Latest
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From engineer to manager, told from both sides
Every leap from IC to EM is shaped by mentorship, missteps, and moments of clarity. Here’s a rare look at both sides of that journey.
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Be the best ally to your business development team
As a staff+ engineer, being the bridge between engineering and the business development team isn’t always straightforward.
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Crypto is hiring developers. Interested?
With tech hiring in a big freeze, crypto roles are looking more and more attractive to developers, but is it worth the risk?
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Strategies to hone commercial awareness and drive business outcomes
Learn effective strategies for enhancing commercial awareness in tech teams, turning engineering into a business driver through alignment, impactful initiatives, and stakeholder engagement.
Editor’s picks
Engineering leadership is not just about code
If you’re looking to move into an engineering leadership position, you’ll have to do more than brush up on code!
How to find and become a great engineering mentor
Mentoring is a great way to boost your career. Here’s everything you need to know about getting a mentor, and becoming one yourself.
How to navigate unexpected role changes
At one point or another, you may have to face an unexpected role change. It might not be what you want, but there are ways to make it work.
London • June 16 & 17, 2025
Speakers Gergely Orosz, Camille Fournier
and Lara Hogan confirmed
Essential reading
Learning to enjoy the career progression journey
Reaching a management position in the tech industry is hard work. It’s important to remember to enjoy the journey and celebrate victories big and small along the way.
On our Career development playlist
There and back again – A cautionary tale about entering middle management
Explore the realities of middle management through a journey of promotion, stress, and self-reflection, offering guidance on finding the right leadership path.
Unconventional paths in tech: Leveraging your strengths to find your place
n this talk, Mitra Raman will take a look at the many paths that engineers can take on their leadership journey.
Career vectors for technical leaders
Mix and match skills to become the best technical leader that you can be.
The path from Director to CTO: How to follow it, or how to mentor it
This talk is aimed at both aspiring Chief Technology Officers and those who are in a position to mentor future CTOs. Explore the journey from a Director of Engineering role to a CTO, focusing on the skills and experiences needed for this transition and how experienced leaders can guide others on this path.
Essential soft skills you need to succeed as an engineer
There is a big focus on technical expertise in software engineering – but soft skills are equally as important. Which ones are crucial to master and how can you do this?
The festival of engineering leadership
London • June 16 & 17, 2025
More about Career development
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LeadDev editor’s picks: October 2023
September had a back-to-school feel this month at LeadDev, with plenty of advice on how to tame the chaos of context switching, make your team’s work more visible, and contend with the major challenge of needing to “do more with less.”
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Tech is changing, engineering management is not
Engineering managers are being tasked with navigating a totally different industry landscape, but VP of engineering at the New York Times, David Yee, says “Your job actually does not change.”
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Why support and belonging are the final key to developer thriving
Beyond agency, motivation, and learning, a sense of support and belonging shouldn’t be overlooked as a key driver of developer thriving.
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A prioritization framework for uncertain times
Senior Software Engineer at Netflix, Laurie Barth, has some ways to successfully prioritize tasks, including her tried and true “three buckets” model.
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Setting goals and using metrics that motivate
Engineering leaders should use a combination of goals and metrics to motivate their teams to make the biggest possible impact.
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Putting your power into practice as a Staff+ engineer
Matthew Hawthorne discusses how his talk at LeadDev West Coast in October will help Staff+ engineers use their unique standing more effectively.
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The reality of being a VP of Engineering
What does being a VP of Engineering actually involve? Honeycomb’s Emily Nakashima breaks it down.
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Professional growth based on personal passions
Create a career path aligned with your strengths, passions, and values.
Top Career development videos
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Designing an engineering career framework
Anirudh Todi introduces the approach taken when designing and iterating on our engineering career framework at Dropbox.
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So you’re Staff+ … now what?
This talk will cover how to define your development journey as a Senior IC, figuring out what you should be working on, how to set your goals, and keep track of your progress.
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Added to the List: How to build technical domain expertise
In this talk, we go over tips on how to land an opportunity that allows for technical domain exploration, how to efficiently learn from the experience, and how to utilize your new domain expertise for career growth.
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Role and Influence: The IC trajectory beyond Staff
As you become an increasingly senior IC, subtle changes in the scope of your role shape the kinds of influence you can have and are expected to have
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What is senior IC? Flavours of technical leadership
Although the Senior IC ladder is starting to become more defined why aren’t more people talking about this shift, and what does leadership actually look like as Senior IC?
