Engineering Leadership
45 articles on engineering leadership. Page 1 of 2.
Questions to Ask Before You Take the Engineering Job
Twelve sharp questions to ask before accepting an engineering role, so you learn what the job is really like before you sign.
Where a Head of Engineering's Week Really Goes
One illustrative week in the life of a head of engineering, logged block by block, and what the pattern says about the job.
9 Onboarding Templates for Distributed Teams
Nine free onboarding templates and checklists for distributed engineering teams, from GitLab and Notion to ClickUp, each with a direct link.
How Engineering Leaders Run Offsites That Are Worth It
A practical guide to planning an engineering offsite that produces real decisions, not just a nice hotel and a lost week.
6 Engineering Leadership Certifications, Reviewed
Six real engineering leadership certifications reviewed, from Cornell and ASEM to Scrum.org, plus an honest take on whether any are worth it.
10 People Worth Following on AI and Engineering Work
Ten writers worth following on AI and software engineering, from Simon Willison to Gergely Orosz, each with a link to their current work.
7 Essays on Async Work Worth Bookmarking
Seven canonical essays on asynchronous work, from Paul Graham to Cal Newport, with one line each on why each is worth reading.
9 Reads for Your First 90 Days as an EM
A 90-day shortlist for new engineering managers: nine books ordered by when they help most, from The Manager's Path to High Output Management.
18 Free Templates for Engineering Managers, Plus One
18 free templates for engineering managers: postmortems, retros, ladders, design docs, 1:1s, kickoffs, plus a copyable coverage plan.
7 Engineering Reports Worth Reading This Year
Seven annual engineering reports worth your time in 2026, from DORA and Octoverse to DX and Jellyfish, plus how to read them without wasting a week.
Engineering Leadership Meetups: 9 Across 5 Cities
A city-by-city guide to 9 active engineering leadership meetups in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, the Bay Area, and New York, with honest notes.
8 Engineering Leadership Courses, Honestly Reviewed
Eight engineering leadership courses reviewed with real pros and cons, from Reforge to Stanford, matched to your career stage.
6 Subreddits Engineering Managers Read
Six subreddits engineering managers actually read, ranked by how active they are, with an honest note on which ones are quiet.
8 Podcasts for Engineering Leaders Worth the Commute
Eight active podcasts for engineering leaders, from The Pragmatic Engineer to Manager Tools, plus who each show is really for.
How to Handle the Meeting Culture That Won't Die
Some meeting cultures resist cuts even when leadership wants to cut them. How to handle the culture that won't die — diagnosing the cause, and the moves that actually change it.
How to Know if Your Engineering Org Has a Continuity Problem
A continuity problem in engineering is invisible until someone leaves. Ten symptoms that surface it early, and what to do once you see them.
How to Reduce Engineering Meeting Load by 60%
60% meeting reduction is achievable in one quarter without losing alignment. The four moves that produce most of it — and what to replace meetings with.
15 Things Great Engineering Managers Do Every Week
Great engineering managers maintain specific weekly habits. Here are 15 that distinguish the managers whose teams ship from the ones whose teams just look busy.
How to Audit Your Engineering Tool Stack in 2026
Engineering tool sprawl quietly costs teams a sprint per quarter. A practical audit framework that surfaces what to consolidate, kill, or keep.
13 Traits of Engineering Leaders Who Scale Past Series B
Engineering leaders who scale past Series B share specific traits. Here are thirteen patterns we see in the ones who succeed and don't in the ones who don't.
How to Set Up Engineering Accountability Without Surveillance
Accountability and surveillance look similar but produce opposite outcomes. How to design engineering accountability around declared state — what's shipped, what's decided, what's owned.
11 Books Every Engineering Manager Should Read in 2026
A curated reading list for engineering managers in 2026 — focused on the structural and human realities of distributed teams, not just classic management.
How to Evaluate Engineering Productivity Tools
Engineering productivity tools are easy to buy and hard to evaluate honestly. A criteria framework that surfaces real impact and rejects vanity metrics.
9 KPIs Engineering Leaders Should Retire in 2026
Many engineering KPIs measure the wrong thing or game easily. Here are nine commonly tracked KPIs to retire — and what to track instead.
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