I speak with many startups who are looking for hands-on managers. I am wondering how others in Engineering Leadership feel about this trend.
I personally programmed for 20 years here in Silicon Valley before becoming a manager (Director and VPE). I can understand today’s trends in a tight market that everyone needs to contribute to the product, yet I see many cases of management being spread too thin and not doing well at any discipline. Do we need to be masters of leadership and management as well as hands-on coders, and if so which technologies (OS, Server, Database, and Language)?
The rigors of management are different from those of hands-on engineering. Management is about leading people, processes, and technology. It requires the ability to multi-task and be graceful under constant interruption. I found this challenging while programming - I always appreciate those in leadership who give me the tools and time to focus on coding instead of dealing with program/project management, meetings, and politics.
Is it true that the best leaders do so by example, or is the gift that they bring to their teams inspiration and focus? I’ve always enjoyed the Scrum approach to leadership – remove all obstacles, which is in itself a full time job. While I enjoy code reviews and extreme debugging, as a manager I often feel that my team is in trouble if I must code with them. How successful can a hands-on leader be at planning, managing, and communicating?
Must the conductor of the orchestra also play an instrument? Sure, the conductor needs to deeply understand music, but must s/he be able to play the piano, violin, percussion, and wind instruments in order to be a great conductor? And are we talking about a chamber quartet (where the pianist is the defacto conductor) or a larger symphony? Your thoughts?
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Peter M. Allen is a Software Executive in Silicon Valley who leads passionate teams delivering secure and scalable services at firms like Napster and PayPal.
I personally programmed for 20 years here in Silicon Valley before becoming a manager (Director and VPE). I can understand today’s trends in a tight market that everyone needs to contribute to the product, yet I see many cases of management being spread too thin and not doing well at any discipline. Do we need to be masters of leadership and management as well as hands-on coders, and if so which technologies (OS, Server, Database, and Language)?
The rigors of management are different from those of hands-on engineering. Management is about leading people, processes, and technology. It requires the ability to multi-task and be graceful under constant interruption. I found this challenging while programming - I always appreciate those in leadership who give me the tools and time to focus on coding instead of dealing with program/project management, meetings, and politics.
Is it true that the best leaders do so by example, or is the gift that they bring to their teams inspiration and focus? I’ve always enjoyed the Scrum approach to leadership – remove all obstacles, which is in itself a full time job. While I enjoy code reviews and extreme debugging, as a manager I often feel that my team is in trouble if I must code with them. How successful can a hands-on leader be at planning, managing, and communicating?
Must the conductor of the orchestra also play an instrument? Sure, the conductor needs to deeply understand music, but must s/he be able to play the piano, violin, percussion, and wind instruments in order to be a great conductor? And are we talking about a chamber quartet (where the pianist is the defacto conductor) or a larger symphony? Your thoughts?
___________________________
Peter M. Allen is a Software Executive in Silicon Valley who leads passionate teams delivering secure and scalable services at firms like Napster and PayPal.
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