Practical Guides for leaders at all levels

Podcast episodes & articles!

The Executive's Guide to Maximizing Middle Manager Potential

Your middle managers are more than just intermediaries between your leadership team and employees on the ground. Learn how to equip them with the context, ownership, and clarity they need, and you will not only empower them, but also enhance the overall productivity and morale of your entire organization.

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Breaking Free from the Inertia Trap: How to Get Your Team Members to Take Ownership

Read tried and tested strategies to foster a culture of empowerment, breaking patterns of micromanagement and heroism, and cultivating a mindset where all team members step up and treat challenges as collective opportunities for growth. Foster shared responsibility and collaboration to help your team/organization take more ownership.

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Understanding the Inertia Trap: Why Your Team Members Don’t Take Ownership

"Why is no one stepping up to fix issues?", or "why is no one taking ownership?" are questions a lot of leaders ask themselves at some point. These symptoms are very often the result of organizations or teams that are stuck in an inertia trap: A range of organizational and team dynamics that have them stuck. Understand what's causing this trap will help you identify the most impactful actions to address it.

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Tips to Foster Pragmatism on Your Engineering Teams & Managers

Pragmatism is a critical skill for engineers moving to more senior levels. Learn how balancing pragmatism and idealism can elevate your team's effectiveness, and practical tips to cultivate a culture of pragmatic decision-making, understanding economic implications, and managing capacity wisely.

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What Engineering Metrics Should I Use? A guide for Engineering Managers, Directors, and VPs

Engineering leaders often ask me, “what engineering metrics are actually useful?”, or “which ones have worked for your teams?” This is where I share what metrics I found useful in various roles from engineering manager, to middle manager, to executive, and why.

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How to roll out and use engineering metrics successfully

Did your boss ask you to come up with metrics for your team(s)? Do you need to get your team on board with metrics? Learn the concrete steps you can take to choose and introduce metrics for your team(s) or organization and make them a success.

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Disagree with a company decision? Here's how to share it with your team

What do you do when you’re asked to execute on a company decision with your team(s) and direct reports, but you disagree with the decision? This step-by-step guide will help you navigate a tricky and complex situation.

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How to do annual planning and strategy for an engineering organization

Master the art of annual planning for your engineering organization. Use the steps in this article to create a strategy that helps you hit the ground running, embrace flexibility, and involve your teams for alignment. And: Get a FREE planning template!

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How to Guide your Direct Reports to work as a “First Team”

Middle managers play a crucial role in fostering a "first team" approach among their direct reports, and doing so will help you elevate your role and your organization. Learn how to empower your leaders, build collaboration, and drive organizational change through the power of collective leadership.

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The Middle Manager’s Guide to Engineering Metrics (2): How to choose and use metrics

Learn how to select the right metrics for your organization, implement them effectively, and get actionable insights. I cover how to involve your team in creating meaningful metrics, go from mere numbers to actionable insights, and create a culture of data-driven decision-making.

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The Middle Manager’s Guide to Metrics (1): Why your boss wants metrics

Struggling to implement meaningful engineering metrics in your team or organization? Understand the roles that metrics play at various organizational levels, and learn to use them as a powerful tool for improvement, alignment, and accountability. Whether you're a VP, middle manager, or line manager, this guide unpacks why metrics matter and how to make them work for you.

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How to work with your peer Leads as a “first team” and why it matters

Working as a "first team" with our peer leaders means that we prioritize our peers rather than focusing mainly on our direct reports. Read about how this approach can help you bridge departmental gaps, level up as a leader, and based on what signs you can tell if leaders are operating as a “first team.”

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The Middle Manager’s Guide to Performance Reviews

Performance reviews are one of the most stressful times in any company, especially for leaders in middle management roles. In this article, we’ll help you align the contexts and motivations of all the people involved in this process, so you get the most out of performance reviews.

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The Role of Metrics in Crafting Engineering Culture

Are your engineering metrics doing more harm than good? Metrics aren't just numbers; they shape behavior and define culture. Choosing the right metrics can empower your team and drive performance. Learn how to set balanced, effective metrics that don't just measure, but also matter.

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How to find an effective leadership development coach

Leadership coaching has become increasingly popular amongst leaders at all levels in the tech space, which means there are a lot of options to choose from. In this article, I lay out how to find the right coach for your needs, and how to get the most out of your coaching experience.

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How to Understand, Measure, and improve productivity in your engineering team

Answer your boss's question about your engineering team's performance with this practical guide to effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity. It will help you understand your team's productivity and take steps with your teammates to become more productive while maintaining quality and innovation and taking your team along. With a free Engineering Productivity Cheat Sheet for download!

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Gaining more experience won’t make you more confident at work (and what to do instead)

The topic of confidence at work is tricky - many of us want to feel more confident, but here’s the thing: Doing more, or developing more skills and experience won’t actually help you get there. So how is confidence actually built, and what you can do to feel more confident at work?

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Accountability in leadership: how to hold teams accountable

Struggling with Accountability in Engineering Teams? You're not alone. Learn how to build a culture that thrives on accountability—without sacrificing psychological safety. Marry your leadership values with accountability, overcome common misconceptions, and lead by example for a high-performing team. Master accountability, the unsung hero of effective leadership.

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How to increase accountability while you build high-performing teams

Read about what accountability is and isn’t, how to set up a culture of accountability, and learning from other departments, from my inspiring conversation with Jasmin Jackson-Irwin, a seasoned Revenue Leader who’s built enablement programs in hyper-growth startups.

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