The Transition Nobody Prepares You For
In January 2022, I was promoted from Senior Software Engineer to Lead Engineer at TachyHealth. Three years later, I became Technology Director. This transition from individual contributor (IC) to leader was the most challenging shift in my career.
Nobody teaches you this in computer science. The skills that made you a great engineer are not the skills that make you a great leader. Here is what I learned.
The Identity Crisis
The first challenge is psychological. As an engineer, your identity is tied to your technical output:
- Lines of code written
- Problems solved
- Systems designed
- Bugs fixed
As a leader, your output is different:
- Team productivity
- Strategic decisions
- People development
- Cross-functional alignment
This shift can feel like losing part of yourself. I struggled with it. I felt guilty when I was not coding. I felt anxious that my technical skills were atrophying.
How I Dealt With It
- Reframe success: Your success is now your team's success
- Stay technical strategically: Deep dive on architecture, not implementation details
- Accept the trade-off: You cannot be the best coder and the best leader simultaneously
- Find new sources of satisfaction: Watching someone you mentored succeed is deeply rewarding
The Skills You Need to Develop
1. Communication
As an engineer, you communicate with code and technical documentation. As a leader, you communicate constantly:
- Up: Reporting to executives, justifying decisions, requesting resources
- Down: Setting direction, providing feedback, sharing context
- Across: Coordinating with other teams, negotiating priorities
Practical tips:
- Learn to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders
- Practice writing clear, concise updates
- Get comfortable with ambiguity (not everything can be precise)
- Listen more than you talk
2. Delegation
This was my biggest struggle. I could write the code faster myself. But that is not the point.
Delegation is about:
- Developing your team's capabilities
- Scaling your impact beyond your individual capacity
- Focusing your time on highest-value activities
- Building trust and ownership
How to delegate effectively:
- Start with clear outcomes, not detailed instructions
- Provide context on why the work matters
- Set checkpoints but do not micromanage
- Accept that they might do it differently (and that is okay)
- Give credit publicly, provide feedback privately
3. Decision Making
As an IC, most decisions are technical. As a leader, decisions are multidimensional:
- Technical feasibility
- Business impact
- Team capacity
- Timeline constraints
- Political considerations
My framework:
- Reversible vs irreversible: Make reversible decisions quickly, irreversible ones carefully
- Data vs intuition: Use data when available, trust experience when not
- Involve vs decide: Know when to get input and when to just decide
- Document: Write down the decision and the reasoning
4. Conflict Resolution
Technical debates are straightforward. People conflicts are not.
As a leader, you will face:
- Team members who do not get along
- Disagreements on technical direction
- Performance issues
- Cross-team conflicts
Approaches that work:
- Address issues early before they escalate
- Assume positive intent
- Focus on behaviors and outcomes, not personalities
- Sometimes the right answer is not making everyone happy
5. Strategic Thinking
Engineers optimize for the current problem. Leaders think about:
- Where should we be in 1-3 years?
- What capabilities do we need to build?
- What technical debt is acceptable?
- How do we balance innovation with stability?
Developing strategic thinking:
- Read about business strategy, not just technology
- Understand your company's business model
- Think about second-order effects of decisions
- Connect technical work to business outcomes
Common Mistakes New Leaders Make
1. Still Trying to Be the Best Engineer
Your job is not to be the smartest person in the room. It is to build a room full of smart people.
2. Avoiding Difficult Conversations
Giving critical feedback is uncomfortable. Avoiding it is worse. The longer you wait, the harder it gets.
3. Taking on Too Much
Saying yes to everything leads to burnout and poor results. Learn to prioritize ruthlessly and say no.
4. Not Giving Enough Context
Your team cannot read your mind. Share the why behind decisions. Overcommunicate.
5. Measuring the Wrong Things
Lines of code, story points, and velocity are vanity metrics. Focus on outcomes: customer value, team health, technical quality.
Building Your Leadership Style
There is no one right way to lead. But some principles that work:
Lead with Trust
- Trust your team until they give you a reason not to
- Give people autonomy
- Support them when they fail
- Share information openly
Be Authentic
- Do not pretend to have all the answers
- Admit mistakes
- Show vulnerability appropriately
- Be consistent between what you say and do
Focus on Growth
- Invest in your team's development
- Create stretch opportunities
- Provide regular feedback
- Celebrate wins and learn from losses
Maintain Technical Credibility
- Stay current on technology trends
- Participate in architecture discussions
- Review code occasionally
- Do not make technical decisions you do not understand
The Director Level
Moving from Lead to Director added another layer:
- Scope: Multiple teams, not just one
- Time horizon: Thinking in years, not sprints
- Stakeholders: Executive team, board, external partners
- Focus: Strategy and culture, not just execution
At this level:
- You hire and develop other leaders
- You make decisions with incomplete information
- You represent technology to the rest of the organization
- You shape the engineering culture
Final Advice
For Engineers Considering Leadership
- Try it before committing (tech lead, project lead)
- Find a mentor who has made the transition
- Invest in soft skills now
- Understand that you can go back to IC if it is not for you
For New Leaders
- Give yourself grace. The first year is hard
- Build relationships with peers
- Get feedback regularly
- Take care of yourself. Leadership is emotionally draining
For All Engineers
Whether you become a leader or stay an IC, understanding leadership makes you better at your job. Learn to see the bigger picture, communicate effectively, and work well with others. These skills are valuable regardless of your title.
The best organizations need both great ICs and great leaders. Choose the path that energizes you.