Author, public speaker, and coach for managers and leaders across the tech industry.
Resilient Management
Finding your bearings as a manager can feel overwhelming—but you don’t have to fake it to make it, and you don’t have to go it alone.
Lara Hogan shares her recipe for supporting and leading a tech team—from developing your mentoring and coaching skills, to getting comfortable with having difficult conversations, to boosting trust among teammates—while staying grounded along the way.
Blog and Resources
Get a peek at my style and approach to management on my blog—a go-to resource for managers in the tech industry as they navigate their role. It’s full of handy worksheets for one on ones, posts about better meetings, and tips for dealing with surprising human emotions. Subscribe via RSS or my newsletter.
Find all my tools, tips, and templates on...
Influence & managing up
Enact positive change for yourself, your team, or the whole organization.
Leading through crises
Strengthen your support network, meet your team where they're at, and weather the tough times.
Cross-functional relationships
Strengthen relationships by creating role clarity and creatively supporting one another.
One-on-ones
Set your teammates up for success!
Hiring
Build consistent, repeatable, and equitable interviews and onboarding plans.
Meetings
Support participants, hone the content, and nail the meeting goal.
Feedback & performance reviews
Everyone deserves clear, actionable feedback!
Communication & team dynamics
Plan ahead, facilitate well, and create clarity.
Adapting your approach
As the context evolves, your leadership approach will need to evolve, too.
Public Speaking
Don’t think public speaking is for you? It is—whether you’re bracing for a conference talk or a team meeting.
My book Demystifying Public Speaking (A Book Apart) helps you identify your fears and effectively face them, so you can make your way to the stage (big or small). Get clear, practical advice through every step, from choosing a topic and creating a presentation, to gathering and distilling feedback, to event-day prep. You’ll feel confident and equipped to step into the spotlight.
(A Book Apart, 2016)
Netmag Interview
I was featured in the February 2017 issue of Netmag’s “Voices Interview” (PDF).
We discussed web performance, honing management spidey senses, strength training, and public speaking.
Check out more of my work on giving presentations, or watch my talks and interviews.
Technical Work
I’m the author of Designing for Performance. This practical introduction to performance from a designer and front-end developer perspective covers:
- The basics of page speed: requests and how browsers render content, and how it impacts your site, brand, and users
- Optimizing images, HTML, CSS, and fonts for performance
- Implementing responsive web design with an eye on performance
- Tactics for weighing aesthetic choices and their performance impact
- Tools for measuring and iterating on performance
- Methods for shaping an organization’s performance culture
The book is available for purchase from O'Reilly in both ebook and print version. I'm donating all of the proceeds from the book to various charities focused on supporting underrepresented people in tech. You can also read the book online for free.
Why is my website slow? (CodeNewbie podcast)
You’ve got an amazing website. It’s beautiful, functional, but it takes forever to load. I break down common web performance issues, tools you can use to diagnose the problem, and how to use AB testing to measure your results, in this podcast.
Empathy and Web Performance (Webstock)
Website performance issues can disproportionately affect low-income households, folks with disabilities, rural and elderly populations. What can we do about it? Watch the video.
Performance: Showing Versus Telling (A List Apart)
Showcasing a real user experience is much more powerful than staring at numbers or bar charts. So how can we show performance? Use videos of your site loading, and wall monitors! This article shows you how.
Popular Mechanics
In the April 2016 issue of Popular Mechanics, “Technology’s Secret Weapon is Women”, women were interviewed about their contributions to the industry.
I’m especially honored that they chose to include a photo of the first device lab that Destiny Montague and I built together.
(Five Simple Steps, 2015)
Check out more of my work on web performance and mobile web and device labs.