Developing Leadership Skills For Engineering Managers

9 out of 10 engineering leaders reverse their emotional intelligence at the worst possible moment. They micromanage when teams need space. They vanish when teams need technical leadership. The pattern shows up everywhere: The VP who rewrites code during sprint planning but goes silent when production burns. The engineering director who can't let teams architect solutions but disappears during crisis calls. This costs you everything: Your best engineers leave because they can't grow, then watch you vanish when things break. Your team's trust erodes. Your credibility becomes situational incompetence. Here's what changed my understanding completely: 3 AM. Huge retail client's entire payment system crashes during their biggest sales day. $50K bleeding per hour. Team paralyzed. Junior developer hyperventilating. Senior architect stuck in analysis paralysis for 2 hours. As Solutions Architect, I had a choice: Stay in my "leadership lane" and coach from the sidelines. Or violate every management book and dive into the code myself. I grabbed my laptop. Found the database deadlock in 20 minutes that they'd missed for hours. System restored. Revenue bleeding stopped. Client saved their biggest sales day. But the real impact wasn't the fix. The team watched a leader step in without blame during the moment that mattered most. That night taught me the framework that separates adaptive leaders from rigid ones: Your emotional intelligence requirements flip based on the situation. Same leader. Completely different EQ skills. CRISIS MODE - Lead from the front: ↳ Self-awareness: Recognize when your technical skills matter more than your title ↳ Humility: Code-level problem-solving regardless of organizational chart ↳ Ego management: Solution over status, every single time ↳ Calm under pressure: Your stress becomes their panic - manage it ↳ Technical empathy: Feel the weight of what your engineers are carrying NORMAL OPERATIONS - Lead from the back: ↳ Trust: Your team solves it better when you're not hovering ↳ Patience: Growth happens slower than your impatience wants ↳ Restraint: Keep your hands off the keyboard when fingers itch ↳ Active listening: Hear the problems they're not saying out loud ↳ Psychological safety: Failure becomes learning when you're not judging ↳ Empowerment: Autonomy with availability, not abandonment Get this right: teams innovate fearlessly and execute flawlessly under pressure. Get this wrong: teams stagnate during calm and collapse during crisis. Your comfort zone isn't what your situation requires. Crisis demands technical courage. Innovation demands emotional maturity. Before you step in today, ask yourself: Does this situation need my technical skills or my restraint? ♻️ Share this to your network. 🔔 Follow Dan Tudorache for leadership insights that match what your technical team actually needs right now.

The difference between a manager and a leader isn’t just a title — it’s a mindset. Managers keep things running efficiently, ensuring processes are followed and goals are met. Leaders, on the other hand, inspire, innovate, and push boundaries to drive long-term success. So how do we transform today’s managers into tomorrow’s leaders? It starts with intentional development. 1️⃣ 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 – Managers are often focused on execution, but leadership requires a broader vision. Giving managers opportunities to think beyond the day-to-day and make strategic decisions helps them shift their perspective. 2️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (𝗘𝗤) – Leadership isn’t just about knowledge; it’s about people. Great leaders understand how to navigate interpersonal relationships, manage emotions, and communicate effectively. Investing in EQ training fosters trust and stronger team dynamics. 3️⃣ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 – The best way to create leaders? Show them what great leadership looks like. By demonstrating integrity, resilience, and transparency, senior leaders set the tone for the next generation. 4️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 – Leadership isn’t learned in a vacuum. Giving managers access to mentorship, executive coaching, cross-functional projects, and leadership development programmes equips them with the skills they need to level up. 5️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 – A leader isn’t just someone with a title—it’s someone who takes initiative and owns their decisions. Encouraging managers to take charge, make key decisions, and innovate helps them develop confidence in their leadership abilities. 6️⃣ 𝗙𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 – Feedback is a two-way street. Leaders don’t just give feedback—they seek it out. Creating an open environment where managers receive and provide constructive input allows them to grow and refine their leadership style. The best organisations don’t just look for leaders externally; they cultivate them from within. By intentionally developing leadership skills in managers today, we future-proof our businesses and empower the next generation to lead with confidence, purpose, and vision. Are we investing in our managers the way we should be?

Great engineering managers write good code. Top 1% leaders build great engineers. The difference between management and leadership is transformation. Managers ensure work gets done. Leaders ensure people grow while doing it. The best technical leaders I've worked with: Don't just assign tasks - they create growth opportunities tailored to each team member's development needs. Don't just fix problems - they teach problem-solving approaches that make their team more independent. Don't just make decisions - they explain their thinking process, turning each choice into a learning moment. Don't just give feedback - they build cultures where continuous improvement is expected and celebrated. Don't just protect their team from politics - they teach them how to navigate complex organizations effectively. True leadership isn't measured by your technical contributions. It's measured by how many people become better engineers because of you. Your legacy isn't the systems you build. It's the engineers you develop.

My Principles for Being a Hands-On Engineering Leader As I've grown from an IC to leading engineering teams at scale, I've developed strong beliefs about technical leadership. The "founder mode" discussions that swept through leadership circles few months ago made me reflect on my own philosophy as an engineering executive. Here's what I believe: Engineering leaders must maintain technical credibility while focusing on strategic impact. My core principles: 🔹 Leaders should deeply understand system architectures and technology stacks to make informed strategic decisions 🔹I actively participate in design reviews, not to dictate solutions but to ask probing questions that surface hidden risks 🔹I maintain enough technical currency to evaluate emerging technologies against our business needs 🔹Know your system health dashboards - when incidents occur, I can step in with the technical context to drive effective resolution 🔹Occasionally, I'll dive deep to unblock critical initiatives or validate concerns when truly needed The balance shifts dramatically with company stage - in early startups, everyone - with AI tools literally everyone - is coding. At 15+ engineers, I think the manager shifts from coding to being in the code. As the team grows beyond 35, focus shifts primarily to architecture, strategy and organizational design. What's been transformative recently is how AI tools have helped me quickly understand codebases, analyze incident channel chatter, and digest detailed design docs. They've become an essential part of staying technically connected while scaling my impact. Being "hands-on" isn't about writing code daily—it's about maintaining enough technical insight to provide valuable guidance while creating space for your team to execute and grow. What principles guide your technical leadership approach? #EngineeringLeadership #TechnicalLeadership #EngineeringCulture

Great engineering leadership isn’t about solving everything. It’s about creating the conditions where your team can. In my early leadership days, I thought I had to walk in with the answers. Over time, I learned something better: Most engineers don’t need hand-holding. They need clarity, context, and trust. Here’s how I lead now (and what’s worked): 1. Present the problem, not a pre-baked solution. → Engineers are problem-solvers. Don’t rob them of that. → Instead of “We need to use Kafka here,” say: “We need async processing at scale. Thoughts?” 2. Share constraints early. → Be open about deadlines, budget, team bandwidth, or tech debt. → Constraints help the team make realistic design choices. 3. Make room for trade-off discussions. → Your job isn’t to rush decisions. It’s to ensure good ones. → Let the team think through latency vs cost, monolith vs microservices, etc. 4. Guide the decision, don’t dictate it. → Ask: “What risks do you see?” or “What’s your fallback plan?” → Step in only when clarity or urgency is needed. 5. Protect builder time. → Cut unnecessary meetings. Shield them from noise. → Innovation dies in a calendar full of status syncs. Leadership is knowing when to speak and when to listen. You don’t earn trust by having all the answers. You earn it by helping your team find better ones.

6 things I wish I knew about management before I became an EM: 1. Your calendar is no longer your own. The job is 70% context switching between tactical work and strategic thinking. Block focus time on your calendar religiously. You'll need it :) 2. Technical excellence alone won't cut it. Your ability to influence, communicate vision, and build trust across the organization matters far more than your coding skills. At this stage my team's coding skills are far beyond mine, and that's great. I can still hold high-level technical conversations but I let them own the ultimate implementation. 3. You'll write less code (sometimes no code, like myself!), but your impact multiplies. Success is now measured by your team's output, not your own individual contributions. If you're a high achiever like myself, you may have to find a new way to measure your own impact. 4. Tough conversations never get easier—you just get better at having them. Learning to give (and receive) clear, constructive feedback is a skill you'll constantly build. (I teach an entire module on feedback in my course for this reason!) 5. Being decisive amid uncertainty is a critical part of the job. Perfect information doesn't exist—you'll need to make calls with incomplete data. Your team is often looking for answers you may not feel fully confident about. You need to acknowledge and own that discomfort. 6. Your team's growth is your growth. The best engineering leaders focus on creating more leaders. Helping your individual contributors build influence builds your own influence in return. Being in engineering leadership is never easy as you move from managing projects to people, but it's so incredibly worth it.

During my initial years as an Engineering Manager, my work day was over 10 hours, sometimes even more than 12 hours. I brushed it off as a sign of great work because I was always busy; however, it was a sign that I needed to learn more. If you’re extremely busy as a manager, you haven’t mastered your managerial skills yet. You need to take a step back and examine why you are busy. If your team: - relies on you for each small decision - doesn’t have a proper structure - doesn’t feel empowered - isn’t growing in career There’s a problem with your delegation. Your team should be able to perform equally well or better when you’re not actively there. If you think of it, it’s the ideal scenario. Your leadership is so effective that your team can deliver independently. As a manager, aim to scale the impact and deliver the best ROI through your people. True leadership isn't about being the busiest person in the room. It’s about empowering, delegating, building leaders, and taking on bigger responsibilities. How to Master Effective Management: 1. Empower Your Team: Give your team the authority to make decisions. Trust their judgment. 2. Create Clear Structures: Set up clear processes and guidelines. Ensure everyone knows their role. 3. Delegate Wisely: Assign tasks based on strengths. Let your team handle responsibilities. 4. Build Leaders: Develop leadership skills within your team. Encourage growth and learning. 5. Focus on Big Picture: Spend time on strategic planning. Let your team handle day-to-day tasks. Effective management means more than just being busy. It’s about creating a team that thrives even when you’re not there. Aim for true leadership.

Leadership is easy. You just use your knowledge to tell the team what to do… … Right? This is what I thought years ago when I transitioned from being a senior engineer to leading a team as an engineering manager. I thought I’d cracked the code: just apply my technical expertise, guide the team, and voilà--success! Spoiler alert: I was wrong. The game was fundamentally different. No longer could I just “fix” things by diving into the code or tweaking the architecture. My role had shifted, and so did the skills required to succeed. This challenge compounded when I became a director. I had to scale myself as a leader, and trust me, it wasn’t easy. Here are three lessons I’ve learned along the way that might help you transition from an IC role to a leadership position: 1) Develop Strategic Thinking While Letting Go of the Day-to-Day As a senior IC, it’s all about diving deep into the details. But as an exec, your focus needs to shift to the bigger picture. Think about where your team and organization need to be 1, 3, or even 5 years from now. Step back and empower others to own the day-to-day work. Provide clarity on the “why” and “what,” and let your team handle the “how.” It isn’t “hands-off” leadership--it’s “hands-available-when-needed.” 2) Build Influence Across Teams and Stakeholders Influence isn’t just about giving great presentations (though that helps). It’s about building relationships and trust across functions--product, marketing, finance, you name it. You need to connect the dots between departments and align everyone toward a common goal. One of the most valuable lessons I learned was that your ability to lead doesn’t depend on your authority; it’s about your ability to influence without authority. 3) Maintain Technical Credibility While Empowering Others Here’s the tricky part: As a technical leader, you can’t lose touch with your technical foundation, but you also can’t write all the code or design every system. Stay informed by asking the right questions and understanding the trade-offs your team is considering. This way, you can provide guidance without micromanaging. The best leaders balance credibility with trust, creating space for their teams to grow and thrive. Going from IC to exec isn’t just about a new title or responsibilities. It’s about fundamentally changing how you think, work, and lead. It’s hard--but it’s worth it. Leaders- what lessons did you learn as you transitioned into leadership? ICs- If you’re preparing to take that step, what challenges are you facing? Drop your thoughts in the comments--I’d love to hear your perspective.

💡 You don’t lead technical teams by knowing everything. You lead by earning their trust. I’ve led architects, engineers, analysts, sysadmins, devs, and more - and the pattern is clear: Technical talent doesn’t follow titles. They follow clarity. They follow consistency. They follow people who don’t waste their time. Here are 5 traits that build real trust with technical teams (and none of them require a CompTIA cert): 🔍 Transparency over spin They’ll reverse-engineer the real story anyway. Just give it to them straight. 🧠 Curiosity over ego You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. You just need to listen to them like they are. 🗂 Prioritization over perfection Shipping fast is good. Shipping the right thing is better. Tech teams crave direction, not chaos. 🛡 Advocacy over blame Be the leader who says, “That’s on me,” before asking, “What can we fix?” You’ll build loyalty that outlasts the sprint. ⚡ Momentum over micromanagement Velocity happens when you remove blockers, not when you add check-ins. Be the wind at their backs, not the meeting on their calendar. Trust is your architecture. Build it first. Everything else flows from there. 👇 What leadership trait made the biggest difference for you in your career? #TechnicalLeadership #EngineeringManagement #TrustInTech #LeadWithClarity #ModernLeadership #PeopleFirst #CTO #ITLeadership #EngineeringCulture #SoftwareLeadership

10 tips from my book "Leading Effective Engineering Teams" I recently announced my new book "Leading Effective Engineering Teams"! After leading engineering teams at scale and seeing what works, I wanted to share just a few of the ideas from the book that could help others. Build psychological safety - Our research in Google's "Project Aristotle" revealed this as the #1 predictor of team success. I share specific techniques to build environments where engineers feel safe to take risks and innovate. Empower without micromanaging - I've seen firsthand how trust and autonomy drive 3x better outcomes. I outline my framework for setting clear guardrails while giving teams the space to own solutions. Scale your effectiveness systematically - I present my 3 E's model (Enable, Empower, Expand) for scaling team effectiveness from the ground up, based on proven patterns from Google. Foster clear communication - Drawing from thousands of 1:1s and team meetings, I provide strategies that have consistently improved team alignment and execution. Define clear success metrics in terms of outcomes (e.g. how does the work help users and the business) vs. outputs - I share the OKR frameworks we used at Google to measurably boost team effectiveness by 23%. Prioritize career development - I share more about a GROW model I've refined over years of mentoring engineers into successful tech leaders. Structure for innovation - Learn the specific organizational patterns that enabled my teams at Google to consistently ship breakthrough features. Lead with data - I reveal the key metrics and dashboards I've found most valuable for making better decisions and driving continuous improvement. Balance technical and leadership skills - Based on my journey from engineer to leader, I provide a roadmap for developing both technical depth and leadership breadth. Proactively feed opportunities and starve the problems - I share my framework for identifying and nurturing high-impact opportunities while preventing issues before they arise. The book includes real case studies, practical templates, and concrete techniques from my experience leading teams at Google. I wrote this to help engineering leaders at all levels build more effective, impactful teams. I hope the tips and book are helpful in some way! 🔗 Available now: https://lnkd.in/gVVQSwZr #programming #softwarenengineering #leadership