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April 10 · Issue #139 · View online
Level Up delivers a curated newsletter for leaders in tech. A project by https://patkua.com. Ideal for busy people such as Tech Leads, Engineering Managers, VPs of Engineering, CTOs and more.
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Growing other leaders I often think that good managers are people who get the stuff done as required by the organisation. Sometimes, but not always, good managers are also great leaders who act as multipliers and grow other leaders. In today’s newsletter I want to share a few tips on how:
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Invest in Psychological Safety - Google’s Project Aristotle showed that this is the most important element to high-performing teams, but psychological safety is also key to encouraging others to demonstrate leadership. Search the web for ideas on how to invest in psychological safety or read The Fearless Organization.
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Work on intrinsic motivation - Dan Pink’s Drive helped me understand the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Research shows that when you often reward behaviour with extrinsic means like bonuses, when you remove the extrinsic force, you lose your desired behaviour. Instead, focus on building intrinsic motivation - the opportunities people can learn, choose to contribute and improve their work and their team and instil a sense of personal pride in the work they do.
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Highlight leadership opportunities - Even when people have high intrinsic motivation, they may not see activities or opportunities they can own or take part in. Think about activities you would like to work on and don’t have time for and ask for volunteers. Create a leadership opportunity through scoping out work or activities for others to own.
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Demonstrate gratitude - I’ve found highlighting and celebrating desired behaviour can be a more powerful motivator than focusing only on stopping undesirable behaviour. Build a reinforcing loop where people demonstrate leadership and show your gratitude for the proactive action.
Your challenge for this week is to deliberately do something that improves one of the four elements above. Do this repeatedly and you’ll find you have suddenly grown other leaders. Enjoy this week’s newsletter and please pass it on to a friend or colleague who might benefit.
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Great leaders grow other leaders
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New study: Metrics for elite engineering orgs In 2014, DORA published the State of DevOps report to track engineering team performance. LinearB studied 1,971 teams and 847k branches to build upon DORA with new engineering metrics benchmarks.
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Dimensions of Power
Reading time: 6mins This article by Kent Beck (@KentBeck) is very timely given that I ran a workshop this week on Leading Without Authority, which is also connected to the ideas of influence and power. Kent provides a list of a very detailed list of power dimensions that affect communication, decisions and more - whether or not we want them to. |
On “doing a good job”
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GoodRx co-CEO Doug Hirsch shows us what’s on his work calendar
Reading time: 9mins I always encourage leaders to learn from other leaders, so this article fits well into this theme. In this article, Michelle Ma (@HiMichelleMa) interviews co-CEO Doug Hirsch to provide insights into his daily schedule and some other productivity tips. |
Want to level up as an Engineering Manager? Join this online course (click the banner to find out more)
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That smiling LinkedIn profile face might be a computer-generated fake
Reading time: 14mins This is a mind-blowing 🤯 article from NPR tech correspondent Shannon Bond (@shannonpareil) that underscores how advanced AI-generated imagery is. I stared at the picture for a number of minutes and without the tips and closely looking, it would have fooled me for sure. This is yet another good reminder that we all have a responsibility to think about how tech is used (or potentially abused). |
Why Don't You Use ...
Reading time: 6mins Most people in tech have strong preferences for certain programming languages. A lot of Individual Contributors (ICs) often devolve into feature/capability arguments about programming languages but forget about the wider picture. In this article, industry expert in computing performance, Brendan Gregg (@brendangregg) covers many other considerations ICs forget when selecting a programming language. |
Cohesion and Coupling in Software with Examples
Reading time: 30mins This fairly long read by Matthieu Cneude (@Cneude_Matthieu) covers two key timeliness principles that not only apply to tech but also to teams. He also provides some great examples (in a programming context). |
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Two-way writeups: Coda’s secret to shipping fast
Reading time: 12mins In last week’s issue, I shared an article encouraging you to think more deliberately about asynchronous work modes. This article by Lane Shackleton (@lshackleton) is a good follow up that gives a concrete example of how they async working with the idea of “two-way writeups”. |
Stable Or Fluid Teams? What Does The Science Say?
Reading time: 15mins I love articles that provide a balanced and nuanced view instead of a provocative single stance as they are harder to write. In this one, Christiaan Verwijs (@chrisverwijs) looks a the trade-offs with stable or fluid teams. |
Rituals at Work: Teams That Play Together Stay Together
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On the topic of psychological safety this week 👇
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If you’re into psychological safety, human factors, ergonomics and safety critical domains, I really recommend watching “Downfall, The Case Against Boeing”.
An excellent study and analysis into the causal factors of very human disasters.
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If you enjoyed this newsletter, send me feedback and share it with others! |
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Patrick Kua, Postfach 58 04 40, 10314, Berlin, Germany
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