SWLW #527: Get that Staff Engineer promotion, The Gordian Knot of identity and achievement, and more.

Heya,

Happy holidays and happy new year everyone! As always, below you can read my best findings for the week.
 

This Week's Favorite

​​How to Get That Staff Engineer Promotion
6 minutes read.

"The first is cultivating a sense of ownership and responsibility beyond your specific work or even your immediate team’s work. [...] You don’t actually have to do everything (you’re only one person), but it is your responsibility to triage if it’s worth doing and if so, make sure that it’s on someone’s backlog to do." -- Joy Ebertz with many helpful tips and resources worth following if you consider the Staff Engineer path.

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Culture

Has a Real 10x Engineer Vibe to It
1 minute read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.

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Navigating Power Dynamics as a Manager
5 minutes read.

Pat Kua shares 5 tips to encourage your teammates to participate and lead, while you (thoughtfully) take a step back: "Over time, I realized that pretending a power dynamic wasn’t there wasn’t helping me lead. Recognize that there will always be a power difference between you as a manager and your team, and accept that each person will respond differently to that."

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You Will Always Have More Problems Than Engineers: How to Deal With a Sad Reality
7 minutes read.

"When you’re overwhelmed with problems, ordering them isn’t the most important skill, filtering them is." -- Matt Schellhas with a must-read post when working for a successful company, where the backlog outgrows the team. It reminds me of Joel Spolsky's epic post, "Software Inventory." Also, Matt's way to appreciate progress is one that I see a lot of value for people who tend to always move to the next to-do item on their list: "The better way to measure progress is to ignore the problems and think about what we’ve built. What things can we do today that we couldn’t yesterday?"

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“I’m on It” - My Favorite Response
4 minutes read.

"I'm on it" is a powerful statement. It doesn't mean we don't need help or will work on it in complete isolation. It signals that you'll take care of the job to be done and deliver the desired outcome. There is no better response to create a sense of high agency. Now do what you said, and people will route bigger and bigger challenges your way.

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Peopleware

What’s the Second Job of a Startup CEO?
11 minutes read.

Moving from building a product ("Doer-in-Chief") in phase 1 to building a company ("Company-Builder-in-Chief") in phase 2 is a great way to capture the CEO role, as Ali Rowghani writes it. It's not clear cut if the company is smaller or seeks for a different growth trajectory, but it's still helpful to understand the phases of leadership required.

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I'm in Year 20 of Building Companies. Here Are 13 Hard-Earned Lessons to Skyrocket Your Career (Thread)
4 minutes read.

Brett Adcock is an incredible entrepreneur and builder. My favorites: "Get quick wins weekly," "Do what you said you'd do," and "Show your ability to be decisive."

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The Gordian Knot of Identity and Achievement
4 minutes read.

"If you had a manager that talked to you the way you talked to you, you’d quit." -- Many of us tend to look down on ourselves. Trying to get more things done without being successful. Trying to read more. To build more. To spend more time with our loved ones. To find new hobbies and form new habits. If you cannot be the "manager you need" for yourself, surround yourself with optimistic, empathic friends that can remind you how awesome you are. That's the greatest hack of all.

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@hubermanlab: Depth of understanding is the gateway to efficiency. Not the other way around.

@dharmesh: For happiness, I like to create. For relaxation, I like to consume.



p.s. if you're interested in joining SWLW's Slack channel, simply reply to this email and let me know. If you're leading a team, consider writing your Manager README (it's free) or getting my e-book and interviews Leading Snowflakes: The New Engineering Manager's Handbook. You can also support me by becoming a SWLW Patron. Thank you ❤️




Keep reading, keep learning.
-- Oren Ellenbogen.