Knowledge shared by our community

Why It Is Time to Think About Women Leadership

This article discusses the difficulties faced by a woman leader in the corporate world in India. It outlines the actions taken to address the problem, such as bi-weekly catch-ups, building relationships, and reading a book on how to win friends and influence people. It also provides lessons learned, such as understanding people's emotional baggage, managing people differently, and not taking on too much responsibility.

Successfully Handling Team Transition

A woman joined a company in 2018 and faced the challenge of transitioning the entire system from Denmark to India, building up the team in India from scratch, and managing projects without disrupting the usual business. She and her team overcame the challenge by introducing agile scrum, hiring more people, and building up their knowledge base. This experience taught her the importance of agile transformation, leadership skills, and active listening.

Giving Back to Other Women in the Industry

This article discusses the importance of mentorship and networking for women in the industry, and the need for a sponsor or advocate in executive leadership. It also highlights the importance of connecting with leaders and extending oneself outward to find success. The author shares her experience of being part of a women's committee at Microsoft and a centralized group of women at her current company, and how she has played the role of mentor and mentee many times.

Scaling Purposefully

This story recounts the experience of growing an organization from twenty to over one hundred and thirty people in a year and a half. The author learned a lot and made mistakes along the way, and now has a 20/20 perspective on what they would have done differently. They had to manage three teams, hire managers, and adjust to the virtual environment during the pandemic. They used virtual bootcamps and a monthly newsletter to help the team connect and celebrate their wins.

Knowing When It’s Time to Move On

After fourteen years of service at Microsoft, the author decided to leave and try something new. They realized that their growth had stagnated and wanted to explore something new. After looking into other companies and industries, they decided to join a new team in a new company. They experienced success in the new team, but eventually the direction of the product changed and they felt compelled to move again. They have since found a new team that they are passionate about and have grown a lot since joining. The author emphasizes the importance of recognizing when something is not working and having the courage to make a change.

Balancing Work and Family

After having two children two years apart, the author found it difficult to manage her work and home life. She was feeling guilty and was ready to quit her job, but her husband encouraged her to take a break instead. She took six weeks off to spend with her children and realized that she was more than just a mom, wife, and daughter. She learned the importance of having a plan and scheduling her life in order to manage her responsibilities.

Being an Advocate for Other Women

A woman in the industry was looking for an organization that valued diversity and inclusion. She was one of the first few employees hired for a start-up division of a larger parent company and formed a national, company-wide women’s committee. She recommends that all hiring managers have at least one woman or other diversity candidate in the room during an interview. She also suggests having a peer buddy to provide a safety net if someone in the room tries to shut her down mid-thought. People need to be aware of what needs to change and have introspection to understand why they are not getting what they want or need.

Effective Collaboration Between Engineering and Sales

This case study outlines the problem between Engineering and Sales in a new market, where Sales was pushing for features that Engineering was reluctant to develop. To bridge the gap, a half-day workshop was organized with Sales and Engineering to understand each other's needs and perspectives. This helped build trust and respect between the two teams, and allowed Engineers to gain a better understanding of the customer and the business. As a result, a more functional relationship was established, and Engineers were able to explain trade-offs when Sales wanted new features.

Providing Actionable Advice to an Employee Who Wishes to Advance

A Senior Engineer approached the speaker wanting to be promoted to Staff, but the speaker had to explain that they needed to show an impact outside of their direct team in order to be promoted. The speaker was transparent with the engineer about the requirements and worked with them to find a project outside of their team that matched their skills and interests. After eight months, the engineer was promoted with everyone's blessing. The speaker learned that it is important to give candid, actionable advice to employees, and to focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses.

The Value of Speed and Iteration

Speed of iteration is a key principle in engineering and product development. To have many iterations, speed is necessary. Splitting work into small chunks and making sure each piece delivers customer value are two strategies to help engineers work faster and more efficiently. Additionally, actively managing the product as users respond to it is important for success.

Transitioning From IC to Manager

Transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager is difficult and can be scary. Companies often hand out responsibility to those with an aptitude for management without a framework. It can take time to strike a balance, and one example is a team that was not hitting their goals due to the manager's failure to delegate tasks. To break free of this mindset, the manager needs to take notes, hand off lower-level tasks, and step away from touching code. Empathy and communication are key to success, and growth-mindedness is important for sustainable progress.

Prioritizing as Your Start-Up Scales

Working in a start-up can be difficult, especially when it comes to prioritizing tasks. It is important to focus on the higher goals of the company and to invest in data to help narrow the focus and forecast accordingly. It is also important to disagree and commit and to put inertia behind ideas that are strongly believed in.

Setting Goals and Evaluating Performance

Performance in engineering is a necessary and beneficial metric to evaluate success. It is important to set expectations, change processes, and improve things for the company. Quality should be prioritized over quantity, and OKRs and KPIs should be used to facilitate consistent quality. Transparency and accountability are key, and it is important to create a safe environment for employees to reconcile with failure and to overcome.

Leadership vs. Management

In the modern business model, managers and leaders are two distinct roles. Managers are responsible for upholding the interests of the company, while leaders are responsible for being an ambassador for the team. To be a successful leader, one must strike a balance between the technical and interpersonal aspects of the job and optimize for the big picture. Leaders must also earn the trust of their team and provide them with the resources they need to succeed.

Interviewing for the Future of the Company

This article discusses the importance of having a process for interviewing and hiring employees. The author suggests creating a leveling rubric that defines each level of the career ladder and incorporating it into the interview process. This allows the interviewer to learn more about the candidate and evaluate them objectively. The author also suggests having a manager blueprint conversation to ask the candidate about their successes and failures. Finally, the author emphasizes the importance of hiring for the future and aligning the personal goals of employees with the future of the company.

Preparing to Transition to an IPO

This article describes the steps taken by a private company to prepare for an IPO, including undergoing a SOC 2 audit. The company implemented new processes to ensure communication and change management control, as well as documentation and source code scanning to identify security vulnerabilities. The company also built an internal cybersecurity organization and devoted engineers to application-level security. The article emphasizes the importance of being proactive and doing the right thing to ensure security and prepare for an IPO.

Implementing Development Processes

When the author took over their team three years ago, they had to introduce development processes to the workflow to ensure everyone was on the same page. This included introducing kanban boards, JIRA tickets, and Git branching to the process. Documentation was also written to provide context for the QA team. The author learned that it is important to earn buy-in and to listen to the team's pain points in order to find the best solutions. This has resulted in smoother workflows and better visibility for the QA team.

Influencing Others as a Leader

An engineering leader faced a problem of low morale and potential attrition among their engineers due to manual support and technical debt. To address the issue, the leader proposed suspending feature work for a quarter to focus on reducing technical debt. After convincing the executive team, the initiative was successful in improving morale and preventing attrition. The leader learned the importance of compromise and presenting a win-win for all parties involved.

Don’t Be a Victim of Your Difficult Employee

This article discusses a problem faced by an engineering manager who was given a greenfield project to start from scratch. The problem was that they had to hire people quickly and ended up hiring someone who was only 60-70% of a match. This caused the client to lose trust in the company. The manager took action by practicing transparency, providing closer supervision, and hiring a better replacement. The lessons learned were to adapt to situations, provide extra courses, and encourage the team to join the community of front-end development.

Tips For Your First Leadership Role

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a first-time leader and the mistakes they made in assuming everyone had the same goals as them. After realizing their mistake, they took action to apologize and win back their team's trust. Through this experience, they learned the importance of actively listening to their team and taking responsibility for their success.

Why It Is Time to Think About Women Leadership

This article discusses the difficulties faced by a woman leader in the corporate world in India. It outlines the actions taken to address the problem, such as bi-weekly catch-ups, building relationships, and reading a book on how to win friends and influence people. It also provides lessons learned, such as understanding people's emotional baggage, managing people differently, and not taking on too much responsibility.

Successfully Handling Team Transition

A woman joined a company in 2018 and faced the challenge of transitioning the entire system from Denmark to India, building up the team in India from scratch, and managing projects without disrupting the usual business. She and her team overcame the challenge by introducing agile scrum, hiring more people, and building up their knowledge base. This experience taught her the importance of agile transformation, leadership skills, and active listening.

Giving Back to Other Women in the Industry

This article discusses the importance of mentorship and networking for women in the industry, and the need for a sponsor or advocate in executive leadership. It also highlights the importance of connecting with leaders and extending oneself outward to find success. The author shares her experience of being part of a women's committee at Microsoft and a centralized group of women at her current company, and how she has played the role of mentor and mentee many times.

Scaling Purposefully

This story recounts the experience of growing an organization from twenty to over one hundred and thirty people in a year and a half. The author learned a lot and made mistakes along the way, and now has a 20/20 perspective on what they would have done differently. They had to manage three teams, hire managers, and adjust to the virtual environment during the pandemic. They used virtual bootcamps and a monthly newsletter to help the team connect and celebrate their wins.

Knowing When It’s Time to Move On

After fourteen years of service at Microsoft, the author decided to leave and try something new. They realized that their growth had stagnated and wanted to explore something new. After looking into other companies and industries, they decided to join a new team in a new company. They experienced success in the new team, but eventually the direction of the product changed and they felt compelled to move again. They have since found a new team that they are passionate about and have grown a lot since joining. The author emphasizes the importance of recognizing when something is not working and having the courage to make a change.

Balancing Work and Family

After having two children two years apart, the author found it difficult to manage her work and home life. She was feeling guilty and was ready to quit her job, but her husband encouraged her to take a break instead. She took six weeks off to spend with her children and realized that she was more than just a mom, wife, and daughter. She learned the importance of having a plan and scheduling her life in order to manage her responsibilities.

Being an Advocate for Other Women

A woman in the industry was looking for an organization that valued diversity and inclusion. She was one of the first few employees hired for a start-up division of a larger parent company and formed a national, company-wide women’s committee. She recommends that all hiring managers have at least one woman or other diversity candidate in the room during an interview. She also suggests having a peer buddy to provide a safety net if someone in the room tries to shut her down mid-thought. People need to be aware of what needs to change and have introspection to understand why they are not getting what they want or need.

Effective Collaboration Between Engineering and Sales

This case study outlines the problem between Engineering and Sales in a new market, where Sales was pushing for features that Engineering was reluctant to develop. To bridge the gap, a half-day workshop was organized with Sales and Engineering to understand each other's needs and perspectives. This helped build trust and respect between the two teams, and allowed Engineers to gain a better understanding of the customer and the business. As a result, a more functional relationship was established, and Engineers were able to explain trade-offs when Sales wanted new features.

Providing Actionable Advice to an Employee Who Wishes to Advance

A Senior Engineer approached the speaker wanting to be promoted to Staff, but the speaker had to explain that they needed to show an impact outside of their direct team in order to be promoted. The speaker was transparent with the engineer about the requirements and worked with them to find a project outside of their team that matched their skills and interests. After eight months, the engineer was promoted with everyone's blessing. The speaker learned that it is important to give candid, actionable advice to employees, and to focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses.

The Value of Speed and Iteration

Speed of iteration is a key principle in engineering and product development. To have many iterations, speed is necessary. Splitting work into small chunks and making sure each piece delivers customer value are two strategies to help engineers work faster and more efficiently. Additionally, actively managing the product as users respond to it is important for success.

Transitioning From IC to Manager

Transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager is difficult and can be scary. Companies often hand out responsibility to those with an aptitude for management without a framework. It can take time to strike a balance, and one example is a team that was not hitting their goals due to the manager's failure to delegate tasks. To break free of this mindset, the manager needs to take notes, hand off lower-level tasks, and step away from touching code. Empathy and communication are key to success, and growth-mindedness is important for sustainable progress.

Prioritizing as Your Start-Up Scales

Working in a start-up can be difficult, especially when it comes to prioritizing tasks. It is important to focus on the higher goals of the company and to invest in data to help narrow the focus and forecast accordingly. It is also important to disagree and commit and to put inertia behind ideas that are strongly believed in.

Setting Goals and Evaluating Performance

Performance in engineering is a necessary and beneficial metric to evaluate success. It is important to set expectations, change processes, and improve things for the company. Quality should be prioritized over quantity, and OKRs and KPIs should be used to facilitate consistent quality. Transparency and accountability are key, and it is important to create a safe environment for employees to reconcile with failure and to overcome.

Leadership vs. Management

In the modern business model, managers and leaders are two distinct roles. Managers are responsible for upholding the interests of the company, while leaders are responsible for being an ambassador for the team. To be a successful leader, one must strike a balance between the technical and interpersonal aspects of the job and optimize for the big picture. Leaders must also earn the trust of their team and provide them with the resources they need to succeed.

Interviewing for the Future of the Company

This article discusses the importance of having a process for interviewing and hiring employees. The author suggests creating a leveling rubric that defines each level of the career ladder and incorporating it into the interview process. This allows the interviewer to learn more about the candidate and evaluate them objectively. The author also suggests having a manager blueprint conversation to ask the candidate about their successes and failures. Finally, the author emphasizes the importance of hiring for the future and aligning the personal goals of employees with the future of the company.

Preparing to Transition to an IPO

This article describes the steps taken by a private company to prepare for an IPO, including undergoing a SOC 2 audit. The company implemented new processes to ensure communication and change management control, as well as documentation and source code scanning to identify security vulnerabilities. The company also built an internal cybersecurity organization and devoted engineers to application-level security. The article emphasizes the importance of being proactive and doing the right thing to ensure security and prepare for an IPO.

Implementing Development Processes

When the author took over their team three years ago, they had to introduce development processes to the workflow to ensure everyone was on the same page. This included introducing kanban boards, JIRA tickets, and Git branching to the process. Documentation was also written to provide context for the QA team. The author learned that it is important to earn buy-in and to listen to the team's pain points in order to find the best solutions. This has resulted in smoother workflows and better visibility for the QA team.

Influencing Others as a Leader

An engineering leader faced a problem of low morale and potential attrition among their engineers due to manual support and technical debt. To address the issue, the leader proposed suspending feature work for a quarter to focus on reducing technical debt. After convincing the executive team, the initiative was successful in improving morale and preventing attrition. The leader learned the importance of compromise and presenting a win-win for all parties involved.

Don’t Be a Victim of Your Difficult Employee

This article discusses a problem faced by an engineering manager who was given a greenfield project to start from scratch. The problem was that they had to hire people quickly and ended up hiring someone who was only 60-70% of a match. This caused the client to lose trust in the company. The manager took action by practicing transparency, providing closer supervision, and hiring a better replacement. The lessons learned were to adapt to situations, provide extra courses, and encourage the team to join the community of front-end development.

Tips For Your First Leadership Role

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a first-time leader and the mistakes they made in assuming everyone had the same goals as them. After realizing their mistake, they took action to apologize and win back their team's trust. Through this experience, they learned the importance of actively listening to their team and taking responsibility for their success.

Why It Is Time to Think About Women Leadership

This article discusses the difficulties faced by a woman leader in the corporate world in India. It outlines the actions taken to address the problem, such as bi-weekly catch-ups, building relationships, and reading a book on how to win friends and influence people. It also provides lessons learned, such as understanding people's emotional baggage, managing people differently, and not taking on too much responsibility.

Successfully Handling Team Transition

A woman joined a company in 2018 and faced the challenge of transitioning the entire system from Denmark to India, building up the team in India from scratch, and managing projects without disrupting the usual business. She and her team overcame the challenge by introducing agile scrum, hiring more people, and building up their knowledge base. This experience taught her the importance of agile transformation, leadership skills, and active listening.

Giving Back to Other Women in the Industry

This article discusses the importance of mentorship and networking for women in the industry, and the need for a sponsor or advocate in executive leadership. It also highlights the importance of connecting with leaders and extending oneself outward to find success. The author shares her experience of being part of a women's committee at Microsoft and a centralized group of women at her current company, and how she has played the role of mentor and mentee many times.

Scaling Purposefully

This story recounts the experience of growing an organization from twenty to over one hundred and thirty people in a year and a half. The author learned a lot and made mistakes along the way, and now has a 20/20 perspective on what they would have done differently. They had to manage three teams, hire managers, and adjust to the virtual environment during the pandemic. They used virtual bootcamps and a monthly newsletter to help the team connect and celebrate their wins.

Knowing When It’s Time to Move On

After fourteen years of service at Microsoft, the author decided to leave and try something new. They realized that their growth had stagnated and wanted to explore something new. After looking into other companies and industries, they decided to join a new team in a new company. They experienced success in the new team, but eventually the direction of the product changed and they felt compelled to move again. They have since found a new team that they are passionate about and have grown a lot since joining. The author emphasizes the importance of recognizing when something is not working and having the courage to make a change.

Balancing Work and Family

After having two children two years apart, the author found it difficult to manage her work and home life. She was feeling guilty and was ready to quit her job, but her husband encouraged her to take a break instead. She took six weeks off to spend with her children and realized that she was more than just a mom, wife, and daughter. She learned the importance of having a plan and scheduling her life in order to manage her responsibilities.

Being an Advocate for Other Women

A woman in the industry was looking for an organization that valued diversity and inclusion. She was one of the first few employees hired for a start-up division of a larger parent company and formed a national, company-wide women’s committee. She recommends that all hiring managers have at least one woman or other diversity candidate in the room during an interview. She also suggests having a peer buddy to provide a safety net if someone in the room tries to shut her down mid-thought. People need to be aware of what needs to change and have introspection to understand why they are not getting what they want or need.

Effective Collaboration Between Engineering and Sales

This case study outlines the problem between Engineering and Sales in a new market, where Sales was pushing for features that Engineering was reluctant to develop. To bridge the gap, a half-day workshop was organized with Sales and Engineering to understand each other's needs and perspectives. This helped build trust and respect between the two teams, and allowed Engineers to gain a better understanding of the customer and the business. As a result, a more functional relationship was established, and Engineers were able to explain trade-offs when Sales wanted new features.

Providing Actionable Advice to an Employee Who Wishes to Advance

A Senior Engineer approached the speaker wanting to be promoted to Staff, but the speaker had to explain that they needed to show an impact outside of their direct team in order to be promoted. The speaker was transparent with the engineer about the requirements and worked with them to find a project outside of their team that matched their skills and interests. After eight months, the engineer was promoted with everyone's blessing. The speaker learned that it is important to give candid, actionable advice to employees, and to focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses.

The Value of Speed and Iteration

Speed of iteration is a key principle in engineering and product development. To have many iterations, speed is necessary. Splitting work into small chunks and making sure each piece delivers customer value are two strategies to help engineers work faster and more efficiently. Additionally, actively managing the product as users respond to it is important for success.

Transitioning From IC to Manager

Transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager is difficult and can be scary. Companies often hand out responsibility to those with an aptitude for management without a framework. It can take time to strike a balance, and one example is a team that was not hitting their goals due to the manager's failure to delegate tasks. To break free of this mindset, the manager needs to take notes, hand off lower-level tasks, and step away from touching code. Empathy and communication are key to success, and growth-mindedness is important for sustainable progress.

Prioritizing as Your Start-Up Scales

Working in a start-up can be difficult, especially when it comes to prioritizing tasks. It is important to focus on the higher goals of the company and to invest in data to help narrow the focus and forecast accordingly. It is also important to disagree and commit and to put inertia behind ideas that are strongly believed in.

Setting Goals and Evaluating Performance

Performance in engineering is a necessary and beneficial metric to evaluate success. It is important to set expectations, change processes, and improve things for the company. Quality should be prioritized over quantity, and OKRs and KPIs should be used to facilitate consistent quality. Transparency and accountability are key, and it is important to create a safe environment for employees to reconcile with failure and to overcome.

Leadership vs. Management

In the modern business model, managers and leaders are two distinct roles. Managers are responsible for upholding the interests of the company, while leaders are responsible for being an ambassador for the team. To be a successful leader, one must strike a balance between the technical and interpersonal aspects of the job and optimize for the big picture. Leaders must also earn the trust of their team and provide them with the resources they need to succeed.

Interviewing for the Future of the Company

This article discusses the importance of having a process for interviewing and hiring employees. The author suggests creating a leveling rubric that defines each level of the career ladder and incorporating it into the interview process. This allows the interviewer to learn more about the candidate and evaluate them objectively. The author also suggests having a manager blueprint conversation to ask the candidate about their successes and failures. Finally, the author emphasizes the importance of hiring for the future and aligning the personal goals of employees with the future of the company.

Preparing to Transition to an IPO

This article describes the steps taken by a private company to prepare for an IPO, including undergoing a SOC 2 audit. The company implemented new processes to ensure communication and change management control, as well as documentation and source code scanning to identify security vulnerabilities. The company also built an internal cybersecurity organization and devoted engineers to application-level security. The article emphasizes the importance of being proactive and doing the right thing to ensure security and prepare for an IPO.

Implementing Development Processes

When the author took over their team three years ago, they had to introduce development processes to the workflow to ensure everyone was on the same page. This included introducing kanban boards, JIRA tickets, and Git branching to the process. Documentation was also written to provide context for the QA team. The author learned that it is important to earn buy-in and to listen to the team's pain points in order to find the best solutions. This has resulted in smoother workflows and better visibility for the QA team.

Influencing Others as a Leader

An engineering leader faced a problem of low morale and potential attrition among their engineers due to manual support and technical debt. To address the issue, the leader proposed suspending feature work for a quarter to focus on reducing technical debt. After convincing the executive team, the initiative was successful in improving morale and preventing attrition. The leader learned the importance of compromise and presenting a win-win for all parties involved.

Don’t Be a Victim of Your Difficult Employee

This article discusses a problem faced by an engineering manager who was given a greenfield project to start from scratch. The problem was that they had to hire people quickly and ended up hiring someone who was only 60-70% of a match. This caused the client to lose trust in the company. The manager took action by practicing transparency, providing closer supervision, and hiring a better replacement. The lessons learned were to adapt to situations, provide extra courses, and encourage the team to join the community of front-end development.

Tips For Your First Leadership Role

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a first-time leader and the mistakes they made in assuming everyone had the same goals as them. After realizing their mistake, they took action to apologize and win back their team's trust. Through this experience, they learned the importance of actively listening to their team and taking responsibility for their success.

Why It Is Time to Think About Women Leadership

This article discusses the difficulties faced by a woman leader in the corporate world in India. It outlines the actions taken to address the problem, such as bi-weekly catch-ups, building relationships, and reading a book on how to win friends and influence people. It also provides lessons learned, such as understanding people's emotional baggage, managing people differently, and not taking on too much responsibility.

Successfully Handling Team Transition

A woman joined a company in 2018 and faced the challenge of transitioning the entire system from Denmark to India, building up the team in India from scratch, and managing projects without disrupting the usual business. She and her team overcame the challenge by introducing agile scrum, hiring more people, and building up their knowledge base. This experience taught her the importance of agile transformation, leadership skills, and active listening.

Giving Back to Other Women in the Industry

This article discusses the importance of mentorship and networking for women in the industry, and the need for a sponsor or advocate in executive leadership. It also highlights the importance of connecting with leaders and extending oneself outward to find success. The author shares her experience of being part of a women's committee at Microsoft and a centralized group of women at her current company, and how she has played the role of mentor and mentee many times.

Scaling Purposefully

This story recounts the experience of growing an organization from twenty to over one hundred and thirty people in a year and a half. The author learned a lot and made mistakes along the way, and now has a 20/20 perspective on what they would have done differently. They had to manage three teams, hire managers, and adjust to the virtual environment during the pandemic. They used virtual bootcamps and a monthly newsletter to help the team connect and celebrate their wins.

Knowing When It’s Time to Move On

After fourteen years of service at Microsoft, the author decided to leave and try something new. They realized that their growth had stagnated and wanted to explore something new. After looking into other companies and industries, they decided to join a new team in a new company. They experienced success in the new team, but eventually the direction of the product changed and they felt compelled to move again. They have since found a new team that they are passionate about and have grown a lot since joining. The author emphasizes the importance of recognizing when something is not working and having the courage to make a change.

Balancing Work and Family

After having two children two years apart, the author found it difficult to manage her work and home life. She was feeling guilty and was ready to quit her job, but her husband encouraged her to take a break instead. She took six weeks off to spend with her children and realized that she was more than just a mom, wife, and daughter. She learned the importance of having a plan and scheduling her life in order to manage her responsibilities.

Being an Advocate for Other Women

A woman in the industry was looking for an organization that valued diversity and inclusion. She was one of the first few employees hired for a start-up division of a larger parent company and formed a national, company-wide women’s committee. She recommends that all hiring managers have at least one woman or other diversity candidate in the room during an interview. She also suggests having a peer buddy to provide a safety net if someone in the room tries to shut her down mid-thought. People need to be aware of what needs to change and have introspection to understand why they are not getting what they want or need.

Effective Collaboration Between Engineering and Sales

This case study outlines the problem between Engineering and Sales in a new market, where Sales was pushing for features that Engineering was reluctant to develop. To bridge the gap, a half-day workshop was organized with Sales and Engineering to understand each other's needs and perspectives. This helped build trust and respect between the two teams, and allowed Engineers to gain a better understanding of the customer and the business. As a result, a more functional relationship was established, and Engineers were able to explain trade-offs when Sales wanted new features.

Providing Actionable Advice to an Employee Who Wishes to Advance

A Senior Engineer approached the speaker wanting to be promoted to Staff, but the speaker had to explain that they needed to show an impact outside of their direct team in order to be promoted. The speaker was transparent with the engineer about the requirements and worked with them to find a project outside of their team that matched their skills and interests. After eight months, the engineer was promoted with everyone's blessing. The speaker learned that it is important to give candid, actionable advice to employees, and to focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses.

The Value of Speed and Iteration

Speed of iteration is a key principle in engineering and product development. To have many iterations, speed is necessary. Splitting work into small chunks and making sure each piece delivers customer value are two strategies to help engineers work faster and more efficiently. Additionally, actively managing the product as users respond to it is important for success.

Transitioning From IC to Manager

Transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager is difficult and can be scary. Companies often hand out responsibility to those with an aptitude for management without a framework. It can take time to strike a balance, and one example is a team that was not hitting their goals due to the manager's failure to delegate tasks. To break free of this mindset, the manager needs to take notes, hand off lower-level tasks, and step away from touching code. Empathy and communication are key to success, and growth-mindedness is important for sustainable progress.

Prioritizing as Your Start-Up Scales

Working in a start-up can be difficult, especially when it comes to prioritizing tasks. It is important to focus on the higher goals of the company and to invest in data to help narrow the focus and forecast accordingly. It is also important to disagree and commit and to put inertia behind ideas that are strongly believed in.

Setting Goals and Evaluating Performance

Performance in engineering is a necessary and beneficial metric to evaluate success. It is important to set expectations, change processes, and improve things for the company. Quality should be prioritized over quantity, and OKRs and KPIs should be used to facilitate consistent quality. Transparency and accountability are key, and it is important to create a safe environment for employees to reconcile with failure and to overcome.

Leadership vs. Management

In the modern business model, managers and leaders are two distinct roles. Managers are responsible for upholding the interests of the company, while leaders are responsible for being an ambassador for the team. To be a successful leader, one must strike a balance between the technical and interpersonal aspects of the job and optimize for the big picture. Leaders must also earn the trust of their team and provide them with the resources they need to succeed.

Interviewing for the Future of the Company

This article discusses the importance of having a process for interviewing and hiring employees. The author suggests creating a leveling rubric that defines each level of the career ladder and incorporating it into the interview process. This allows the interviewer to learn more about the candidate and evaluate them objectively. The author also suggests having a manager blueprint conversation to ask the candidate about their successes and failures. Finally, the author emphasizes the importance of hiring for the future and aligning the personal goals of employees with the future of the company.

Preparing to Transition to an IPO

This article describes the steps taken by a private company to prepare for an IPO, including undergoing a SOC 2 audit. The company implemented new processes to ensure communication and change management control, as well as documentation and source code scanning to identify security vulnerabilities. The company also built an internal cybersecurity organization and devoted engineers to application-level security. The article emphasizes the importance of being proactive and doing the right thing to ensure security and prepare for an IPO.

Implementing Development Processes

When the author took over their team three years ago, they had to introduce development processes to the workflow to ensure everyone was on the same page. This included introducing kanban boards, JIRA tickets, and Git branching to the process. Documentation was also written to provide context for the QA team. The author learned that it is important to earn buy-in and to listen to the team's pain points in order to find the best solutions. This has resulted in smoother workflows and better visibility for the QA team.

Influencing Others as a Leader

An engineering leader faced a problem of low morale and potential attrition among their engineers due to manual support and technical debt. To address the issue, the leader proposed suspending feature work for a quarter to focus on reducing technical debt. After convincing the executive team, the initiative was successful in improving morale and preventing attrition. The leader learned the importance of compromise and presenting a win-win for all parties involved.

Don’t Be a Victim of Your Difficult Employee

This article discusses a problem faced by an engineering manager who was given a greenfield project to start from scratch. The problem was that they had to hire people quickly and ended up hiring someone who was only 60-70% of a match. This caused the client to lose trust in the company. The manager took action by practicing transparency, providing closer supervision, and hiring a better replacement. The lessons learned were to adapt to situations, provide extra courses, and encourage the team to join the community of front-end development.

Tips For Your First Leadership Role

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a first-time leader and the mistakes they made in assuming everyone had the same goals as them. After realizing their mistake, they took action to apologize and win back their team's trust. Through this experience, they learned the importance of actively listening to their team and taking responsibility for their success.

Why It Is Time to Think About Women Leadership

This article discusses the difficulties faced by a woman leader in the corporate world in India. It outlines the actions taken to address the problem, such as bi-weekly catch-ups, building relationships, and reading a book on how to win friends and influence people. It also provides lessons learned, such as understanding people's emotional baggage, managing people differently, and not taking on too much responsibility.

Successfully Handling Team Transition

A woman joined a company in 2018 and faced the challenge of transitioning the entire system from Denmark to India, building up the team in India from scratch, and managing projects without disrupting the usual business. She and her team overcame the challenge by introducing agile scrum, hiring more people, and building up their knowledge base. This experience taught her the importance of agile transformation, leadership skills, and active listening.

Giving Back to Other Women in the Industry

This article discusses the importance of mentorship and networking for women in the industry, and the need for a sponsor or advocate in executive leadership. It also highlights the importance of connecting with leaders and extending oneself outward to find success. The author shares her experience of being part of a women's committee at Microsoft and a centralized group of women at her current company, and how she has played the role of mentor and mentee many times.

Scaling Purposefully

This story recounts the experience of growing an organization from twenty to over one hundred and thirty people in a year and a half. The author learned a lot and made mistakes along the way, and now has a 20/20 perspective on what they would have done differently. They had to manage three teams, hire managers, and adjust to the virtual environment during the pandemic. They used virtual bootcamps and a monthly newsletter to help the team connect and celebrate their wins.

Knowing When It’s Time to Move On

After fourteen years of service at Microsoft, the author decided to leave and try something new. They realized that their growth had stagnated and wanted to explore something new. After looking into other companies and industries, they decided to join a new team in a new company. They experienced success in the new team, but eventually the direction of the product changed and they felt compelled to move again. They have since found a new team that they are passionate about and have grown a lot since joining. The author emphasizes the importance of recognizing when something is not working and having the courage to make a change.

Balancing Work and Family

After having two children two years apart, the author found it difficult to manage her work and home life. She was feeling guilty and was ready to quit her job, but her husband encouraged her to take a break instead. She took six weeks off to spend with her children and realized that she was more than just a mom, wife, and daughter. She learned the importance of having a plan and scheduling her life in order to manage her responsibilities.

Being an Advocate for Other Women

A woman in the industry was looking for an organization that valued diversity and inclusion. She was one of the first few employees hired for a start-up division of a larger parent company and formed a national, company-wide women’s committee. She recommends that all hiring managers have at least one woman or other diversity candidate in the room during an interview. She also suggests having a peer buddy to provide a safety net if someone in the room tries to shut her down mid-thought. People need to be aware of what needs to change and have introspection to understand why they are not getting what they want or need.

Effective Collaboration Between Engineering and Sales

This case study outlines the problem between Engineering and Sales in a new market, where Sales was pushing for features that Engineering was reluctant to develop. To bridge the gap, a half-day workshop was organized with Sales and Engineering to understand each other's needs and perspectives. This helped build trust and respect between the two teams, and allowed Engineers to gain a better understanding of the customer and the business. As a result, a more functional relationship was established, and Engineers were able to explain trade-offs when Sales wanted new features.

Providing Actionable Advice to an Employee Who Wishes to Advance

A Senior Engineer approached the speaker wanting to be promoted to Staff, but the speaker had to explain that they needed to show an impact outside of their direct team in order to be promoted. The speaker was transparent with the engineer about the requirements and worked with them to find a project outside of their team that matched their skills and interests. After eight months, the engineer was promoted with everyone's blessing. The speaker learned that it is important to give candid, actionable advice to employees, and to focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses.

The Value of Speed and Iteration

Speed of iteration is a key principle in engineering and product development. To have many iterations, speed is necessary. Splitting work into small chunks and making sure each piece delivers customer value are two strategies to help engineers work faster and more efficiently. Additionally, actively managing the product as users respond to it is important for success.

Transitioning From IC to Manager

Transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager is difficult and can be scary. Companies often hand out responsibility to those with an aptitude for management without a framework. It can take time to strike a balance, and one example is a team that was not hitting their goals due to the manager's failure to delegate tasks. To break free of this mindset, the manager needs to take notes, hand off lower-level tasks, and step away from touching code. Empathy and communication are key to success, and growth-mindedness is important for sustainable progress.

Prioritizing as Your Start-Up Scales

Working in a start-up can be difficult, especially when it comes to prioritizing tasks. It is important to focus on the higher goals of the company and to invest in data to help narrow the focus and forecast accordingly. It is also important to disagree and commit and to put inertia behind ideas that are strongly believed in.

Setting Goals and Evaluating Performance

Performance in engineering is a necessary and beneficial metric to evaluate success. It is important to set expectations, change processes, and improve things for the company. Quality should be prioritized over quantity, and OKRs and KPIs should be used to facilitate consistent quality. Transparency and accountability are key, and it is important to create a safe environment for employees to reconcile with failure and to overcome.

Leadership vs. Management

In the modern business model, managers and leaders are two distinct roles. Managers are responsible for upholding the interests of the company, while leaders are responsible for being an ambassador for the team. To be a successful leader, one must strike a balance between the technical and interpersonal aspects of the job and optimize for the big picture. Leaders must also earn the trust of their team and provide them with the resources they need to succeed.

Interviewing for the Future of the Company

This article discusses the importance of having a process for interviewing and hiring employees. The author suggests creating a leveling rubric that defines each level of the career ladder and incorporating it into the interview process. This allows the interviewer to learn more about the candidate and evaluate them objectively. The author also suggests having a manager blueprint conversation to ask the candidate about their successes and failures. Finally, the author emphasizes the importance of hiring for the future and aligning the personal goals of employees with the future of the company.

Preparing to Transition to an IPO

This article describes the steps taken by a private company to prepare for an IPO, including undergoing a SOC 2 audit. The company implemented new processes to ensure communication and change management control, as well as documentation and source code scanning to identify security vulnerabilities. The company also built an internal cybersecurity organization and devoted engineers to application-level security. The article emphasizes the importance of being proactive and doing the right thing to ensure security and prepare for an IPO.

Implementing Development Processes

When the author took over their team three years ago, they had to introduce development processes to the workflow to ensure everyone was on the same page. This included introducing kanban boards, JIRA tickets, and Git branching to the process. Documentation was also written to provide context for the QA team. The author learned that it is important to earn buy-in and to listen to the team's pain points in order to find the best solutions. This has resulted in smoother workflows and better visibility for the QA team.

Influencing Others as a Leader

An engineering leader faced a problem of low morale and potential attrition among their engineers due to manual support and technical debt. To address the issue, the leader proposed suspending feature work for a quarter to focus on reducing technical debt. After convincing the executive team, the initiative was successful in improving morale and preventing attrition. The leader learned the importance of compromise and presenting a win-win for all parties involved.

Don’t Be a Victim of Your Difficult Employee

This article discusses a problem faced by an engineering manager who was given a greenfield project to start from scratch. The problem was that they had to hire people quickly and ended up hiring someone who was only 60-70% of a match. This caused the client to lose trust in the company. The manager took action by practicing transparency, providing closer supervision, and hiring a better replacement. The lessons learned were to adapt to situations, provide extra courses, and encourage the team to join the community of front-end development.

Tips For Your First Leadership Role

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a first-time leader and the mistakes they made in assuming everyone had the same goals as them. After realizing their mistake, they took action to apologize and win back their team's trust. Through this experience, they learned the importance of actively listening to their team and taking responsibility for their success.

Why It Is Time to Think About Women Leadership

This article discusses the difficulties faced by a woman leader in the corporate world in India. It outlines the actions taken to address the problem, such as bi-weekly catch-ups, building relationships, and reading a book on how to win friends and influence people. It also provides lessons learned, such as understanding people's emotional baggage, managing people differently, and not taking on too much responsibility.

Successfully Handling Team Transition

A woman joined a company in 2018 and faced the challenge of transitioning the entire system from Denmark to India, building up the team in India from scratch, and managing projects without disrupting the usual business. She and her team overcame the challenge by introducing agile scrum, hiring more people, and building up their knowledge base. This experience taught her the importance of agile transformation, leadership skills, and active listening.

Giving Back to Other Women in the Industry

This article discusses the importance of mentorship and networking for women in the industry, and the need for a sponsor or advocate in executive leadership. It also highlights the importance of connecting with leaders and extending oneself outward to find success. The author shares her experience of being part of a women's committee at Microsoft and a centralized group of women at her current company, and how she has played the role of mentor and mentee many times.

Scaling Purposefully

This story recounts the experience of growing an organization from twenty to over one hundred and thirty people in a year and a half. The author learned a lot and made mistakes along the way, and now has a 20/20 perspective on what they would have done differently. They had to manage three teams, hire managers, and adjust to the virtual environment during the pandemic. They used virtual bootcamps and a monthly newsletter to help the team connect and celebrate their wins.

Knowing When It’s Time to Move On

After fourteen years of service at Microsoft, the author decided to leave and try something new. They realized that their growth had stagnated and wanted to explore something new. After looking into other companies and industries, they decided to join a new team in a new company. They experienced success in the new team, but eventually the direction of the product changed and they felt compelled to move again. They have since found a new team that they are passionate about and have grown a lot since joining. The author emphasizes the importance of recognizing when something is not working and having the courage to make a change.

Balancing Work and Family

After having two children two years apart, the author found it difficult to manage her work and home life. She was feeling guilty and was ready to quit her job, but her husband encouraged her to take a break instead. She took six weeks off to spend with her children and realized that she was more than just a mom, wife, and daughter. She learned the importance of having a plan and scheduling her life in order to manage her responsibilities.

Being an Advocate for Other Women

A woman in the industry was looking for an organization that valued diversity and inclusion. She was one of the first few employees hired for a start-up division of a larger parent company and formed a national, company-wide women’s committee. She recommends that all hiring managers have at least one woman or other diversity candidate in the room during an interview. She also suggests having a peer buddy to provide a safety net if someone in the room tries to shut her down mid-thought. People need to be aware of what needs to change and have introspection to understand why they are not getting what they want or need.

Effective Collaboration Between Engineering and Sales

This case study outlines the problem between Engineering and Sales in a new market, where Sales was pushing for features that Engineering was reluctant to develop. To bridge the gap, a half-day workshop was organized with Sales and Engineering to understand each other's needs and perspectives. This helped build trust and respect between the two teams, and allowed Engineers to gain a better understanding of the customer and the business. As a result, a more functional relationship was established, and Engineers were able to explain trade-offs when Sales wanted new features.

Providing Actionable Advice to an Employee Who Wishes to Advance

A Senior Engineer approached the speaker wanting to be promoted to Staff, but the speaker had to explain that they needed to show an impact outside of their direct team in order to be promoted. The speaker was transparent with the engineer about the requirements and worked with them to find a project outside of their team that matched their skills and interests. After eight months, the engineer was promoted with everyone's blessing. The speaker learned that it is important to give candid, actionable advice to employees, and to focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses.

The Value of Speed and Iteration

Speed of iteration is a key principle in engineering and product development. To have many iterations, speed is necessary. Splitting work into small chunks and making sure each piece delivers customer value are two strategies to help engineers work faster and more efficiently. Additionally, actively managing the product as users respond to it is important for success.

Transitioning From IC to Manager

Transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager is difficult and can be scary. Companies often hand out responsibility to those with an aptitude for management without a framework. It can take time to strike a balance, and one example is a team that was not hitting their goals due to the manager's failure to delegate tasks. To break free of this mindset, the manager needs to take notes, hand off lower-level tasks, and step away from touching code. Empathy and communication are key to success, and growth-mindedness is important for sustainable progress.

Prioritizing as Your Start-Up Scales

Working in a start-up can be difficult, especially when it comes to prioritizing tasks. It is important to focus on the higher goals of the company and to invest in data to help narrow the focus and forecast accordingly. It is also important to disagree and commit and to put inertia behind ideas that are strongly believed in.

Setting Goals and Evaluating Performance

Performance in engineering is a necessary and beneficial metric to evaluate success. It is important to set expectations, change processes, and improve things for the company. Quality should be prioritized over quantity, and OKRs and KPIs should be used to facilitate consistent quality. Transparency and accountability are key, and it is important to create a safe environment for employees to reconcile with failure and to overcome.

Leadership vs. Management

In the modern business model, managers and leaders are two distinct roles. Managers are responsible for upholding the interests of the company, while leaders are responsible for being an ambassador for the team. To be a successful leader, one must strike a balance between the technical and interpersonal aspects of the job and optimize for the big picture. Leaders must also earn the trust of their team and provide them with the resources they need to succeed.

Interviewing for the Future of the Company

This article discusses the importance of having a process for interviewing and hiring employees. The author suggests creating a leveling rubric that defines each level of the career ladder and incorporating it into the interview process. This allows the interviewer to learn more about the candidate and evaluate them objectively. The author also suggests having a manager blueprint conversation to ask the candidate about their successes and failures. Finally, the author emphasizes the importance of hiring for the future and aligning the personal goals of employees with the future of the company.

Preparing to Transition to an IPO

This article describes the steps taken by a private company to prepare for an IPO, including undergoing a SOC 2 audit. The company implemented new processes to ensure communication and change management control, as well as documentation and source code scanning to identify security vulnerabilities. The company also built an internal cybersecurity organization and devoted engineers to application-level security. The article emphasizes the importance of being proactive and doing the right thing to ensure security and prepare for an IPO.

Implementing Development Processes

When the author took over their team three years ago, they had to introduce development processes to the workflow to ensure everyone was on the same page. This included introducing kanban boards, JIRA tickets, and Git branching to the process. Documentation was also written to provide context for the QA team. The author learned that it is important to earn buy-in and to listen to the team's pain points in order to find the best solutions. This has resulted in smoother workflows and better visibility for the QA team.

Influencing Others as a Leader

An engineering leader faced a problem of low morale and potential attrition among their engineers due to manual support and technical debt. To address the issue, the leader proposed suspending feature work for a quarter to focus on reducing technical debt. After convincing the executive team, the initiative was successful in improving morale and preventing attrition. The leader learned the importance of compromise and presenting a win-win for all parties involved.

Don’t Be a Victim of Your Difficult Employee

This article discusses a problem faced by an engineering manager who was given a greenfield project to start from scratch. The problem was that they had to hire people quickly and ended up hiring someone who was only 60-70% of a match. This caused the client to lose trust in the company. The manager took action by practicing transparency, providing closer supervision, and hiring a better replacement. The lessons learned were to adapt to situations, provide extra courses, and encourage the team to join the community of front-end development.

Tips For Your First Leadership Role

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a first-time leader and the mistakes they made in assuming everyone had the same goals as them. After realizing their mistake, they took action to apologize and win back their team's trust. Through this experience, they learned the importance of actively listening to their team and taking responsibility for their success.