Being a "non-technical" engineering manager in an industry that treasures technical skills - LCPS01E02

What should engineering leadership roles look like, and how "technical" should managers be? What's been a hotly-debated topic in tech for decades has gotten very real, very often for my guest today—because he’s always been a bit of an outlier:

My guest Jay has been an engineering leader for over a decade, has led teams of many different shapes, sizes, and disciplines all throughout the industry. And, unlike the more common path of transitioning from software engineer to management, he wasn’t an engineer before becoming a manager. In an industry that highly values "technical skills" and where there's low consensus on what skills make a good manager, he grapples with finding his place, having an impact, and how to grow his career onward.

We talk about:

• What does it mean to be "technical" as an engineering manager? How important is it?
• What makes a good manager and leader? What makes them successful?
• How are companies thinking about great engineering leadership? How's this been changing in the last years?
• Learning and teaching management skills
• Hiring and interviewing for management roles, and what companies can improve
• After our conversation, I share my perspective on what leadership roles in tech look like, and advice for any other leaders grappling with the tech industry changes and wondering what makes a good leader for their company

Links:

• Full Episode transcript
• What should engineering manager & Leadership roles look like in 2024?

This is part two of our mini series about different shapes of leadership - in the ⁠⁠last episode⁠⁠, I spoke to an experienced tech lead with a more traditional career from engineer, to tech lead, to technical lead of leads. 

Thank you for joining me on Leadership Confidential.

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About this podcast & your host:

⁠⁠Lena Reinhard⁠⁠ (she/her, they/them) makes this podcast as a space for honest conversations about the hard parts of leadership that most leaders only dare to talk about behind closed doors—after all, we're supposed to be “in charge”, and “on top of things" at all times. But topics like struggling with self-confidence, imposter syndrome, growing your skills with little support, or dealing with a micromanaging boss are more common than you may think—and this is where we talk about them.

Lena is a VP Engineering, leadership coach, mentor, and organizational developer, and writer. Having served as an engineering executive with companies like CircleCI and Travis CI, and as a SaaS startup co-founder & CEO, Lena has dedicated her career to helping organizations from startups to corporations and NGOs succeed in times of high change and challenging markets.