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I write for engineers. I write about web technology, coding patterns, and best practices from my learnings.
My journey is a bit of a bumpy one and full of learnings. I'm so grateful for the experience and the people that help me along the way.
I recently joined a European public company as a Lead Software Engineer. The role is part of the leadership model in the company with the responsibility of Principal Software Engineer and Senior Engineering Manager. It's as challenging as it sounds to shift from being an individual contributor to having a duo responsibility, but I was prepared. I want to share all the resources that have had a tremendous impact on my road to tech leadership with you.
My hope is that regardless of your background or where you are in your career, some of these resources here can help unblock you or offer you inspiration when you need them.
Your relationship with yourself is as important, if not more, as your relationships with others.
After I found my center, I noticed a clarity to communicate authentically. It helps me discuss without arguing from ego, and provide candid feedback during 1:1s with my peers and talents. I'm able to form more meaningful relationships and communicate more effectively.
It's important to think about your way of scaling your influence and impact.
I started off my leadership journey by helping a small but important project without a lead title. I took care of the tedious work no one wanted to do like organizing documentation, taking meeting minutes, and following up on actions. As I got more years under my belt, I was involved in bigger projects. More teams, higher stakes, longer time budgets, higher complexities. My focus turned to how to empower all parties involved to iterate and deliver, and at the same time be helpful in alignment on tech excellence.
Tech leadership is not one size fits all to me at all. I'm not the most outspoken engineer. I listen. I'm empathetic, thorough, and unwavering, and I believe my best work comes from solitude.
I have no doubt that you can be true to who you are and be an outstanding leader.
Itâs clear to me that building a consistent product people love correlates with a company culture that values tech excellence. Ari Balogh, CTO at Airbnb, wrote the article âCommitment to Craftâ and it captured my notion. I believe the pursuit of craft not only facilitates an individualâs lateral and vertical growth, but also equips a companyâs economic growth.
Always learningđ
My curiosity took me on a wild ride in tech.
Commit to your craft.
The potential in tech is limitless. Sometimes your journey might be tough, but donât be discouraged. There is so much amazing wisdom in books and articles within your reach to help you accomplish your vision.
Letâs get itđ
This article is originally posted on Daw-Chihâs website.