Some Thoughts on Engineering Leaderhip

So this article started as a thread of tweets. I want to expand on it, so I am going to quote all the tweets here and then try to explain more about the topics they are touching on. Try to take it a little bit out of stream of conscious and into something more fleshed out.

Here we go!

Some thoughts on engineering leadership a thread (and not a long one) ->

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

This is the intro... nothing to see here... moving along.

Too many team leads are just thrown into leadership without the support the need. And they need a lot of support as they step into that role.

I suspect that this is largely because their managers don't know what that support should look like.

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

Now we're getting into the good parts. I stand by this. Most companies do not build the correct support new leaders. Many managers having not been well supported in their transition into leadership, and because of that are uncertain what support should look like. New leaders need, at a minimum, strong mentorship (internal or external), clear guidance around expectations, strong peers in product and program management, and a clear understanding of what it means to build team cultures within the org. That last point is especially important for new managers who are not yet familiar with the culture of the company.

Which… hiring outside leadership for a technical engineering role is really really fraught. Even more so if it is for a remote role. There are reasons that the Chesapeake Bay Company only promoted internally for their leadership team.

This tends to lead to them disliking their time as a leader, and burning out.

If you are a lead of leads, remember that they need a lot of support. Also remember that they need more emotional support than they did as an IC. We neglect the emotional load to often.

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

Let's talk about the emotional toll of being a team lead for a minute.

Recognize that as a team lead, or any other engineering leader, heck any leadership role, you will be carrying a heavier emotional load. You will have to manage other's emotions in a way you don't now. You will have to have harder conversations with people. You will feel this extra weight eventually, and having strong mentorship and a good peer support system is critical to surviving it.

You also need support in identifying what is important for your team. You need help knowing how to measure and manage your team's performance. You need guidance around how to have hard conversations. You need advice on how to manage expectations for your team, and the expectations of team members on your team. You need help managing the project that is the code being shipped.

There are so many facets that are part of your job, or related to your job now!

And you can't do them all, or all at once! If you try... you will hate it. Organizations owe it to their new leaders to provide them with mentorship, strong partners in product, design, and program management. They owe them clear role definitions so they know what to work on, and what to worry about.

Sidebar: if you are reading this as a leader of leaders... open up your linkedin. Find mentors for your team leads from your network if you don't have them inside your company. They need mentors, and you know who can mentor them. Get after it!

If you are starting into a lead role, or hiring
promoting someone to a lead role, don't do it too early in their career. This is the worst thing you can do for them, not the best.

You need to have the tech side nailed before you are ready to add the people side.

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

This is a personal pet peeve. Too many companies push people into leadership before they have learned the day to day work of software engineering. Sometimes it is because none of the more seasoned folks are interested. Sometimes it is to save costs.

No matter what it harms their career and long term prospects.

Engineers respect managers that they believe can do their job, and if the focus on learning how to be an engineer shifts toward learning how to manage and lead a team too early then it is hard to find space to continue that learning. You need to be good as an IC before you make the leap.

Trust me, the title may sound great, but there is plenty of time to make the jump. Get really good at your craft, then learn how to lead and manage a team. Don't get pushed into it when you are still relatively new. I might even go so far as to say, wait until you are a strong Senior Engineer before you consider it. So 5-8 years in industry.

Going back to the emotional load part: Empathy is the super power of great team leads. Doesn't matter if they are introverts or extroverts. Empathy. But that empathy bears a cost for most leaders.

For leads of leads, make sure your leads are taking care of their emotional health

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

Some of the best advice I ever received was to get a therapist as a leader. Empathy can't be overemphasized here. The Emotional Intelligence¹ of a team lead has a huge impact on the culture and success of the team that they are leading.²

And make sure that you are watching for signs of burnout.

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

If you are a team lead you need to be watching for burnout on your team. If you are a leader of leaders you need to be watching for burnout on your team. Make sure that your team members have the space they need to work through it, and that they feel supported in doing it.

To me it seems like we all feel burnout at some point, but having the space to work through it means we come back to fight another day. Not having that space means we just keep getting more burned out.

Jumping back to support: new leads need good people around them. Good product folks, good program/project folks, good engineers. A big part of their success is going to be in establishing good peer relationships with those disciplines.

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

Engineering teams are successful when they have good partners. Nothing is more frustrating then working with folks who can't support your team, or who get in the way of your team's success.

Equally important is the creation of strong relationships with your peers. They are your team as well, and if you have a good relationship then collaboration will be easy. If you create, or allow the creation, of an antagonistic relationship between you and your peers, nothing good will come of it. Your team will know, and they will key off of it.

Speak well of your peers always, and do your best to support them.

As my wife would say, "Set them up for success" by choosing carefully which team you put them in charge of.

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

When minting a new team lead be careful which team you give them. Different styles of leaders are needed for different teams. Think about it carefully so that their first time as a lead can be a great experience for them. Don't throw them into a team that they are going to clash with, both on the peer and IC side of things.

I honestly believe there are many great engineering leaders who didn't have those things in place, who weren't coached through performance management practices, or trained in other parts of the craft, who now no longer want to be leaders.

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

Let's focus on the coaching part of this. New team leads need to be coached through performance conversations as they are needed. They need to be trained in how to set team goals, team vision, team values, and team culture. They need to learn how to run a budget. They need to see the best parts of being a leader. For instance, if raises are being given to members of their team, they should deliver the news. Where there are commendations for team members let them help.

Leading needs to cover the delivery good news as well as hard news.

But seriously, don't just expect people to pick these things up. Leadership is a new skill set, and they need as much care and attention as you would give to a new software developer working in a new framework or language. Point out the pitfalls, provide advice as needed, keep them growing!

Other wise they won't succeed or enjoy it.

Also remember they are not you! They should do things differently, they should be themselves. You didn't hire them to be your clone.

People who would be great leaders who will likely never take the risk of leading formally again because they weren't set up for success.

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

Which makes me sad.

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

so yeah, in summary, set up new leads for success. Be open with them about what leadership means. Support them like crazy.

They may still decide it isn't for them. But they might really change your org for the better.

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

And whatever you do don't promote them too early in their careers!

— Daniel Sellers (@daniel_sellers) April 15, 2022

Amen.

Leadership is a craft, an art, a science, and certainly not something that people are born knowing how to do.³ Support your team as they learn to lead well. Where you have weaknesses, be open about them, let them learn from what you do well, and what you don't. That way they can someday be better at this than you are.

Lastly, if you have chosen the path of leading, and are doing the work, thank you. We need more great leaders like you in this business. If I can help you please reach out.

If you enjoyed this article please share it! Also, I have a newsletter that you might enjoy as well. Thanks! -Daniel