Hello, Engineer(ing) Managers: From Good to Great!
Great managers are not born, they’re made — all the skills needed to become an effective engineering manager and leader can be learned.
I am back with a mini brain dump for the masses. My last entry here was over 3 years ago, which I’d apologize for but modern advice says not to apologize for anything and simply say “thank you for your patience”. So here’s to 2024 kicking off the beginning of something more consistent, as it has become time to try new things — more on that later!
I was busy building up an “awesome list”, which in software engineering terms is a fancy (awesome?) term for a useful bunch of related links of awesome things, when it occurred to me that I often discover most interesting articles on Medium. So why not be a giver and not just a taker?
As last I mentioned: day-to-day I’m called upon to be a people influencer — manager/coach or a product influencer — product owner, and whilst many of my strengths and skills have grown organically — I’ve also been inspired and trained along the way, or have since found thoughtful and interesting reads that reminds me I’m walking a well-trodden path.
For many former sole contributors and technical leads it’s a similar, familiar story of finding yourself in leadership or management roles out of necessity or because that was the best way you found to have greatest impact, influence, or opportunity. If that’s you, you need not worry because great managers are not born, they’re made — all the skills needed to become an effective engineering manager and leader can be learned. All that’s required of you is to bring the motivation — the inspiration can come later.
So please enjoy some books and quotes from a few of my favorites — I am not affiliated or sponsored.
Engineering Management
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek
“Great leaders…inspire people to act…Those who truly lead…create a following of people who act not because they were swayed, but because they were inspired.”
“You don’t hire for skills; you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills.” (Herb Kelleher)
“Great companies don’t hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them.”
2. The Manager’s Path by Camille Fournier
“As a manager you help your team succeed by creating clear, focused, measurable goals.”
“Breaking down a project has a lot of similarity to…designing systems, and learning this skill is valuable even for engineers who don’t want to manage people.”
“Hands-on expertise is what gives you credibility and what helps you make decisions and lead your team effectively.”
“Practicing the art of teaching can help us learn how to nurture and coach, how to phrase things so that others will listen.”
3. The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo
“When someone isn’t a great fit…there is a cost. Would you rather pay it by making a hard move or by passing it on to other team members and customers?”
“Pay attention to your own actions — the little things you say and do — as well as what behaviors you are rewarding or discouraging. All of it works together to tell the story of what you care about and how a great team should work together.”
4. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
“To earn the trust of people, the leaders of an organization must first treat them like people. To earn trust, he must extend trust.”
“When the leaders of an organization listen to the people who work there….without coercion, pressure or force, the people naturally work together to help each other and advance the company.”
5. Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves
“Emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others, and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships.”
“The secret to winning this culture game is to treat others how they want to be treated, not how you would want to be treated.”
“Some of the most challenging and stressful situations people face are at work. Conflicts at work tend to fester when people passively avoid problems, because people lack the skills needed to initiate a direct, yet constructive conversation. Conflicts at work tend to explode when people don’t manage their anger or frustration, and choose to take it out on other people. Relationship management gives you the skills you need to avoid both scenarios, and make the most out of every interaction you have with another person.”
Product Management
- Start with Why by Simon Sinek (Yes, again!)
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe”
“Articulating our values as verbs gives us a clear idea — we have a clear idea of how to act in any situation.”
“People who love going to work are more productive and more creative. They go home happier and have happier families. They treat their colleagues and clients and customers better.”
“WHATs are products, services and job functions we perform. HOWs are values, guiding principles and actions that make us stand out. The WHY defines what the organization stands for — it is the collective purpose, cause or belief.”
2. Inspired by Marty Cagan
“It doesn’t matter how good your engineering team is if they are not given something worthwhile to build.”
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” — General George S. Patton, Jr. General”
“Software projects can be thought of as having two distinct stages: figuring out what to build (build the right product), and building it (building the product right). The first stage is dominated by product discovery, and the second stage is all about execution.”
“Keep the focus on minimal product…your job as product manager is not to define the ultimate product, it’s to define the smallest possible product that will meet your goals.”
“The Objectives and Key Results (OKR) technique is a tool for management, focus, and alignment. As with any tool, there are many ways to use it. Objectives should be qualitative; key results need to be quantitative/measurable. Key results should be a measure of business results, not output or tasks.”
3. Empowered by Marty Cagan
“The most important decision at Amazon, has been, and remains, hiring the right talent.” (Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos)
“The bottom line is that an organization will get more critical work accomplished if it focuses on just a few items at a time.”
“Great teams are made up of ordinary people who are inspired and empowered.”
“The famous computer scientist Melvin Conway coined an adage that is often referred to as Conway’s Law. It states that any organization that designs a system will produce a design whose structure mirrors the organization’s structure. Another way to say this is to beware of shipping your org chart.”
“Trust is a function of two things: competence and character.”
Marty Cagan’s 3rd book “Transformed” is due to be released next week so who knows maybe that will make my list too!
One last thing:
Atomic Habits by James Clear — after all if you fail to manage yourself properly you may find you struggle to manage others!
Next Steps
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