from Hacker News

Ask HN: Senior Engineers–What's Stopping You from Leading?

by josht on 12/2/24, 11:04 PM with 2 comments

A few years ago, I transitioned from a software engineering role into leadership, becoming the team lead of a cross-disciplinary team of nearly 20 at a multinational biopharma company. That journey—from individual contributor to leader—was challenging but transformative, and it gave me insights I’m now eager to share.

I know many senior and lead engineers are curious about stepping into leadership roles but face unique challenges and uncertainties. I’m organizing informal 1:1 calls to better understand how I can help engineers like you navigate this transition successfully.

During the call, we’ll discuss topics like:

- The challenges and frustrations of moving into leadership.

- Common fears and struggles in the transition.

- What an ideal solution or support system would look like for your journey.

This isn’t a sales pitch—just an opportunity for open, honest conversation. I'm not selling anything. My goal is to listen, share insights from my journey, and learn how I can better support engineers like you.

If you’re interested, you can book a time to chat with me here: https://calendly.com/josh-tichauer/45min.

Let’s connect and explore how to make your leap to leadership smoother and more rewarding!

  • by gibbitz on 12/3/24, 12:00 AM

    If I was interested in people I would likely have gone into business/management in school. I imagine if that were the case, I would probably have not liked software development much either. I've consistently chosen to continue to develop and it breaks the minds of management who can't understand why I don't want to be in leadership. Often development career paths in corporate America end in leadership positions. It's a different job -- one I don't feel qualified to do just because I'm good at the other one. I think this helps to show how people can fail up in an organization and that oftentimes management is a place to store good employees to keep them away from the competition. Don't get me wrong, there are people who do a job who make fine managers, but that's a happy accident in my view, and not a logical progression.