Peopleware
On Being an Engineering Manager4 minutes read.
Rui Peres shares his lessons learned from 2017, and so many of them still reminds me of how complex and emotional it is serving a team of engineers, these two above all: "Striking the balance between keeping a good relationship and having a tough conversation is tricky and no article or book prepares you for that." and "That warm feeling you get after shipping a feature is gone. In the half year, the imposter syndrome hit like a train. As a manager, it's difficult to quantify what I, as a single individual, deliver."
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When Your Manager Isn't Supporting You, Build A Voltron4 minutes read.
Try helping managers in your company build the support system they need to operate. It's so easy to make mistakes; it's so hard to know what is "right" for day to day dilemmas. It can be internally, with a forum of managers from the organization, or externally with a coach or a group of people from various companies. This tip by Lara Callender Hogan is critical if you want others to help you more than once: "If you’re asking someone for support, identify what you need before you meet, and go so far as to write down questions in advance and identify what else you’ve tried to solve this problem. Make good use of their time."
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A Visualization of The Transition From Individual Contributor to Manager.1 minute read.
I kind of wish there was a "contribution visualization" for managers, some way to make it as immediate and clear as committing code. For managers out there who miss these moments yet fulfilled in their role.
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