Episode description

Learn the basics of engineering leadership from seasoned veteran and praised writer of the leadership world: Michael Lopp a. k. a. "Rands". Everything you need to know is in this interview, so you won't have to learn the hard way, like Michael did.

In this interview we're covering:

• The biggest challenge in leadership
• Mastering the finer points of leadership
• The biggest takeaway from decades of leadership experience
• Traits and skills of great engineering leaders
• Daily practices of engineering leadership
• Building your influence
• Common mistakes in engineering leadership
• Building a personal brand as a leader
• Delegating effectively

Excerpt from the interview:

"Engineering leadership is all about your ability to delegate, and it’s hard to do.

You get a big task, hand it to an engineer on your team, and you’re not doing the actual work. Maybe you slice it up into different tasks, and then give it to others. This is fundamentally tough for engineers, because we like building things ourselves.

Leaders don't get to do any of this work. Management is a ton of work, but you don’t do testing, don’t improve performance, don’t do anything that’s been your work as an engineer."

Click here to read the full interview!