EP4: Leading a STEM Organization -- Andrew Chrostowski

In Part II of our fourth episode, we continue a fascinating executive conversation with Andrew Chrostowski, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RealWear, a company engineering industrial wearable headsets for connected workers. He shares real-life lessons from his experience managing complex systems and data-led teams. In this second half of our conversation (check out Part I ), we consider how engineering, science and technical teams are like any other in their need for superb people management. We evaluate the role of values in company culture and models Andrew has used in his extensive leadership experiences. Human leadership includes staying present to bring your best to your team, as Andrew and Allison also discuss.

Today’s repeat guest is Andrew Chrostowski, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RealWear, to continue our Part 1  conversation. He shares lessons learned through managing complex systems and teams, both in the military and private sector. Our conversation begins with instilling values in a team, some which come from the leader while others come from the team. From there, we dive into Andrew’s pyramid approach to scale, involving team, systems, and discipline. Some important takeaways from our discussion include hiring “fire prevention specialists,” not “firefighters,” how the game of golf mirrors the problem-solving and rewards of real life, and how presence of mind factors into problem-solving, performance, and people management. Tune in for all this from today’s interesting conversation.