About this episode

Ric Hill discusses the importance of adapting leadership styles for CTOs rather than relying on a fixed playbook.

Most CTOs are promoted for technical judgment, then get stuck trying to lead people with the same playbook that got them there . Build your own CTO Playbook at www.theCTOplaybook.com — the leadership platform built for the full CTO journey. Coaching, podcast, and community to help you lead with clarity, confidence, and strategic impact. Ric Hill has spent 14 years running Ghyston with his wife, CTO'd for startups and mid-corporates, and earned a spot on the CTO Craft 100. His central conviction is that there is no playbook worth following blindly. Most CTOs are promoted on technical skill and then judged on leadership. The reflex is to import what worked last time. Ric argues that reflex is the problem. What replaces the playbook is a sharper version of listening, knowing how long your "fresh eyes" window actually lasts, reading the difference between an unhealthy political culture and an unhealthy apathetic one, and noticing which person on your team has gone quiet. This is a conversation about staying flexible without being indecisive, and delivering results without forcing a template onto a situation that doesn't fit it. You’ll Learn: [00:00] Introduction [11:29] Why bespoke…

People in this episode

Host: Adam Horner

Guest: Ric Hill

Topics covered

• leadership
• CTO challenges
• flexibility in management
• team dynamics
• technical judgment

Keywords

• CTO
• leadership
• flexibility
• team dynamics
• technical skill

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ghyston

More episodes of The CTO Playbook

• 99: Why Transformations Die Just Before They Succeed · June 8, 2026 · 58 min
• 98: The Office of the CTO at RevenueCat, with Miguel Carranza · June 1, 2026 · 48 min
• 97: Stop Hiring More of the Same — Michelle McDaid, The Leading Place · May 25, 2026 · 47 min
• 95: The Leadership Signals CTOs Send Without Realising It with Paul Kinkaid · May 11, 2026 · 1h 9m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The CTO Playbook podcast page.