership

If you see your team stalling, projects dragging, and an invisible friction you can’t quite name—this podcast is for you. When tech leaders feel a gap between expectations and outcomes, their first natural response is often to withdraw or try to fix the situation with more rules and processes. And without even realizing it, that distance creates a cycle of silence. Your team begins to play it safe, hiding the very "human data" you need to actually move forward.   In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I, Michael Hunter, am joined by Henry Suryawirawan—an engineering...

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Uncommon Leadership

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Uncommon Leadership

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More Episodes

If you see your team stalling, projects dragging, and an invisible friction you can’t quite name—this podcast is for you.

When tech leaders feel a gap between expectations and outcomes, their first natural response is often to withdraw or try to fix the situation with more rules and processes. And without even realizing it, that distance creates a cycle of silence. Your team begins to play it safe, hiding the very "human data" you need to actually move forward.
 
In this episode of the Uncommon Leadership Podcast, I, Michael Hunter, am joined by Henry Suryawirawan—an engineering leader whose journey through companies like Google Cloud and ThoughtWorks has given him a front-row seat to the invisible dynamics of high-performing teams.
 
Together, we explore ways to move past the corporate "performance" to look at how a few intentional leadership shifts can dissolve that friction and get things moving again.
 
We’ll walk through three practical paths to reclaim your team’s energy:
 
  • How to build quiet, genuine confidence through small, low-pressure experiments that allow you to lead as your true self.
  • Learn how to treat rejection and uncertainty simply as "useful data." By shifting your perspective, you can navigate the messiness of leadership with less personal stress and more clarity.
  • We break down the simple, everyday actions that help your team feel seen and supported, turning a "stalled" environment into one where people feel safe enough to be brilliant again.
  • We explore why leader‑led, embodied culture outperforms values‑on‑posters in hiring, retention, and delivery.
If you’re ready to stop faking culture and start uncovering the invisible dynamics that are holding your team back, tune in now.
 
For more inspiring conversations like this, sign up for the Uncommon Leadership newsletter at https://uncommonteams.com 
 
Watch the Uncommon Leadership Podcast:
 
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Presented By: Uncommon Change
 
 
About the Speakers
 
Henry Suryawirawan
Henry Suryawirawan is Head of Engineering at LXA, an engineering leader, cloud advocate, and LinkedIn Top Voice, as well as the host of Tech Lead Journal, a podcast on technical leadership and excellence. He has nearly two decades of experience across fintech, cloud, government, banking, and consulting, with a deep focus on high‑performing engineering teams.
 
Connect with Henry Suryawirawan :
Tech Lead Journal podcast: https://techleadjournal.dev
 
Michael Hunter
Drawing from his experience working with tech leaders across six continents—from tiny startups to mega-corps, Michael Hunter partners with tech leaders to uncover the invisible dynamics that block quality, stall change, and quietly drain energy from their teams. He helps leaders unlock the heroic leadership within them and their teams—and often recover parts of themselves that may have gotten a little lost along the way.
 
Connect with Michael Hunter: