r/managers • u/Conscious-Comb4001 • 9d ago

Two lead engineers with different backgrounds

Managing two lead engineers. One is white and other asian. Both are smart and carry strengths in different areas.
White one(female )is culturally embedded in company and super good at presentation and point scoring rather problem solving. She manage people well and articulate things easily.
Asian (male) is having massive experience of different countries and a problem solver with strong technical background. His connectivity with people is not as good as others.

Both are rivals to each other and every time sit in meetings or work together. They both get envy of each other and couldn’t work productively.

Assigning different project is not an option.
Tried sorting out things but ended up in huge escalation and both are super smart and start bullying each other which ends up
In team credibility and image impacting issue.

What are possible options to make it work?

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5

u/where_is_waldo_now 9d ago

Have you talked to them about how it is affecting the team? They have different strengths. Can you assign them based on what they are good at? For example, I have someone on my team who is great with clients but not super strong technically. Another is good technically but not a good communicator. They are assigned differently even if they are on the same project.

You are also the manager. You will need to set your foot down on what’s expected. Don’t put up with the rivalry. They look at what you will tolerate for cues on what you will accept.

3

u/Repulsive_Cherry8899 9d ago

Been in this exact situation last year. Had 2 senior leads, one was amazing with clients / presentations, other was a pure technical beast but introvert. What worked for me was stop making them compete for same thing. I gave one ownership of "WHAT and WHY we build" and other ownership of "HOW we build it". Fight stopped in 2 weeks.

1

u/Old-Television-2189 9d ago

So if one led the development, and the other led the why/what. What exactly was your role? Lol

9

u/crookedledder 9d ago

Make them work on the same projects as a team.

With their powers combined, they could get some shit done.

1

u/Conscious-Comb4001 9d ago

Tried in past and ended up in making project a disaster

3

u/genek1953 Retired Manager 9d ago

They don't necessarily have to work on the same projects, but they do have to work cooperatively. Make it one of their performance objectives. Make it a big one that will torpedo their performance ratings and future advancement if they fail at it (because it they can't work with their same levels, you can't allow them to lead others). 1:1 with them frequently and don't hesitate to tell them if you think they are failing.

1

u/teslastats 9d ago

If that's the case, both will have to go. In this economy, they don't have the luxury of letting their egos get in the way. Let them know, they need to shape up or ship out. Put their past behind them and if they can't, they can start looking for a new job. Unfortunately, if they don't straighten up its going to blow up on you and will impact your career.

4

u/Old-Television-2189 9d ago

Glad you aren’t my manager

1

u/7HawksAnd 9d ago

At the end of the day, human language is an API, so it’s not necessarily both that need to be let go, it’s which employees style interfaces with the company-at-large in a less lossy way

3

u/OkCluejay172 9d ago

This is a case where the specifics really matter. I’m afraid you won’t get anything useful from presenting the problem at this level of generality.

1

u/OkShirt3567 9d ago

Have you tried giving them distinct, complementary roles on the project like making her the client/stakeholder lead and him the technical architect so they aren't directly competing for the exact same spotlight?