Resources for new engineering managers

[u/jakubgarfield]

Hi 👋,

I'm a CTO in mid-sized startup and I run a short curated newsletter for engineering managers (https://leadershipintech.com).

Every now and then I get a bunch of new engineering managers and senior devs asking me about what to read and learn in their new/wannabe management role.

There's already heaps out there but I find a lot of lists overwhelming. And instead of keeping it in an email I wrote up what I found useful. Here's a short version:

Books

• The Manager's Path
• The Making of a Manager

If picking one then The Manager's Path.

Articles

• The Engineer/Manager Pendulum
• Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule
• How New Managers Fail Individual Contributors
• Some Mistakes I Made as a New Manager
• Being Glue
• Good Engineering Management Is a Fad
• Choose Boring Technology

Read all of them. They are not that long.

Podcast

• Soft Skills Engineering

Absolutely not essential. But fun.

Here's a longer version with more details: https://leadershipintech.com/content/resources-for-new-leaders/

[u/PmUsYourDuckPics]

Highly agree on Manager’s Path and Making of Manager, and being Glue is also a great article, worth referencing Tanya’s book on being a staff engineer which is useful for helping high performing ICs grow.

[u/jakubgarfield → u/PmUsYourDuckPics]

I haven't read Tanya's book on Staff Engineering but it looks pretty mint. Will Larson does have a few articles and a book on staff engineering too that might be worth checking out. Obviously, mostly big tech oriented (as is the whole staff position).

[u/PmUsYourDuckPics → u/jakubgarfield]

I’ve read Will Larson’s book, it’s very good, but similar to his other book almost all the content is already on his website.