The Subtle Dynamics Of Leading Without Authority As A Technical Lead

@orenellenbogen

“ We can make it all better by using microservices ”

WHEN MANAGERS SAY…

When you say "The code is not really that bad” I hear ”I’m blind and naïve”

When you say "We need to start moving faster”

I hear "Do you really need to see your family in the next 18 months?"

WHEN MAKERS SAY…

When you say "we should really start using X”

I hear "there was some really cool discussion about X in Hacker News"

When you say ”The code here is crap, we have to refactor it”

I hear ”It’s Tuesday again"

@orenellenbogen

Head of Engineering at

I also got hobbies:http://SoftwareLeadWeekly.com/http://LeadingSnowflakes.com/

http://lnbogen.com/

Given technical expertise, the intentional effort of building trust with others builds your authority.

Authority + kindness technical leadership.

THE GIST?

[1] Willingness to build trust. It requires a lot of effort.

[2] Good faith. It’s a relationship.

2 ASSUMPTIONS:

BUILDING TRUST WITH YOUR TEAMMATES and get a cool t-shirt too!

<1>

“Got a bullet stuck where?

Lets talk about your diet first”

PAIN LEVEL AWARENESS

Before you enter your next meeting:What is your role in the discussion?

CONTEXT AWARENESS<1> OWNER <2> CONSULTANT <3> PREACHER

• You’re responsible for the delivery & outcome.

• Lead the agenda and direction.• Set an example.

OWNER

• You’re here to assist.• Don’t steal their thunder.• Be concise and pragmatic.

CONSULTANT

• You were not requested.• You will rarely understand their

underlying pains. • Help them imagine how it can be like,

step by step. Carefully.

PREACHER

BE AVAILABLEIf you’re communicating panic, don’t be surprised when people stop showing up.

Own your time.

Lift your teammates' skills.

People want to be around others who make them better. Be that person.

TEACH TO EDUCATE, NOT TO CONVINCE

Pragmatic vs theoretical balance?Overshadowing others?Stealing “interesting” work?

Be sincere and people will open up.

CREATE A P2P FEEDBACK LOOP

BUILDING TRUST WITH YOUR MANAGER

<2>

PROBLEM > SOLUTION(S)

Figure out how you can help your manager and company win.

Understand immediate pains vs long-term thinking.

BUSINESS AWARENESS

Feeling that you’re fighting instead of collaborating?

Be explicit about your views and assumptions. Ask for clarifications where needed.

ARTICULATE MISMATCH

• What can go wrong?• Milestones?• Backup plan?• Rough estimations?• Can you own it? If not, who can?• Do we trust that person?

PATH > DESTINATION

Organizational communication is built around it to create alignment.

Don’t be a buffer.

Push > pull information.

USE ESTIMATIONS & MILESTONES WISELY

This can reduce managerial load.

Help estimate & prioritize technical debt. Own the backlog.

Figure out ratio of investment together with your manager.

Judge old decisions with grace

OWN CODE QUALITY

Communication skills are underrated.

• Emails (status, postmortems)• Internal Wiki• Blog posts• Quora / StackOverflow

TIP: who’s great at it in your company? Learn from them.

WRITE MORE OFTEN

UNICORN ALERT?

I DID*NOT SMOKEANYTHING.

* intentionally

THANK YOU

WE’RE HIRING!

@orenellenbogenoren@forter.com