Managing Up

Travis and Brandon welcome new co-host Nickolas Means, Engineering Manager at GitHub, to talk about the tracks in engineering management, and the differing roles and responsibilities of the CTO and VP of Engineering. Show Notes: Eric Brooke: Software Engineering Leadership https://ericbrooke.wordpress.com/2018/09/16/software-engineering-leadership/ Camille Fournier: The Manager's Path https://www.amazon.com/Managers-Path-Leaders-Navigating-Growth/dp/1491973897 Lara Hogan: Engineering Ladders at Meetup https://medium.com/making-meetup/engineering-ladders-at-meetup-caacbea4916e Camille Fournier: Rent the Runway's Engineering Ladder http://dresscode.renttherunway.com/blog/ladder

Travis and Brandon discuss how central coaching is to quality management, the 2-way nature of coaching, and the critical role listening plays in becoming a better coach. HBR: The 9 Skills of Great Coaches https://hbr.org/2018/08/managers-think-theyre-good-at-coaching-theyre-not listening questioning giving feedback assisting with goal setting showing empathy letting the coachee arrive at their own solution recognizing and pointing out strengths providing structure encouraging a solution-focused approach Mindset by Carol Dweck https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322 f I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?: My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating by Alan Alda https://www.amazon.com/Understood-Would-Have-This-Look/dp/1524781924 Hill Climbing algorithm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_climbing

In this super-sized episode, Travis and Brandon discuss what makes a great manager, using 10 skills and traits developed by Google's Project Oxygen and updated over the last 10 years. What is the job of a manager? We discuss the role of a manager with this Google-developed evaluation framework as a guide: https://www.themuse.com/advice/10-behaviors-make-great-google-manager https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/managers-identify-what-makes-a-great-manager/steps/learn-about-googles-manager-research/ Carol Dweck, fixed vs growth mindset https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/ Travis’s magic question: “How would you like me to help with this?” Brandon’s Notes-Trello Listening-action framework Private Confluence space for 1:1 agendas with action items Conjoined triangles post https://frontside.io/blog/2016/07/07/the-conjoined-triangles-of-senior-level-development.html Simon Sinek: “Start with why” https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action https://www.goodreads.com

Travis and Brandon introduce the podcast, discuss the book Measure what Matters by John Doerr, and talk about the value that OKRs can bring to a team. Notes: Measure What Matters: https://www.amazon.com/Measure-What-Matters-Google-Foundation-ebook/dp/B078FZ9SYB/ The Hard Thing About Hard Things: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205 Radical Focus: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Focus-Achieving-Important-Objectives-ebook/dp/B01BFKJA0Y ATX Web Show http://atxwebshow.com/ Mark Rickmeier (CEO of TableXI) https://twitter.com/markrickmeier?lang=en