A Career as Tech Lead or Engineering Manager with Patrick Kua

Engineers can get promoted to leadership positions without knowing what is expected of them. It's less of the same and more of a sidestep.

Pat Kua and I discuss the tech lead and engineering manager roles and what makes a person effective being in that role. On top of that we give perspective for people interested in those positions.

Enjoy! 🎙

Connect with Pat Kua:

https://www.patkua.com

https://twitter.com/patkua

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patkua

Pat's newsletter:

https://levelup.patkua.com

Full episode on YouTube ▶️

https://youtu.be/QMS4anI_oJo

New episodes every Wednesday with our host 🎙Patrick Akil!  

Big shoutout to Xebia for making this episode possible!

OUTLINE:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:42 - Different problems in coaching CTOs

00:02:08 - Problems when it comes to team structure

00:03:47 - Coaching aspects

00:06:14 - The tech lead and engineering manager paths are sidesteps

00:08:21 - Mismatch in expectations

00:10:05 - Skills a tech lead requires

00:12:54 - Dealing with people

00:16:44 - Communication challenges

00:18:13 - When is the right time to step into a leadership position?

00:20:51 - Leadership positions are not for everyone

00:23:42 - Learning from others

00:26:21 - Relationship between tech lead and engineering manager

00:31:58 - Pitfall of splitting tech lead and engineering manager

00:34:27 - Conversations about roles and responsibilities

00:36:51 - Leadership teams

00:37:43 - Who is responsible for team effectiveness?

00:40:23 - Pat's favourite role in the past

00:43:47 - Figuring out what you like and dislike doing

00:44:46 - What do you want to do?

00:46:54 - Growth mindset