Becoming a Better Technical Leader
If you are interested in some tools to help you implement the ideas in this article and associated book by joining our mailing list. I once left a high paying job merely to escape from my direct boss. It was a good job and I was leading a team I loved, but none of that was worth working for this person. Others on the team joined me out the door over the next few months. That’s the impact of poor leadership and my experience is that the impact is heightened when leading technical teams. I enjoy leading teams of smart, capable people. I’ve also made plenty of mistakes that slowed team progress and project completion. My work and capability took a big leap forward when I read the book “Becoming a Technical Leader” by Gerald Weinberg. “Becoming a Technical Leader” is the rare type of book that has become more relevant over the years. Written over 30 years ago, its importance has only increased for a number of reasons. Here are two … First, the world and workplace is becoming more technical. There are, today, more people who spend their work lives in or managing technical jobs. More and more people need to learn the specific skills related to managing the technical worker, understanding that the distinction is important. In this book, Weinberg lays out a problem-solving approach that is both simple and effective. Second, as technical work has increased the “real” distance between leaders and reports has also increased. The advance of important and effective tools such as Slack, Jira, …
