How Curiosity Builds Better Teams | Durgesh Sukhtankar

In this episode of the 40% Better podcast, host Bill Lennan is joined by technology leader Durgesh Sukhtankar for a deep conversation on leadership, curiosity, and building high performing product teams.

Durgesh shares his leadership origin story, from engineering roles at GE Healthcare to helping teams transition from project based delivery to true product ownership. Together, Bill and Durgesh unpack why leadership starts long before a management title, how curiosity drives better decision making, and why empowered teams consistently outperform deadline driven ones.

The conversation explores practical leadership lessons including building product oriented teams, creating psychological safety through calculated risk taking, developing future leaders inside technical teams, and why talking to users matters more than perfect requirements.

Durgesh also shares his approach to mentorship, acting as a “heat shield” for developing leaders, and helping engineers grow by understanding the business and customer pain points behind the code. If you are a technology leader, engineering manager, founder, or executive looking to build stronger teams, better products, and a more resilient leadership culture, this episode offers thoughtful insights you can apply immediately.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Give it a like, share, and subscribe to not miss the content coming your way weekly. – Bill and the 40 % Better podcast team

Connect with Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblennan/

Visit the 40 Percent Better website here: https://40pb.com/

Listen to 40 % Better on these podcast platforms: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qkqdMPkR9BqYPM7UPa4P0 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/40%25-better---engineering-leadership/id1709546347 Amazon Podcasts: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/01ad162e-7a33-4df4-8c29-04c4af0405fc/40-better---engineering-leadership #40PercentBetter #BillLennan #Leadership #TeamPerformance #EmployeeEngagement #PsychologicalSafety #BusinessGrowth #Kaizen #EngineeringLeadership #Coaching

The 40% Better podcast with Bill Lennan unlocks previously unheard-of performance levels in teams and leaders. Bill Lennan, founder of 40 Percent Better, interviews experts on employee engagement, psychological safety, engineering leadership, and actionable mental models. Learn how to foster high-performing teams, improve team productivity, and achieve sustainable success in business through a focus on human-centered systems. #technologyleadership #productmanagement #engineeringleadership #leadershipdevelopment #careergrowth #podcast