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From navigating power dynamics as a manager, to protecting yourself from burnout, here are the five articles engineering managers absolutely need to read from October on LeadDev.
1. Pat Kua, Navigating power dynamics as a manager
Power dynamics in the workplace are a fact of life, but that doesn’t mean managers can’t take steps to mitigate the worst aspects of these imbalances. Pat Kua thoughtfully lays out five ways to manage power imbalances and eventually use your management power for good.
“If you are in a manager role, there will always be a power imbalance between you and other team members, so recognize it,” he writes.
2. Cassidy Williams, Four ways to protect yourself from burnout
In this personal article, Cassidy Williams, Head of Developer Education and Experience at Remote, talks about her own experiences with burnout, how to spot the warning signs and, most importantly, four practical ways to protect yourself from suffering the same fate.
“Burning out was a hard, valuable lesson for me. I knew I had to make some changes,” she writes.
3. Jason Lengstorf, Tech leadership mistakes that ruin productivity (and how to fix them)
It may be easy for engineering leaders to place blame when productivity levels aren’t where they want them to be. But here, Jason Lengstorf, VP of Developer Experience at Netlify, identifies a common set of mistakes leaders make that have a direct impact on developer productivity.
“Remember: if an entire class is failing, it’s probably worth looking into the teacher to see where the problem is,” he writes.
4. Gina Trapani, Why impatience is a virtue in engineering leaders
Good engineering leaders will focus on clarity, removing friction, and helping their teams reach their goals as efficiently as possible. In this article, Gina Trapani, CEO of Postlight, explains why patience might not always be a virtue for engineering leaders who want to get stuff done.
“In leaders, impatience can actually be borne out of a combination of positive traits. Impatience is an expression of ambition and optimism – a belief that we can get ahead more quickly,” she writes.
5. Riccardo Cocetta, Making an impact as a new manager of managers
Making the step up from managing a single team to becoming a managers of managers can seem daunting, but you are in good hands with Riccardo Cocetta, Director of Engineering for Auth0 at Okta. In this article, Cocetta focuses on the initial steps a new manager of managers can take to make an immediate impact.
“It takes a change of mindset to go from helping folks to grow as engineers, to helping folks grow as managers, and taking on the new responsibility of supporting skip-level reports, but it’s rewarding work,” he writes.
