Technical leaders recognize when a decision made in one part of the system will create problems in another. https://lttr.ai/As3bH #TechnicalLeadership #CreateAlignment

I often talk about how small adaptations to the work environment can make everyone more effective. But what do I mean by the environment, and exactly what can you do when you don't have positional authority? New pod on this here: changebyattraction.simplecast.com/episodes/ada... #leadership

The ability to communicate tradeoffs in language that doesn’t require a deep technical background is a real skill. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AsfWo #TechLeadership #Tradeoffs #StaffPrincipalEngineer

One of the most common failure modes for senior technical contributors is the pull toward doing rather than guiding. Read the full article: Tech Leadership: Be a Multiplier ▸ https://lttr.ai/ArKX7 #SelfLeadership #Leadership #TechnicalLeadership

One path goes toward management with more focus on “people stuff.” The other stays technical — Staff Engineer, Principal Engineer, Architect. Read the full article: Technical Leadership is Leadership ▸ https://lttr.ai/AqM8o #TechnicalLeadership #StaffEngineer #SeniorStaffEngineer

You can write a book review saying you like or dislike a book, but your review will not change the book The time for input is well before the product is on the shipping dock. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AmW6m #TheFingerprintPrinciple #LeadingChange #InviteCollaboration

The “collaborative” leader who, under pressure, makes unilateral decisions and calls it “just moving fast.” The gap between how we intend to show up and how we do isn’t dishonesty. It’s a pattern we can’t see from inside it. #FirstLeadYourself #Leadership

Making it easier for people to speak up will lead to better decisions and actions. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AopEs #DontLetProblemsHIde #voice #DontLetProblemsHide

Technical leaders can see misalignment coming before it arrives. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AruGj #TechnicalLeadership #CreateAlignment

Empathy and offering honest feedback are both skills every leader needs. Some people think you cannot have both. This is false. #firstLeadYourself #Empathy #Feedback

Self-awareness isn’t having opinions about yourself. It’s observing your own patterns while they’re running. Noticing when you’re triggered, not just afterward. That’s the root of almost everything else in leadership. #FirstLeadYourself

Technical leadership at scale requires a different orientation: creating the conditions for others to do great work, rather than doing the great work yourself. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/ArYrT #SelfLeadership #Leadership #TechnicalLeadership

The leaders who keep growing don't depend on motivation. They depend on design. A 15-minute reflection. One article at lunch. One question at the start of every 1:1. Not heroic. Consistent. Consistency, over time, is the whole game. #SelfLeadership www.congruentchange.com/first-lead-y...

When tradeoffs aren't visible, ppl may choose a path without fully understanding what they’re giving up. Read the full article: Tech Leadership: Make Tradeoffs Visible ▸ https://lttr.ai/ArREJ #TechLeadership #Tradeoffs #StaffPrincipalEngineer

Motivation is unreliable. Some mornings I wake up ready. Many mornings I don't. If my work depended on feeling inspired, it would happen about twice a month. #SelfLeadership #DesignYourHabits

The leaders who plateau aren't the ones who lacked talent. They're the ones who kept waiting for someone else to drive their growth. You don't need permission to read, reflect, or ask hard questions. That part is yours. www.congruentchange.com/first-lead-y... #Leadership #ContinuousLearning

Nobody is coming to own your professional development. Not your manager. Not HR. Not the next reorg. Not the leadership program that keeps getting cut when budgets get tight. #ItIsYourCareer #SelfLeadership

A Staff Engineer who raises a concern in an architecture review that causes the team to change course–that’s leadership. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AqM8n #TechnicalLeadership #StaffEngineer #SeniorStaffEngineer

Like surfacing tradeoffs, it requires leadership skills, not just technical ones. Read the full article: Tech Leadership: Create Alignment ▸ https://lttr.ai/Aq2bt #TechnicalLeadership #CreateAlignment

When people feel seen, they open up. The stalled negotiation starts moving. The withdrawn team member re-engages. Empathy isn't about agreement, it's about acknowledgment. It costs nothing and changes everything.
 #SelfLeadership #Empathy www.congruentchange.com/first-lead-y...

Most ppl think empathy is about being nice. It's not. It's about understanding how other people see and feel things. What surprises people: empathy is a learnable skill.The leaders who develop are consistently more effective than the ones who don't. #SelfLeadership #Empathy

"Decision-makers who aren’t technically savvy may be attracted to the promise of new technologies without fully grasping the risks." https://lttr.ai/Aqcq2 #TechLeadership #Tradeoffs #StaffPrincipalEngineer

The hardest decisions I've made weren't hard because I didn't know the options. They were hard because two things I cared about were pulling in opposite directions. Growth vs. stability.. Speed vs. quality. Not getting fired vs doing the right thing. #CoveValues #LeadYourself

Presenting an idea in lo-fi communicates it is not complete. To reinforece your desire for input, use a sketching tool (or pencil and paper) rather than a vector graphics tool. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AmW6l #TheFingerprintPrinciple #LeadingChange #InviteCollaboration

When I was a corporate employee, my calendar was always packed. Meeting after meeting. By the end of the day, I'd been going 100 mph and gotten further behind. The organization rewarded people who were always slammed. But busy and productive are not the same thing. #TimeToThink #SelfLeadership

"When a Principal Engineer sets a standard for how code gets reviewed and the whole team gradually rises to it, that’s leadership." https://lttr.ai/AqM8m #TechnicalLeadership #StaffEngineer #SeniorStaffEngineer

When something goes wrong, our brains assign blame fast. It's a survival mechanism — we process threats and protect ego. But unless there's an actual tiger, the urge to react immediately is almost always suboptimal. #SelfLeadership #Curiosity

And how can we make it easier for people to speak up? Read Speaking Up for some tips. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ap9Su #DontLetProblemsHIde #voice #DontLetProblemsHide

I talked to a IT mgr who always said yes to his internal customers. Yes to every request, new feature, major project. He though it made him a responsive leader. It made him undependable. His teams were always “working on it,” but done was always sometime in the future. #thisisnotleadership

Geno needed to talk to a team member about personal hygiene. He'd dropped hints. Mentioned healthy habits in a team meeting. It hadn't worked. But a direct conversation? He kept finding reasons to delay. One more hint. One more day. Sound familiar? #leadership #courage

In many organizations—maybe most—telling your boss his baby is ugly is a career limiting move. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/Ao8kF #TheFingerprintPrinciple #LeadingChange #InviteCollaboration

If you see something, say something to help someone else say something: “It looks like Sam has something to add…” Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AofyJ #DontLetProblemsHIde #voice #DontLetProblemsHide

Make it easy for people to get their fingerprints on a change. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AmW6j #TheFingerprintPrinciple #LeadingChange #InviteCollaboration

When people in your company feel like they can’t speak up, everyone loses. Read more 👉 https://lttr.ai/AnKt9 #DontLetProblemsHIde #voice #DontLetProblemsHide

Speaking Up: https://lttr.ai/AmW3Q #DontLetProblemsHIde #voice #DontLetProblemsHide

Exciting news! We've confirmed @emilybache.bsky.social as a trainer for the training day at our event in June! Have you made any plans for 2026 yet? Registration is now open for SoCraTes UK 2026! Register: socratesuk.org/tickets.html

"This book is an essential aid for a beginner retrospective facilitator and provides deep insights for advanced facilitators too." -- Jutta Eckstein 40% off w code PragPicks pragprog.com/titles/dlret2 Agile Retrospectives, 2e by @estherderby.bsky.social Diana Larsen David Horowitz

New Pragmatic Picks: Code PragPicks to save 40% (today only!) 📘 Agile Retrospectives, 2nd Ed 📕 Effective Go Recipes 📗 From Ruby to Elixir 📙 Modern Front End Development for Rails links in 🧵 @estherderby.bsky.social @tebeka.bsky.social @noelrappin.com

Hi folks! I have a new blog post up called "How Time Flies!" about my 25 years of Extreme Programming. open.substack.com/pub/daveroon...

Why is it hard for people to speak up in organizations? What can make it easier? Listen here: changebyattraction.simplecast.com/episodes/voice #ChangeByAttraction #Voice #Leadership #podcast

After a loooong break, I'm back with another episode of Chang by Attraction. 🎉 Listen here: changebyattraction.simplecast.com/episodes/voice

Are you feeling tired, jaded, want a lift, want to be reminded what you enjoy about this industry, want to learn some new stuff? Have you ever been to a Manchester Tech Festival event (UK)? If you have, you'll already have fond memories. If you haven't, you're in for a treat! >>>

Learn and practice how to observe, think, and act systemically at Problem-Solving Leadership with Esther Derby & Don Gray.

October 19-24 www.congruentchange.com/problem-solv...

#LeadersAtAllLevels #ProblemSolvingLeadership

Hey, @pulpocon.bsky.social needs your help! Please help to spread the word. www.linkedin.com/posts/clare-...

I'm really sad that I've never yet been able to take @estherderby.bsky.social and Don Gray's Problem Solving Leadership (PSL) course. I've heard so many great things about it from so many people. It teaches people how to build and lead the best possible teams.

Do you want your team to work more effectively? Learn how you can take subtle actions that transform teamwork—whether or not you are the formal leader. Problem-Solving Leadership with Don Gray & me.

 October 19-24. 2025 #LeadersAtAllLevels www.congruentchange.com/problem-solv...

OH: You can’t cut your way to excellence.

When is "move fast and break things" a valid strategy? When is it idiotic and/or unethical? Discuss.

It's here! "We Just Build Hammers: Stories from the Past, Present, and Future of Responsible Tech" brings to life tales of the unsung heroes of responsible tech and the science fiction that inspired them. thehammerbook.com #TechJustice #EthicalSource #ResponsibleTech #TechEthics #TheFutureIsSoft

The savings from cutting labor costs shows up right away. The costs of cutting ppl doesn't show up right away. Neither do the savings from actually fixing things. #ShortTermThinking #PerversIncentives