Serial entrepreneur Oscar Hedaya, founder of SPACE and The Space Safe, joins Bill Lennan on the 40% Better podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on what real leadership looks like across industries. Oscar's career has taken him from visual merchandising in New York to touch-screen gloves, electric mobility, and now the world's first smart safe with a built-in camera, touchscreen, tamper sensors, and app connectivity. Along the way, he's built and led teams of 25+ people across hardware, software, firmware, and design, and he shares the hard-won lessons that came from managing very different personalities under one roof. The conversation digs into the messy, human side of leadership: how to handle conflict without letting it fester, why getting quiet team members to speak up can completely transform a team's output, and how psychological safety and employee happiness aren't soft extras but core performance drivers. Oscar and Bill also unpack the challenge of getting cross-functional teams speaking the same language, the power of extreme ownership when things go wrong, and why small gestures like better coffee or Friday pizza often matter more than a pay rise. Key Takeaways
- Leaders who come from under-resourced backgrounds often develop stronger creative problem-solving instincts early on
- Managing larger teams means spending significant time on interpersonal issues, not just the work itself
- Bringing clashing team members together socially is often the most effective way to defuse conflict
- Getting promoted doesn't mean doing more of the same job; the role fundamentally changes
- Quiet, high-performing team members need time and consistent encouragement before they'll speak up in group settings, but it's worth the investment
- Cross-functional teams (hardware, firmware, software, design) each speak a different language; a good leader bridges that gap
- When something goes wrong, blame-minimising and accountability-taking from the top changes the entire team culture
- Employee happiness is a business metric: appreciated employees go beyond their job description, stay longer, and produce better work
- Small perks (better coffee, free lunch, a nearby hotel room for late nights) create disproportionate goodwill and loyalty
- Upgrading team equipment is one of the highest-ROI investments a leader can make
Connect with Oscar Hedaya: LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscar-hedaya-b1a76b3/ Website:
https://www.thespacesafe.com If you found this episode useful, hit subscribe and leave a review. It really helps the show reach more leaders who want to build better teams.
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/
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#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...
