Welcome to the Defining Moments of Leadership podcast, hosted by Marsha Acker! On today’s episode, Marsha interviews Mike Seavers, the VP of Development at Epic Games. Mike has been a leader in tech and business for over 20 years, and has spent the last 10 years in the gaming industry. Prior to his shift into gaming, Mike worked in consulting, project and portfolio management, and leading software teams. Through all of his various roles over the years, Mike has dedicated his career to helping leaders, teams, and organizations with solving problems (both technical problems and people problems!) in order to unlock their full potential. He joins Marsha today to share about what leadership means to him and what it takes, what it looks like to persevere, and how persistence in leadership has served Mike in his own career.

As the conversation gets underway, Marsha asks Mike about his earliest memory of leadership. His first job in high school was in telemarketing, and he was actually put in a leadership position at the age of 16; this role forced him to start developing skills in leading with far more career experience than himself. He later joined the military, which continued his leadership development. SERE training, in particular, gave him tools for leading soldiers who outranked him. As he learned and progressed in his leadership journey, Mike solidified his commitment to sacrificial leadership, which shapes his team engagement, empathy, and much more!

Marsha next asks Mike to share a defining moment in his leadership journey, and he recalls a time when he ran into a challenging staffing issue. The issue seemed like an insurmountable roadblock, and Mike felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He took the issue to his boss, who repeatedly told him to go figure out the problem. Later, as he processed the conversation, Mike had the sudden realization he had stopped leading – he hadn’t been shaping the world around him in the way he was hired to do. Sure, he hit a roadblock, but leaders faced with a roadblock cannot respond by relinquishing their power and responsibility! Leaders need to be people of persistence and grit.

Mike further advises those looking to develop as leaders to keep taking one step at a time, put themselves in stretching situations, educate themselves, keep working through the trial and error process, and even look for another leader to shadow and learn from. As he continues on the journey of growth as a leader (a journey that leaders never grow out of!), Mike has also found leadership journaling to be an invaluable resource. It helps track progress in the interconnected efforts of growing as a person and a leader, including Mike’s current work on his presence in particular situations. As the episode ends, Marsha asks Mike a few rapid fire questions and then offers her own concluding thoughts on the interview.

Mike’s Bio

Mike Seavers has been a technology and business leader for over 20 years. He’s currently the VP of Development at Epic Games where he supports the teams behind the Epic Games Store, Epic Online Services, Unreal Engine, and more. He has spent the last ten years in the gaming industry and was previously the Chief Technology Officer at Riot Games. Prior to that, Mike spent many years in consulting, project and portfolio management, and leading software teams in several Fortune 500 companies. Mike has dedicated his career to helping leaders, teams, and organizations solve the challenges – technical, process, or people-related – that unlock their full potential. Mike lives in St. Louis, MO with his wife where he spends his free time following his other passion of cycling.