├── LICENSE └── README.md /LICENSE: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | MIT License 2 | 3 | Copyright (c) 2024 Ankit Jain 4 | 5 | Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy 6 | of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal 7 | in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights 8 | to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell 9 | copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is 10 | furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: 11 | 12 | The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all 13 | copies or substantial portions of the Software. 14 | 15 | THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR 16 | IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, 17 | FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE 18 | AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER 19 | LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, 20 | OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE 21 | SOFTWARE. 22 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /README.md: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | # awesome-managers 2 | 3 | There aren't many engineers who aspire to grow into technical **Software Engineering Managers**. Instead, most seem to lean toward roles like Tech Lead or Architect. Why is that? Well, people often think management is tough. And they’re right. This role goes beyond just being good with technology. **It’s easier to tackle technical challenges, but getting people to work together and trust you?** That’s where it gets tricky. The real question is: are you up for it? 4 | 5 | Being an Engineering Manager or Leader requires a unique mix of skills, and you **have to wear a lot of hats to be truly effective**. Sure, finding all of these skills in one person is rare, but the good news is—you can always learn and grow. A great engineering manager should always be a learner, someone who’s constantly challenging their past perceptions, staying aware of the tech landscape, being the first user of the product, making decisions, mentoring others, and driving success for everyone involved. 6 | 7 | Instead of diving into lengthy books, **I prefer to learn from real experiences** and advice shared by others. These nuggets of wisdom are often found in journal articles or blog posts, which give me a broader perspective on how others are navigating their roles and what I can do to improve. Below, I’ve curated a list of articles and advice that have helped me on my journey to becoming a better software engineering leader—and I hope they’ll help you too! 8 | 9 | _Note: There are plenty of reading lists out there, but this one is my personal recommendation based on what I’ve read and found useful._ 10 | 11 | ### I become Software Engineering Manager so... 12 | * [Don’t Even Think About Taking That Manager Job If You Can’t Do This](https://www.girlboss.com/work/first-time-manager-checklist) 13 | * [Lessons Learned in First Year](https://swaroopch.com/2018/11/15/engineering-management-lessons-learned-in-first-year/) This role is not about the tech. It is also about the tech. It is primarily about the people. Your puzzle is no longer just technology. Your puzzle is humans first and technology next. 14 | * [It is not a promotion. It is a career change](http://fractio.nl/2014/09/19/not-a-promotion-a-career-change/) You exist to think about the bigger picture, to remove roadblocks and eliminate interruptions for the people you work with, to build relationships and trust. You exist to promote the group and individual achievements. Your job is to be a multiplier! 15 | 16 | ### Behaviors 17 | 18 | * [Servant Leadership](https://adl.io/essays/why-software-development-requires-servant-leaders/) - The best managers see blockers coming and act early to prevent them from ever surfacing. They way good QA team stretches the software to its limit, a good manager stretches the requirements to their limit to ensure they’re not broken! 19 | * [How to Be a Person Who Can Make a Damn Decision](https://melmagazine.com/how-to-be-a-person-who-can-make-a-damn-decision-c8e374d01d52) - Often, any decision is better than no decision at all 20 | * [What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/what-google-learned-from-its-quest-to-build-the-perfect-team.html) - How often did teammates socialize outside the office? 21 | * [Techie to tech lead: My five biggest mistakes](https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/techie-tech-lead-my-5-biggest-mistakes) - I believed my technical ability entitled me to lead. I wanted to control, everything when I needed to empower others. etc. 22 | * [Become a Productive Engineering Manager](http://theengineeringmanager.com/management-101/feeling-productive/) - (a) work towards “inbox zero”, (b) every meeting has to be in there in calendar, (c) start day with a prioritized to-do list, etc. 23 | * [Trust - the Key Success Factor for Teams & Organisations](https://www.slideshare.net/marin_dimitrov/trust-the-key-success-factor-for-teams-organisations) - Marin Dimitrov talks about - why trust is a key success factor for every team and every organisation, some good practices for building, and most common mistakes related to trust building. 24 | * [6 Mistakes You’re Going to Make as a New Manager](https://terriblesoftware.org/2024/12/04/the-6-mistakes-youre-going-to-make-as-a-new-manager/) Moving from an Individual Contributor (IC) to a manager is a significant career step. Matheus Lima describes his first couple of years as an Engineering Manager, realized lessons, and built a goal around. 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | ### Mentoring Your Team 29 | 30 | * [Why Developers Become Frustrated And Companies Can’t Find Talent 🔊](https://codeburst.io/why-developers-become-frustrated-and-companies-cant-find-talent-c4114d8b72ac) 31 | * [1 to 1s](http://theengineeringmanager.com/management-101/121s/) - (a) A private space is where you build rapport and trust, (b) to exercise your influence (BY offerING advice, opinions, coaching, and support), (c) manager should do only 30% of the talking - it’s their meeting, (d) check on goals - shows that you are thinking of their development. 32 | * [Running effective 1 to 1 meetings](https://blog.impraise.com/360-feedback/how-to-run-effective-one-on-one-meetings-as-manager) Talks about - setting the mindset and free form meeting, asking right questions, making it informal with no agenda,. 33 | * Coaching to retain, create new opportunities for people to learn and grow - [TODO - Find] 34 | * [Clarity is not just a professional courtesy—it's an act of kindness](https://www.thecaringtechie.com/p/how-to-cultivate-clarity-and-kindness) - When we make clarity a priority, we achieve two important things: (a) We improve our work results. (b) We create a better workplace for everyone 35 | ### Project Execution 36 | 37 | * [Stop future proofing software](https://medium.com/@george3d6/stop-future-proofing-software-c984cbd65e78) - We need **X**, despite **Y** being a much easier alternative, because when **Z**, it will make our lives easier. 38 | * [Imaginary Problems Are the Root of Bad Software](https://medium.com/s/story/imaginary-problems-d4f2921bd1b8) - Just because they’re fun to solve doesn’t mean they’re relevant 39 | * [In Pursuit of Production Minimalism](https://brandur.org/minimalism) - While complexity is never a conscious design goal of any project, it arises inherently as new features are pursued or new components are introduced. KISS (“keep it simple, stupid”) - a principle that suggests glibly that systems should be designed to be as simple as possible. 40 | 41 | 42 | ### ROI - Return Of Investment 43 | 44 | * [Boost ROI on your next development project!](https://medium.com/@MentorMate/boost-roi-on-your-next-development-project-10768dc8e8) - Ask - to get clarity. Be Vocal - to understand pain points. Cull existing metrics - measure metrics! 45 | * Success For All - [TODO - Ankit] 46 | 47 | ### Hiring / Recruiting ### 48 | 49 | TODO ref: 50 | 1. https://twitter.com/jasonlk/status/1037553524408635392 51 | 2. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6447520396286717952/ 52 | 53 | --- 54 | 55 | If you have more time to explore this topic, here are a few more references that you can dive into. Some of these are structured as courses, while others are curated lists from fellow leaders. I haven’t gone through all of them, but they seem promising and worth checking out! 56 | 57 | ### Courses 58 | 59 | * [Management 101](http://theengineeringmanager.com/management-101/) - talks about your first job as a manager, 1-1 with team, when people leave, art of delegation, hiring, etc. 60 | 61 | 62 | ### Further Reading and Reference Material 63 | * [Awesome list - Awesome Leadership and Management](https://github.com/LappleApple/awesome-leading-and-managing#awesome-leadership-and-management-) 64 | * [Advice from Hacker News users: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn? 65 | ](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18823616) 66 | 67 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------