The Engineering Leader Tychy

Great engineers dont necessarily make great leaders-at least, not without a lot of work. Finding your path to becoming a strong leader is often fraught with challenges. Its not easy to figure out how to be strategic, successful, and considerate while also being firm. Whether youre on the management or individual contributor track, you need to develop strong leadership skills. This practical book shows you how to become a well-rounded and resilient engineering leader. Understand what it means to be the driving force behind your career Learn how to self-manage and avoid the pitfalls that many newer managers face Establish evolving practices and structures to best scale your team Define the impact of your team and its core mission and values Spis treści: Foreword Preface Who the Book Is For Organization of the Book OReilly Online Learning How to Contact Us Acknowledgements I. You DRIing Your Career Career Decisions and Optimizations Setting and Executing on Career Goals Becoming More Coachable Knowing When to Move on (and to What) Owning Your DRI Responsibilities 1. Career Decisions and Optimizations Expecting More from Your Career and Less from Your Job Planning for Opportunity The Work > The Title Defining the Moment Distinguishing What Your Employer Rents Versus What They Buy Rent Expertise Brand Buy Time Energy Adherence Trade-offs 2. Setting and Executing on Career Goals Owning Your Professional Development What Why Resources Support Opportunity Putting It Together Building Your Support System Manager Determining your approach Pitfalls Skip-Level Manager Determining your approach Pitfalls Peers Determining your approach Pitfalls Mentors Determining your approach Pitfalls Sponsors Determining your approach Pitfalls Coach Determining your approach Pitfalls Professional Network Determining your approach Pitfalls Work BFFs Determining your approach Pitfalls 3. Embracing Growth The Gap Between Capability and Requirements High Actionability with High Receptiveness High Actionability with Low Receptiveness Low Actionability with High Receptiveness Low Actionability with Low Receptiveness Becoming More Coachable Build Your Self-Awareness Broaden Your Perspective Shed Your Defensiveness Own Up Ask for Advice Bad Feedback Ignores Broader Context Negates Your Input Undermines Rather than Helps You Succeed Key Takeaways 4. Moving Forward Signs Its Time to Move On Youre Not Learning (and You Want to Be) Youre Learning Coping Mechanisms Rather than Skills You Feel Morally Conflicted About Hiring Your Job Is Affecting Your Confidence Your Job Is Affecting You Physically Making Decisions Your Action Plan to DRI Your Career Section 1 Summary Self-Management 5. Energy Management Managing Energy Versus Managing Time The Trap of Being Useful Navigating Burnout Understand the Context Identify the Causes Work Toward Change Giver Burnout Better Energy Management 6. Defining and Adapting Your Role The Components of Management Direction Feedback Practical Help Support Managing Down Managing Up Direction Feedback Practical help Support The Role of Strategy in Management People && Scope: Layoffs What to consider What to worry about What to do =People && =Scope: Stability What to consider What to worry about What to do People && Scope: Consolidation What to consider What to worry about What to do Developing and iterating on strategy Approaching Struggling Teams Step 1: List your biggest problems Step 2: Decide how to debug the cycles Step 3: Define the constraints and understand the latitude you have Now what? Letting Go: Why Your Job Should Change Regularly You Dont Want to Confront the New Challenges Faced by Your Team? Youre Afraid to Give Things Up? Youre Afraid to Take on Something New? 7. Expanding Your Leadership Range Identifying Failure Modes CliftonStrengths Assessment Positive Intelligence Communication Failure Modes Lack of Depth Conflicting Context Too Much Empathy Missing Empathy Assuming Unearned Trust Growing Your Impact Scope Mindset shift Opportunity Complexity Mindset shift Opportunity Output Mindset shift Opportunity Agenda Mindset shift Opportunity Understanding and Expanding Your Leadership Styles Pacesetting When is it useful? What do you need? Situations to seek out? Shift your mindset Authoritative When is it useful? What do you need? Situations to seek out? Shift your mindset Affiliative When is it useful? What do you need? Situations to seek out? Shift your mindset Coaching When is it useful? What do you need? Situations to seek out? Shift your mindset Coercive When is it useful? What do you need? Situations to seek out? Shift your mindset Democratic When is it useful? What do you need? Situations to seek out? Shift your mindset Where to Begin? Navigating Change There Are No Heroes High Performers and Low Performers Struggle Most All Process Is Contextual You Will Make Mistakes Your Action Plan for Self-Management Section 2 Summary II. Team Scaling Teams 8. Hiring That Scales Assessing the Current State of Your Hiring Process Metrics Diversity metrics Process metrics Withdrawal rates and reasons Time metrics Confidence Conversion metrics Pass rate Accept rate Success rate Feelings Prework for Improving the Diversity of Your Team Brand Awareness Play a Long Game Advertising Targeted Outreach Improving Evaluations Job Descriptions Resume Review Evaluations Competencies Areas to develop Optimizing for a fast, respectful no Assessing Trajectory Better Interviews Types of Interviews and What to Evaluate in an Interview Behavioral interviews Coding and technical interviews Choosing good technical interview questions Problem-solving and understanding Explorable and extendable Deeply understood by the interviewer Take-Home Assignments Additional Considerations Interviewing Effectively Practically prepare for the interview Create warmth Create a positive experience Manage the time Remove bias Your Plan to Fix Your Hiring Process Step 1: Know Your Numbers Step 2: Understand What Youre Looking For Step 3: Calibrate, Calibrate, Calibrate Step 4: Debug Your Process Step 5: Stop Looking for a Straight Line 9. Making People Successful Effective 1:1s The Value of Complaining Onboarding Belonging Accomplishment Impact Implementation Collective responsibility for belonging Collective responsibility for accomplishment Supporting Building a Culture of Helping Choose Being Kind over Being Nice Reflect back the struggle Reduce required emotional energy Let people be Agree on the plan together If you dont take the time, the time takes you Drawing the line Performance Management Determining ineffectiveness Identifying toxic behaviors The PIP Rehabilitation Finding Balance 10. Building a Bench Identifying and Developing Potential Identifying Potential Feedback Culture Code review Calibration Compliments Changing culture Developing Potential Identifying suitable stretch assignments Developing warning signs and intervention points Recognizing growth Making problems tractable Navigating performance reviews Growth without promotions Building a DRI mindset Aligning with their values Hiring External Leadership Developing a Good Rationale Clarifying Responsibility Hiring Effectively for Leadership Successful Onboarding Making Change Your Action Plan to Scale Your Team Section 3 Summary Self-Improving Teams 11. Mission and Strategy Constructing a Mission Case Study: WordPress Mobile Case Study: Developing a Mission for a Distributed Team Case Study: Aligning Developer Experience Determining the Mission Determining a Strategy Case Study: Scaling Hiring Case Study: Onfido Studio Case Study: Building the Mobile Infrastructure Team at Automattic Developing the Strategy Making the Mission and Strategy Work Together 12. Tactics and Execution Defining the Layers The Mission The Strategy The Tactics The Execution Meta Mapping Developing Tactics Case Study: The Accidental Introduction of Deadlines Case Study: People and Process Building the Process Layer Lets talk about people Lets talk about process When process meets people Pitfalls: The performance of process Tactics as a team API Driving Execution Case Study: Building Strategic Alignment Toward Execution Case Study: The Daily Standup Case Study: The Never-Ending Activity Feed Getting Sh*t Done Tactics + Execution = Effective Day-to-Day 13. Driving Improvement Creating Clarity Creating Clarity: Mission Creating Clarity: Strategy Creating Clarity: Tactics Creating Clarity: Execution Things to Consider Creating Capacity Creating Capacity: Mission Creating Capacity: Strategy Creating Capacity: Tactics Creating Capacity: Execution Things to Consider Aligning Incentives Aligning Incentives: Mission and Strategy Aligning Incentives: Tactics Aligning Incentives: Execution Things to Consider Building Feedback Loops Building Feedback Loops: Mission and Strategy Building Feedback Loops: Tactics Building Feedback Loops: Execution Things to Consider Where to Begin Your Action Plan for Making Your Team Self-Improving Section 4 Summary III. Conclusion 14. What Good Looks Like What Good Looks Like in a Team Logistics Chitchat Positive Reinforcement and Recognition Meta Chat Constructive Feedback Healthy Conflict What Good Looks Like in Leadership Can You Take a Week Off? Can Problems Be Handled Without You? Does Your Team Deliver Consistently? Do People Tell You What They Think? Do People on the Team Treat One Another Well? Is the Team Self-Improving? Can You Give People Who Report to You Meaningful, In-Depth Feedback? What Kinds of Things Can You Delegate? Who Is Taking on Bigger Roles? Can You Take on Work Outside of Your Immediate Scope? Do Your Peers Value Your Perspective and Come to You for Advice? Does Your Team Need to Rebrand? Rebranding Projects Owning Achievements Marking Progress Clear Retrospectives Rebranding People Starting at the End What Now? A. Team Strategy People && Scope: Deprecation What to Consider What to Worry About People && =Scope: Efficiencies What to Consider What to Worry About People && Scope: Layoffs =People && Scope: Reorganization What to Consider What to Worry About =People && =Scope: Stability =People && Scope: Expansion What to Consider What to Worry About People && Scope: Consolidation People && =Scope: Growth What to Consider What to Worry About People && Scope: High Growth! What to Consider What to Worry About B. Reading List Index