
Ask HN: How to prepare for a leadership role? - smtorother
I&#x27;m currently evaluating a Head of and a VP role.<p>I know for a while that my next step is not going to be a purely tech role. Tech leadership has been part of my work for a while now and I&#x27;ve been taking more responsibilities in that direction and enjoy them a lot.<p>Going with Head of or VP role would be a new step for me. And last thing I&#x27;d want is to become an example of Peter principle.<p>So what does make a good Head of Engineering or VP of Technology in a software company? What are the lessons you&#x27;ve learned? And what books are mandatory read?<p>Any advice is highly appreciated.
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gus_massa
I'm not sure that this is exactly what you need, but I recommend "The
Development Abstraction Layer"
[http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/DevelopmentAbstractio...](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/DevelopmentAbstraction.html)

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smtorother
Another great one from Joel. Thanks, somehow I never read it before.

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greenyoda
It seems like quite a big jump going from "tech leadership has been part of my
work" (sounds like a lead developer role) to VP (all your direct reports are
managers/directors). (In a tiny startup, maybe someone who manages developers
might be given a VP title, but if the company grows, a VP will eventually end
up managing managers.)

I'm not a VP, but I report to a VP of development, so I've observed them up
close. The important skills for VPs seem to be:

\- People skills - most of their time is spent talking to other people
(meetings and one-on-one conversations). They need to be able to communicate
effectively with all types of non-technical people: executives, sales,
marketing, product managment, customers, etc. - anyone who wants something
from their development team.

\- Being able to envision the future path of the product. This involves more
than knowing technology - you have to know the product you're building very
well, and understand how users use it.

\- Understanding how the business works and what would make it successful.

\- Being able to deal with difficult decisions like laying people off when the
company isn't doing so well.

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smtorother
So what would be the lessons you've learned if I may ask that are you didn't
know when you started your current position?

Things along the line of: it's better to make other person think they've come
up with the idea so they are committed to it than to show off how intelligent
I am.

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greenyoda
Here are some things I learned:

\- No matter how busy you are, you should always make time to mentor your
employees. Help them grow by delegating increasingly difficult work to them
and giving them additional responsibilities. If you can't delegate to your
employees with confidence, your own workload will eventually overwhelm you.
Also, as your company grows, being able to promote existing employees instead
of hiring from the outside means that you'll have managers who have a better
understanding of your company's technology and business. (And if you want to
be promoted in the company you currently work for, it's easier if you have
someone who's ready to step into your current job.)

\- On the other hand, don't try to shield your employees from tedious or
difficult tasks by doing them yourself. Some percentage of work is tedious or
difficult, and it can be as much of a learning experience as more interesting
work. Don't feel guilty about delegating this kind of work to others. It's
part of the job.

\- Don't be friends with the people you manage - find friends outside of work
or in other departments. (I don't mean that you should be unfriendly to them,
but don't socialize with them or have deep personal conversations.) This might
be a controversial opinion in work cultures where everyone in the office
socializes with each other, but it makes it hard to make objective decisions
about who should be promoted, who should be laid off, etc. At some point,
you'll need to make these kinds of decisions, and they shouldn't be biased by
the fact that some of your employees are your drinking buddies.

\- Learn how to manage your boss's expectations. Saying yes to every request
will eventually lead to failure and burnout (of both you and your team). The
end result will not be good for your company (projects failing, people
quitting).

\- Pick your battles. Some fights are not worth the trouble it takes to win
them.

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smtorother
Thank you, great insights. I see already that 3rd point could be a tricky one
for me personally...

