If you work in tech, you know the usual podcast suspects. You’ve heard The Changelog, Software Engineering Daily, and The Stack Overflow Podcast. They’re solid. They’re safe. But if you’re hungry for something that goes deeper into the human side of engineering, there’s one show you might be missing:

The Engineering Leadership Podcast from ELC (Engineering Leadership Community).

Why This Podcast Deserves Your Attention

First off, don’t let the name fool you. It isn’t just for managers. ELC’s guests dig into exactly the challenges most engineers face today — things like:

• scaling systems while avoiding burnout

• building high-performance teams

• growing your technical influence without becoming a “pure manager”

• product engineering trade-offs in fast-moving startups

They interview leaders from places like Stripe, Slack, Netflix, and Airbnb, but the best parts are about how people think and make technical decisions under real pressure.

Topics That Actually Resonate

A few recent gems that had me genuinely pausing mid-run to take notes:

• “Leading Through a Rewrite” — lessons on rewriting a live, revenue-generating system without tanking morale

• “Growing From Senior Engineer to Staff” — breaking down what “staff engineer” actually means in the real world

• “Oncall Without Tears” — practical ways to fix paging culture and reduce burnout

• “Building Platform Teams That Developers Actually Like” — a master class in internal developer experience

These episodes aren’t just glossy highlight reels. They go straight to the awkward, messy, sometimes painful truths of shipping software.

What Sets It Apart

So many engineering podcasts fall into either “technology hype” or “surface-level leadership platitudes.” ELC consistently hits the middle: practical, honest, and deeply relevant to working engineers who want to build better systems and healthier teams.

The hosts keep it tight, the guests know their stuff, and the tone stays grounded in actual experience rather than buzzword bingo.

How to Listen

You’ll find The Engineering Leadership Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and every other major app. Their website (elc.community) also has transcripts and guest summaries if you’d rather skim than listen.

If you’re spending hours in traffic, walking the dog, or winding down after your standup, this one’s absolutely worth adding to the queue.

Final Thoughts

If you care about more than just code — if you want to understand how the best engineers scale, collaborate, and lead without losing their souls — you’re probably missing this podcast.

Give it a listen. You might hear the exact conversation you didn’t know you needed.