20240608 QFM019 Engineering Leadership Reading List May 2024

Everything I found interesting about Engineering Leadership in May 2024

1. Quantum Fax Machine
QFM019: Engineering Leadership
Reading List May 2024
quantumfaxmachine.com
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2. QFM019: Engineering Leadership
Reading List May 2024
In this month's Engineering Leadership Reading List, we kick off with Nicola Ballotta's Don't Manage Up, Team Up
Instead, which challenges traditional hierarchical management, advocating for a collaborative "Teaming Up" approach. This
article highlights the importance of mutual help, open communication, and shared responsibility, emphasizing equality and
distributed leadership as keys to fostering innovation and collaboration within teams. The Key Takeaways from the 2024
Tech Leader Compensation Survey reveals ongoing industry turbulence, with disparities in compensation and an increase
in interim and advisory roles. This survey underscores the need for tech leaders to navigate hybrid work environments and
address equity gaps to maintain competitive advantage and team morale.
Effective communication is a recurring theme this month. Vinita Bansal's How to be Direct Without Being Rude provides
practical strategies for maintaining honesty and empathy in conversations, crucial for leaders aiming to foster a respectful
and transparent work culture. Similarly, Managing High Performers emphasises the need for structure, feedback, and
clear expectations to help high performers reach their full potential, highlighting the delicate balance between guidance
and autonomy.
In a thought-provoking piece, 3 reasons you shouldn't hire a Technical CTO, Allan Degnan humorously argues the essential
role of technical competency in leadership, illustrating the pitfalls of non-technical leadership through satire. This theme is
echoed in Culture of Competency, which stresses the interconnectedness of technical skills and cultural alignment in
driving business performance.
Low Process Culture, High Process Culture – Accidentally in Code examines the transition from low-process to high-
process cultures. The article explores the benefits and challenges of both approaches, emphasising that true success
often depends on a collective mindset and the willingness to transcend procedural compliance.
Finally, The Anatomy of a Successful Team Squad delves into the implementation of the Spotify Squad Model, highlighting
the balance of autonomy and agility with the need for supportive culture and leadership. And We're in the midst of a
fundamental shift in leadership discusses the shift from positional authority to influence-based leadership, drawing
lessons from activists and thought leaders to inspire and motivate teams.
As always, the Quantum Fax Machine Propellor Hat Key will guide your browsing. Enjoy!
Key:
: Mentions technology
: Talks about technology in real-world use cases
: Talks about details of machine intelligence technologies
: Using and working with machine intelligence technologies in software
: Programming new machine intelligence concepts and implementations
Source: Photo by Khyta on Unsplash
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3. Don't Manage Up, Team Up Instead
(hybridhacker.email): Nicola Ballotta argues
that "Managing Up" reinforces hierarchical
structures that stifle innovation and
collaboration, advocating instead for a
"Teaming Up" approach where mutual help,
open communication, and shared
responsibility drive team success. Ballotta
provides practical steps and addresses
challenges to implement this collaborative
method, emphasising the importance of
equality and distributed leadership within
teams.
#TeamCollaboration #Leadership
#WorkCulture #Innovation #Teamwork
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4. Key Takeaways from the 2024 Tech Leader
Compensation Survey (ctocraft.com): The
2024 Tech Leader Compensation Survey
highlights that tech leaders face ongoing
industry turbulence, with significant job
changes and disparities in compensation,
particularly in equity value between men and
women. Despite most leaders working in
hybrid or remote settings, North America
continues to offer higher average
compensation compared to Europe, and there
is a notable increase in interim and advisory
roles.
#TechLeadership #CompensationTrends
#HybridWork #EquityGap #TechIndustry
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5. How to be Direct Without Being Rude
(techtello.com): The article by Vinita Bansal
emphasises the importance of being direct
in communication without being rude,
highlighting the need for careful word
choice, empathy, and humility. It outlines
strategies such as avoiding judgemental
language, balancing honesty with inquiry,
backing opinions with evidence, and
refraining from using authority to ensure
conversations are effective and respectful.
#CommunicationSkills #Directness
#Empathy #Humility
#EffectiveCommunication
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6. 3 reasons you shouldn't hire a Technical CTO
(linkedin.com): The article uses some (not so subtle
satire) to argue against hiring a non-technical CTO
for technology-driven businesses, emphasising that
technical competency is crucial for effective
software development and operational success. It
contends that a competent technical leadership can
streamline processes, reduce errors, and foster a
productive culture, whereas a lack of technical skills
can lead to inefficiency and strategic missteps. When
I first read this, I completely missed the #satire
hashtag in a footnote at the end and then proceeded
to try (in good faith) to tear down the article using
logic and reason. I should have just let the article do
the talking.
#TechLeadership #SoftwareDevelopment
#BusinessStrategy #CTO #HiringPractices
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7. Low Process Culture, High Process Culture
– Accidentally in Code (cate.blog): The
author shares their experience
transitioning from a low-process to a high-
process work culture, highlighting the
challenges and benefits of both. They
emphasise that while processes can
ensure adequacy and avoid pitfalls, true
success often depends on the collective
mindset and the willingness to go beyond
mere procedural compliance.
#WorkCulture #ProcessManagement
#Feedback #Teamwork #CareerGrowth
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8. Software Engineering Onboarding -
Defining The Rules of Fun
(startupstash.com): The article emphasises
the importance of an effective and efficient
onboarding process for new software
engineering employees, highlighting the
need for clarity, quick integration, and a
focus on work-life balance through
practices like defining core working hours,
minimising meetings, and fostering
continuous learning.
#Onboarding #SoftwareEngineering
#WorkLifeBalance
#EmployeeWellbeing #StartupCulture
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9. The Anatomy of a Successful Team Squad - by
Nicola Ballotta (hybridhacker.email): This article
details an experiment with implementing the
Spotify Squad Model within a team to manage
increasing workloads and improve focus on new
features, highlighting the benefits of autonomy,
agility, and innovation while also addressing
challenges like over-reliance on autonomy and
resource intensity. The article emphasises that
while the Squad Model can offer significant
advantages, its success depends on a supportive
culture, strong leadership, and careful
adaptation to specific organisational contexts.
#TeamSquad #AgileDevelopment
#SpotifyModel #Leadership #Innovation
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10. Managing High Performers
(staysaasy.com): The article provides advice
on managing high performers, suggesting
that even the best employees need
structure, feedback, and clear expectations
to reach their full potential. Managers
should actively guide high performers,
engage in career planning, pay them
competitively, and address any issues
promptly to maintain their motivation and
effectiveness.
#Leadership #Management
#HighPerformers #CareerDevelopment
#EmployeeEngagement
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11. The Secret Ingredient of the Successful
Team - by Hagai Levin (medium.com):
Hagai Levin attributes the success of his
current team to the genuine care they have
for their products, customers, and each
other, which fosters an agile and highly
productive work environment, contrasting
with his previous experience where a lack
of care led to lower motivation and
effectiveness.
#TeamSuccess #WorkCulture
#AgileTeams #Leadership
#EmployeeEngagement
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12. Why can’t I focus? (peterszasz.com): This
article discusses common reasons for
difficulty in maintaining focus, such as
multitasking, overcommitting, and unclear
goals, and offers practical solutions like
embracing single-tasking, setting clear
priorities, and practicing mindfulness and
structured recovery sessions to enhance
concentration and mental resilience.
#Focus #Productivity #Mindfulness
#SingleTasking #MentalHealth
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13. How to be a great team player - by James
Samuel (softwareleads.substack.com):
James Samuel emphasises that great
teams achieve synergy when members
work together harmoniously, fostering
psychological safety, sharing knowledge,
offering encouragement, providing
feedback, and holding each other
accountable, which collectively elevate the
team's performance beyond individual
capabilities.
#Teamwork #Synergy #Leadership
#Collaboration #EngineeringTeams
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14. We're in the midst of a fundamental shift in
leadership (fastcompany.com): The article
discusses a significant shift in leadership
dynamics, highlighting that traditional
models relying on positional authority are
being replaced by influence-based
approaches. It argues that effective
leadership now emphasises referent,
expert, and informational power, drawing
lessons from activists and thought leaders
to inspire and motivate without coercion.
#LeadershipShift #InfluencePower
#ThoughtLeadership #RemoteWork
#EmpathyInLeadership
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15. Culture of Competency (linkedin.com): The
article argues that technical competency is
crucial for technology companies,
emphasizing that both culture and tech
skills are interconnected. It highlights that
competent technical leadership improves
software delivery efficiency and overall
business performance, while poor hiring
practices and undervaluing skills can lead to
significant operational issues.
#TechLeadership #CompetencyMatters
#SoftwareDevelopment
#DigitalTransformation
#TechCulture
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16. Thank you!
[email protected]
matthewsinclair.com
masto.ai/@matthewsinclair
medium.com/@matthewsinclair
twitter.com/@matthewsinclair
Originally published on quantumfaxmachine.com.
Also cross-published on Medium.
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Image: Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash
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