From Engineer to Team Lead to Teams Lead: What Got You Here Won’t Take You Further - LCPS01E01

How “technical” should an engineering manager be? And what do different paths into engineering leadership look like?—These questions have been the topic of hot debate in tech for a very long time, even more now as the industry is going through big changes with layoffs and strategy shifts. 

That’s why we’re starting this podcast with a two-episode series about different shapes of leadership roles:

You’ll hear from two leaders who both have over 20 years experience, but had very different paths into the technology space and have very different roles now. 

In this episode, you hear from Max, who shares his path from engineer to technical lead of leads. We talk about: 

• The relevance of fruit baskets: Max’ career from a computer science graduate in the early 2000’s, to getting into his first informal, then first formal lead role

• New skills to learn, new fears to face: How he adapted to his new roles, changed his approach from direct involvement to empowering his teams, and how he dealt with the emotional and practical aspects of ~leadership~. 

• Knowing if you’re doing your job well, a.k.a. “When You Do Things Right, People Won’t Be Sure You’ve Done Anything at All.” (Futurama) 

• Guidance for Aspiring & New Leaders: Practical advice for everyone in technical roles considering or new to a leadership path.

Find the full transcript for this episode on the podcast website.

Additional resources:

• LeadDev Engineering Leadership Survey: How exactly have tech leadership roles changed? Spend 5-10 minutes sharing your experiences anonymously, and help create more clarity for the engineering leadership community. The survey is still open until Apr 12, 2024.

• How to work with your peer leaders as a “first team” and why it matters 

• StaffEng - reports from staff+ engineers in different companies about the different shapes of the role 

• Book: Tanya Reilly, The Staff Engineer’s Path

• Book: Will Larson, Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond The Management Track

Hear more about different shapes of leadership roles and paths next week, from an engineering manager who moved into this role without prior engineering experience.

Thank you for joining me on Leadership Confidential.