Paving the way for new software engineering managers: Key principles for the design of my leadership development program
In this post I am going to explain the essential characteristics of my leadership development program “Engineering Management Tapas” for new software engineering managers, team leads and tech leads with people development responsibilities.
It is those key principles altogether that enable true behavior change of your new managers when it comes to the development and application of modern leadership skills.
This post is particularly useful for CTOs, Directors or Heads of Software Engineering, Heads of People, HR Leaders, and Learning & Development Leaders who are looking for a learning program tailored to the specific needs of engineering leaders and with a high return on investment (ROI).
Specifically, I will explain:
Why I made my learning program easily digestible and not too time consuming
How I make participants apply immediately what they have just learned
What most relevant leadership topics for new engineering leads are covered
How my training material is scientifically backed
How I provide measuring sticks for the value and effectiveness of management work
Why awareness about leadership motives, values and vision is important
The advantages of continuous support through confidential 1:1 coaching
The story behind my program
When I started my coaching business as an executive coach I quickly realized that 1:1 coaching for first-time leads tended to be somehow less effective than for the more experienced executives among my clients. Of course, professional coaching holds the potential to effectively address the myriad individual leadership challenges often encountered during the transition into management. But often I found that too much basic knowledge and understanding of modern leadership were still lacking when it came to coaching very new managers. This is why I quickly draw the conclusion that coaching alone is not the most effective way to help people grow successfully into their new leadership role.
Because of these reasons and in the spirit of life-long and continuous learning, I came up with my leadership development program “Engineering Management Tapas for new software engineering managers" which provides new leaders with a very personal and individual guidance over the course of 6 months through interwoven training videos, hands-on exercises and 1:1 coaching sessions like you can see in the figure below:
4-week module structure and timeline
Unfortunately, it is not unusual in the startup and tech industry that new leaders don’t receive any effective leadership training when transitioning. This tendency inevitably leads to significant and costly repercussions in terms of employee and team performance, as well as retention. Only think about the average cost of 50-250% of an annual salary to replace a highly skilled professional (according to LinkedIn). In the best case scenario, new managers are sent to a two-day workshop where all leadership wisdom gets thrown at them at once and in big chunks that are very hard to digest and, even worse, are impossible for them to apply in their day-to-day leadership later.
Learn how you can equip your new leads with more effective support for growing into their new roles by reading this article.
Key principle 1: Compressed & easily digestible knowledge transfer (don’t overwhelm)
We all know that managers are usually very short on time. Especially, new leaders struggle a lot with time and self-management from my experience. This is why I found it crucial to create a training program that is easily digestible and can be consumed in small bits and bites. Therefore every training module consists of only very short training videos (aka Engineering Management Tapas*) with a length of <= 12 minutes. For example, as a participant of my program you could decide to consume one or two tapas every workday during your afternoon coffee break. (Btw, the “Tapas” part in the name of my program stems from Avdi Grimm’s programming screencast series “Ruby Tapas” that I enjoyed watching many years ago. Every Ruby Tapas video was only about 2-10 minutes long and I very much enjoyed learning Ruby in small bits and bites.)
Overall, the expected time investment for the participants of my program is only 1 hour/week. I usually recommend adding a weekly repeating 1-hour calendar blocker to reserve that precious learning time.
Key principle 2: Make participants immediately apply what they have just learned
We all know that humans learn best when learning is contextualized by the immediate application of the theory into practice. This is why I make the attendees of my program become practical via small hands-on or self-reflections exercises. Those knowledge transfer tasks (aka homework) come in the form of worksheets. You might know that people with a technical background usually love tools. This is one of the reasons I introduce a lot of leadership tools throughout my program. I then make the new leads become hands-on with those tools during their day-to-day leadership as part of their homework (See example homework here). At the end of the program, the new managers leave with a foundational leadership toolbox that they can rely on when it comes to executing their new responsibilities with confidence. The strong focus of my program on the immediate application on what was just learned makes my program stand out with a very high return on investment (ROI).
Key principle 3: Include the most relevant topics for new engineering leads
Drawing from my own experience becoming a software engineering manager some years ago but also drawing from interviews I did with other experienced engineering leaders from my professional network, I came up the the following 6 most relevant learning topics to start with:
Understanding the EM role
Employee engagement & performance
Effective 1:1 meetings
People & career development
Creating safe & inclusive environments
Improving software delivery performance
It is not surprising that most of the modules are focused on people management topics as this is typically the area where new engineering managers need to grow the most. All modules, though, are always put into a software engineering context, e.g., when I explain new concepts with the help of examples. I will be adding more relevant modules to the list as soon as possible. Find out a bit more about the contents of the 6 modules on my “Available training modules“ page or by snacking a short tapa to get the taste.
Key principle 4: Use scientifically-backed leadership resources
Furthermore, it was a great priority of mine to introduce modern leadership principles in a scientifically-backed way and by referring to the most relevant books on the subject matters included in my training course.
For example, I am referring to books like:
“Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” by Daniel Pink
“First, Break all the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently” by Gallup
“The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth” by Amy C. Edmondson and
“Accelerate - The Science Behind Devops: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations” by Ph.D. Forsgren, Nicole & Co which are all backed by academia.
Key principle 5: Provide measuring sticks for the effectiveness and value of management work
Usually new engineering leads are having a really hard time measuring and seeing the value of their work as a manager. This is not surprising as the feedback loops of management work are much longer compared to programming where software tests are either green or red after a code change. This is why new EMs tend to feel unproductive and unhappy when onboarding in their new role. Unfortunately, at the end of their working days, they often lack a sense of productivity and achievement. This is why they often long to go back to the hands-on duties of an individual contributor making it even harder for them to transition effectively.
Therefore, I put a lot of emphasis on providing the new leads with several measuring sticks that are usually coming in the form of scientifically-backed employee surveys. My clients are not necessarily supposed to really run those benchmarks in their teams but still these questionnaires give them really valuable clues and guidance to gauge their effectiveness as managers.
Key principle 6: Strengthen awareness about personal leadership motives and values
Usually, one of the biggest challenges for software engineers transitioning into management is what I call “Giving up your legos”. Moving to the management career track means working much less hands-on and doing much less coding. Those highly skilled senior software engineers have worked so hard to build their technical expertise and reputation in order to get to where they are. And now they are stepping into completely new territory which requires in large parts a completely different skill set.
This usually makes new leads feel insecure and I believe it is always worth getting more clarity and awareness around why you want to move into management and “Give up your legos”, nevertheless. So in the beginning of my leadership development program, participants are asked to express their leadership motives, values and vision when it comes to developing their team.
Key principle 7: Tailored support and guidance through trustful 1:1 coaching
Finally, the real strength and USP of my leadership development program is that it comes in the form of a very individual companionship and guidance through a trustful 1:1 coaching relationship with an external personal coach. This collaboration includes 6 coaching sessions and will roughly span over the course of 6 months.
In our sessions I coach the new leaders on their current most pressing challenges of their day-to-day leadership. In every single coaching session we will focus on what moves my clients forward in this moment, so that they can take home a result at the end of each session.
As a certified systemic personal & business coach my coaching approach is "I help you to help yourself" by applying well-proven coaching methods. This means that usually I won’t give advice. It is this attitude which is essential in the classical coaching mindset where it is a fundamental belief that the clients themselves are the best experts for their own and very individual solutions. As a coach, I cannot know which solution will work best for my coachees. Besides, self-developed solutions have a much more lasting effect because they are custom-made.
In my coaching sessions we will mostly talk, but also use flip charts, facilitation cards, playing figures, digital whiteboards, and other tools. My questions and exercises help my clients to take new perspectives and discover possibilities they haven't thought of before. They will come up with ideas themselves that may have been dormant inside them for a long time.
When coaching new managers and only where helpful and appropriate, I will also offer advice exceptionally and act as a mentor. I will always make it transparent, though, whenever I change hats and leave the classic coaching role.
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I hope my explanations help you to understand if the support I offer with “Engineering Management Tapas“ can be beneficial for your new engineering leads as well. If you are interested or have any open questions, please feel free to schedule a get-to-know conversation via my Calendly. Thanks!
