“Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.”
— Simon Sinek
It’s been a while since I posted my weekly newsletter.
I’ve still been active—sharing short daily notes with the Substack community—but I’ve also been thinking about how I want to shape my weekly thread going forward.
I decided to restart with something different—something I can share week after week, giving readers a sense of continuity.
This is the start of a new series: Engineering Leadership Foundations.
The goal of this series is simple: to help build strong, practical skills that can make you a thought leader in your field. At the very least, I hope these posts spark an idea or a shift in how you see leadership.
Over the next several weeks, we’ll move through a course-like journey—one topic at a time—covering themes that matter most to modern engineering leaders:
Week 1: What Makes a Modern Engineering Leader?
Week 2: From Individual Contributor to Leader — Biggest Mindset Shifts
Week 3: Building Trust While Delivering Results
Week 4: The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback
Week 5: Leading Through Change (and Failure)
Week 6: Developing Your Team — Coaching vs. Managing
Week 7: Setting (and Communicating) Vision and Goals
Week 8: Staying Relevant as a Leader in a Changing Tech Landscape
Think of it as a steady, bite-sized read you can enjoy during your coffee break or while winding down in the evening.
How Leadership Changed
When I started in tech, a “leader” was often just the boss who gave orders.
But times have changed. Teams now see that leading through fear burns out fast.
If you’re in it for the long game, leadership is about helping people do their best work—not controlling them.
You don’t need a big title to lead. You need to:
Listen, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Explain why something matters, not just the what or how.
Create space where it’s safe to try, fail, and try again.
Say “I don’t know” and ask for help when you need it.
Want to be a great leader? Don’t aim to be the loudest voice in the room.
Aim to be the one who makes sure everyone else gets heard.
From Doing to Leading
The hardest shift for many of us—especially new leaders—is moving from doing the work to helping others do the work.
It’s the moment you stop trying to be the smartest in the room and start working to make the whole room smarter.
That means:
Share credit, don’t chase it.
Let others solve problems, even if you could do it faster yourself.
Ask questions, instead of jumping to answers.
Step in when someone’s performance is dragging the team down—not to punish, but to coach, support, and remove blockers. Sometimes that means having tough conversations so high performers aren’t carrying the weight for too long.
Leadership isn’t just about getting work done. It’s about building people up—and addressing what holds the team back—so everyone grows while the work gets done.
A Book That Made Me Stop and Think
When I read Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek, it didn’t feel like a “how to” manual. It felt more like someone holding up a mirror and showing me where I could do better.
The central theme that runs through the book is the Circle of Safety. It’s about creating an environment where people aren’t looking over their shoulders, worried about blame or politics, but can focus fully on solving problems together.
It reminded me that leadership is not just about making decisions. It’s about removing fear from the room. That means being there for your team when things go wrong, taking the heat when needed, and making sure they have what they need to do their best work.
Trust doesn’t come from big speeches. It’s built in the small, everyday actions where you show your team you’ve got their back. And when people feel safe, they’re more willing to take risks, share ideas, and push for better solutions.
This book made me ask myself a simple question: Can we drive results with motivation instead of fear? I believe the answer is yes—and that shift changes everything.
How to Build a Circle of Safety (A Simple Framework)
You can’t just say, “This is a safe space,” and expect people to believe it. Safety is built through consistent actions over time.
It starts with you believing in it yourself—and then using simple habits to make that belief visible to your team.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Try these ideas, adapt them, and keep evolving until they fit your style:
Show up in tough moments — Be present and available when things break, not just when everything is smooth.
Own the blame, share the praise — Take the heat when something goes wrong, and pass the credit when it goes right.
Be clear and honest — Don’t hide bad news. People handle the truth better than surprises.
Make mistakes okay to talk about — Share your own mistakes openly so others feel safe to do the same.
Follow through on what you promise — Reliability builds trust faster than any pep talk.
Think of it like a bank account—you make small deposits into the “trust account” every day. When a crisis hits, you’ll have enough saved up to keep the team steady.
Small Step to Try
Pick one meeting or conversation this week—team stand-up, 1:1, code review, or even a casual hallway chat—and make a conscious choice to talk less and listen more.
When someone brings up an idea, challenge, or question, resist the urge to jump in with advice or a solution. Instead, pause and ask one more follow-up question:
“What do you think we should try?”
“What’s the real blocker here?”
“What would happen if we did nothing?”
You might be surprised by what happens. People often open up more, bring better ideas to the table, and take greater ownership when they feel truly heard.
This isn’t about staying quiet forever—it’s about practicing the discipline of making space for others to think, speak, and lead. Do it enough times, and you’ll start noticing a shift in the conversations around you.
Why This Matters
Tech moves fast. Problems are complex. No matter how smart or experienced one person is, it’s never enough to carry a whole team. The best teams share leadership, build trust, and stay clear on why they’re doing the work—not just what they’re delivering.
Leadership isn’t about waiting for a title or formal authority. You can lead by how you show up in conversations, the questions you ask, and the way you support others. You don’t need someone’s permission to start leading that way. You can start right now, in the role you already have.
This week we talked about what makes a modern engineering leader. But knowing what leadership looks like is just the first step. The harder part—and the one most people struggle with—is making the shift from being a strong individual contributor to being someone who helps others succeed.
That’s where we’ll go next.
Next week: How to shift from individual contributor to leader—without losing your technical edge.