William Viana

Leadership

ai Automattic blog blogging Books Career Advice Career Development Career Growth Career Resilience Coaching courses distributed Engineering Management Gen-AI Goals Growth Conversations growth mindset Gutenberg High-Performance Teams Layoffs Leadership llms meetups mindset shift Misogi New Year's Resolutions Planning PM product product engineer product management self-reflection software engineering success mindset Talent Retention Team Management Tech Layoffs Telex WordPress WordPress Blocks writing

  • ZIRP era Engineering Managers

    The other day, I saw this meme in one of the Slack channels I’m in:

    A meme featuring two panels with a woman speaking, expressing her thoughts on career success with contrasting phrases, while a man listens intently, highlighting the comedic shift in perspectives regarding career achievements.

    I went from chuckle to “Oh, shit, is this me?” in a fraction of a second—a scene better described with the :lolsob: emoji:

    The meme was funny, and it also got me reflecting about the Engineering Manager’s expectations during the ZIRP era and how those expectations shifted almost overnight.

    I became an Engineering Manager at the beginning of the pandemic, and I still remember very vividly how everything—from the courses to the conversations—was 100% focused on people management. I was being implicitly trained to become a coach. My performance was measured by the output of the team I was leading, and although staying technical was encouraged, it was rarely brought up during performance reviews—at least in my case. It was one of the main reasons I’ve heard why many ICs didn’t even consider the management path—it was a people management role, and they didn’t want to stop coding. This setup helped me to become a decent people manager. It also gave me the space to explore and improve complementary skills in product management and business strategy.

    Fast forward to today, the post-ZIRP era. An era marked by constant layoffs and the great flattening. Swoosh! That’s the sound of the pendulum swinging all the way to the opposite extreme of EM expectations—the speed of the swing is probably a testament to how high the pendulum was during ZIRP. Now managers are expected to lead bigger teams and stay hands-on, almost like another IC on the team—judged by what you ship, not just how you lead. Coaching is nearly a pejorative term. And ICs don’t want to become managers for a different reason: it feels like too much.

    I look forward to the day when the pendulum settles and we find balance—the kind that values both code and coaching, velocity and vision. People-first leadership made me a better manager, and it also shaped how I approach product, strategy, and teamwork. We’re building faster teams—but are we building better ones?

  • Managing High-Performance Engineering Teams: The Growth Conversation

    When you have a team of high-performing engineers with intrinsic motivations to grow in their craft, managing performance becomes more straightforward. The difficult conversations flow more naturally. Stretching them doesn’t feel forced. They’ll embrace your feedback and act on it when there is alignment, and alignment is the key here.

    Career growth conversations are only one aspect of managing high-performance teams, but they are a crucial one, not only for the individual’s career progress but also for team productivity, innovation, and retention. In this post, I’ll focus on a few tips and tactics that worked for me and improved the effectiveness of those conversations.

    I mentioned that alignment is key, and what I mean by that is alignment with the organization, the team, and the individual needs. But how do you reach alignment? Start with some questions and stay curious, in inquiry mode, try to truly listen to what they’re saying. Begin with powerful questions like:

    • What would be the next level for you?
    • What would it mean for you to step up to the next level?

    Pay attention to the aspects they mention. Are they aware of their blind spots and of any skills gap? Do they mention anyone they’d aspire to imitate? What surprises you? Follow up on that, and only when you have clarity on their perspective, add yours. And from there, try to build together a vision for their career growth. Ask how you can support their development and accelerate their growth rate.

    With a shared vision established, you can now tailor your approach to each individual’s needs. For each team member, the tactics and suggestions you make might differ:

    • Sometimes it would mean giving them more responsibilities or giving them higher-level tasks.
    • Other times, it would mean encouraging them to join and participate in the higher-level conversations happening in your organization.
    • Work on their leadership skills. One key skill for ICs at any level is the ability to influence without authority.

    Throughout this process, lean on your company’s career ladder and set of expectations as much as possible, but also be mindful of their current place in their career growth. The most effective growth plans acknowledge both the organizational framework and the individual’s unique circumstances.

    Conclusion

    The most effective way I’ve found to have meaningful career growth conversations is by working in partnership with each individual to co-create their career growth vision. And to do that, you have to start by being curious and by listening actively to their aspirations. Avoid scripted and rigid conversations and simply talk like a human being who genuinely cares. Your engineers will feel heard and supported in their ambitions, and your high performing team will perform even better in the long run.

  • Effective Ways to Learn from Others’ Experiences: Manager Voltron and Leadership Dens

    A tweet from Kelsey Hightower has been living rent-free in my brain:

    Learn from the mistakes of others, because you can’t make enough mistakes of your own.— Kelsey Hightower (@kelseyhightower) May 8, 2024

    One day at the beach, I laughed when my wife tripped in the sea. Minutes later, I tripped in the exact same spot. As I helped my dignity up, I remembered Kelsey’s tweet and wondered: Can we actually learn from others’ mistakes?

    As a manager, being aware of and knowing how to handle diverse challenges (e.g., performance issues, internal conflicts, burnouts) is an essential skill. You can only run into a few of these challenges early on in your career. That’s why exposure to other people’s challenging situations can be extremely valuable in accelerating your growth.

    All of this made me think of two recommendations that I’ve first heard from Lara Hogan here. I’ve found them very effective to get exposed to other people’s struggles and learn from their experiences: Manager Voltron and leadership dens. Let me explain.

    Manager Voltron

    A “Manager Voltron” is a diverse support network of trusted peers, mentors, and coaches that helps a manager navigate and overcome various challenges in their role.

    Much like how the components of Voltron come together to form a stronger robot, building a diverse support network is vital to become a stronger manager.

    I’m fortunate to have close friends in similar roles in different tech companies–they are my go-to people when I need to vent, and I learn a ton from them. I’m also in touch with a former manager I’ve considered an exceptional mentor. And I have a coach—another of Automattic’s perk—who helps me through all kinds of challenges, but especially stressful situations.

    If you lack such a network, be intentional about cultivating relationships at your current company. Attending workshops at leadership conferences can also be a good start—the setting can definitely help create strong bonds.

    Engineering Leadership Dens

    Another way to learn and build your network is through leadership dens. A leadership dean is a group setting that allow leaders to discuss challenges, share experiences, and gain insights from different perspectives in a safe environment.

    Initially skeptical, I’m now a convert. People will share their real struggles if they find themselves in a safe space. That’s when these calls become more valuable. Performance issues, conflicts among peers, burnouts. The juicy stuff. I also must confess I’ve left some of these calls feeling relieved not to have to deal with some of these challenges yet. But I always leave learning something new. My favorite part is hearing from people with different levels of experience and leadership styles.

    I also enjoy suggesting things I’ve read in books but never had a chance to put into practice. And then following up to see how it went. It’s a low-stakes way of learning through others.

    If you have a similar initiative at your organization, join it. Thank me later. If you don’t, it’s super easy to replicate: Vegas Rules, an agenda, and someone taking the facilitator role.

    Conclusion

    As I stated initially, I’m unsure if we can learn from others’ mistakes. However, being exposed to other people’s experiences can definitely help you grow faster in a leadership position. Here I shared two of the ways that I’ve found effective in my career:

    • By cultivating a support network you can become a stronger manager. Surrounding yourself with trusted peers, mentors, and coaches builds your resilience and decision-making skills. This network becomes your sounding board—offering advice, sharing lessons learned from their own experiences, and providing emotional support when things get tough.
    • And by taking advantage of leadership dens you get exposure to a wide variety of issues, how people with different management styles deal with them, and you get a chance go give back by sharing your own experience.

    I’m sure there are other effective ways out there. What were yours?

  • Powerful questions #1

    How am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want?

    Jerry Colonna–Reboot co-founder, coach & facilitator.

    The critical part here is being complicit and not responsible. Another way to answer this question is to consider how those conditions benefit you.

    Jerry follows up by presenting three more questions:

    What am I not saying that needs to be said?

    What am I saying that is not being heard?

    What is being said that I’m not hearing?

    I first heard these questions on an AMA about influencing without authority, which Jerry Colonna did at Automattic over Zoom. I found those questions incredibly powerful, and I’ve been obsessing about them. That obsession took me to find out more about Jerry’s work, and I ended up buying his books and listening to two interviews on the Tim Ferris podcast:

    The first one has become one of my all-time favorites on the Tim Ferris podcast. And I realize it is probably because of perfect timing. I happened to be going through stressful events in life, and the material resonated at a deeply personal level.

    I can’t recommend the books yet–I’m still waiting for them to arrive–but I’ll try to write about my impressions once I do: