Day 30: Becoming a Better Engineering Leader: The Next Steps
Be Better Engineering Leader, a 30 Days Series
This is the sixth week of a series of daily lessons on how to Be a Better Engineering Leader. I recommend spending up to an hour on each lesson to gain insights into Product, Technology, and People—areas critical for every Engineering Manager.
In the last 30 days, you’ve dedicated roughly one hour each day to refining your leadership skills across three critical areas: people, technology, and product. Now it’s time to bring it all together.
Remember: Bad leaders execute, Good leaders improve, Great leaders compound.
First-level people managers have the most direct impact on an organization’s success. They juggle hands-on tasks with strategic vision, blending knowledge of products, business, and technology. They are the closest to the customer and have the power to deliver real value. Your growth as a leader amplifies the growth of your entire organization.
Key Takeaways
Great engineering managers master six key areas:
Manage Talent: Develop your team. Challenge your engineers, help them grow, and fill gaps through strategic hiring.
Manage Expectations: Align your team’s efforts with outcomes, not just tasks. Create clarity and set the bar for success.
Manage People: Motivate your team. Make each person feel valued and empowered to contribute their best.
Manage Impact: Prioritize effectively. Allocate your team's energy to the initiatives that matter most.
Manage Product: Deeply understand the problems your team is solving. Build solutions that deliver the most value to customers.
Manage Technology: Keep the technical debt in check, improve developer experience, and ensure the tech stack supports product goals.
Action Points
Self-Assessment:
Take a moment to evaluate yourself in each of the six areas:
Talent: Are you effectively growing your team?
Expectations: Do your team members clearly understand what success looks like?
People: Is your team motivated and productive?
Impact: Are you focusing on the most valuable initiatives?
Product: Do you truly understand the problems your product solves?
Technology: Is your tech aligned with your strategic vision?
Score yourself on a scale from 1 to 5 in each category. Identify areas for improvement.
Set Personal Development Goals:
Based on your self-assessment, define one actionable goal for each area.
Example: If you scored low in “Manage People,” set a goal to schedule regular 1:1s with your team members and actively seek feedback on how you can better support them.
Create a 90-Day Plan:
Outline specific actions you’ll take over the next three months to improve in each area. Break it down into weekly milestones to track your progress.
Commit to Continuous Improvement:
Leadership is a journey. Commit to revisiting your self-assessment and development plan every 90 days. Use the insights to refine your approach and continue compounding your growth as a leader.
Extra Resources
To continue your journey, here are some resources that expand on the topics we’ve covered:
Books to Deepen Your Knowledge
Wiring the Winning Organization by Gene Kim
DevOps Handbook by Gene Kim
Empowered by Marty Cagan
Transformed by Marty Cagan
Radical Candor by Kim Scott
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
Are Your Lights On? by Don Gause and Gerald Weinberg
Measure What Matters by John Doerr
Working Backwards book by Bill Carr and Colin Bryar
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Good Strategy / Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt
Thank you for joining this journey to becoming a better engineering leader. Remember, your impact compounds. Keep learning, keep improving, and most importantly, keep leading with purpose.
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