Management & Leadership Resources

How to make hard decisions: even/over statements  blog post

We face decisions every single day, big and small. Sometimes those decisions have tradeoffs that feel impossible to decide between, which naturally will feel particularly hard to settle on. (read more)

Be a thermostat, not a thermometer  blog post

As I’ve learned more about how humans interact with one another at work, I’ve been repeatedly reminded that we are very easily influenced by the mood of those around us. It’s usually not even something we do consciously; we just see someone using a different tone of voice or shifting their body language, and something deep in our brain notices it. (read more)

Recognition and rewards at work  blog post

“What we recognize is what we reward.” (read more)

How to announce organizational change in your first 90 days  blog post

Congrats, you’ve made it through your first 2 months as a new hire in a leadership role! You’re in the home stretch of this initial season. (read more)

30-60 days in a new leadership role: run experiments for change  blog post

Woohoo, you’ve made it through the first 30 days in your new leadership role, and you didn’t change a thing! Congrats—you’ve been building trust by soaking in information and helping folks on your team feel heard and seen. (read more)

How to spend your first 30 days in a new senior-level role  blog post

You’ve started in a new role: congrats! (read more)

The M Dash - It’s Time to Rethink Your 1:1 Meetings   interview

The M Dash interviewed me for tips to make your weekly 1:1 the most impactful meeting of your week.

Six creative ways to use coaching questions  blog post

My most-used tool these days is definitely this list of 20 great open questions. There are so many things it’s useful for. (read more)

Huffington Post: How To Pick The Perfect 'Fun Fact' For Icebreaker Questions   interview

If you’ve ever panicked when it’s your turn to share a “fun fact about yourself” at work, you’re not alone. I and five other career experts revealed a different strategy for picking what to reveal in getting-to-know-you exercises, and how to design a reduced-stress icebreaker experience.

Manage up without getting (too) salty about it  blog post

An attendee from one of my Delivering Feedback workshops asked:

I think the Feedback Equation we learned today could work well with my manager, but I’m concerned about implementing it.

One of my biggest fears about giving them feedback is their negative response to it, so tying it back to what’s important to him makes a lot of sense to me.

However, how would I use coaching/open questions without getting salty that I have to coach them through the situation? I don’t have power in the relationship and that makes me worried about how I will handle it if and when my manager gets negative. (read more)

“Should I create a Performance Improvement Plan for my direct report?”  blog post

There’s lots to be said (and felt) about Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs); they’re often a step that a company takes when an employee is not meeting the expectations of their role, and their manager (or the company) is considering whether or not to terminate this person’s employment. (read more)

Intercom podcast   interview

We covered a range of topics including planning your one-on-ones, navigating team friction, giving successful feedback, and building your network of support.

What to do when a beloved employee quits  blog post

This post originally appeared on Lead Dev. (read more)

Happy Birthday To My 1:1 Questions!  blog post

When I wrote the Questions for our first 1:1 blog post six years ago, I had no idea that it’d have any impact for folks beyond my direct team. (read more)

What to do when your feedback doesn't land  blog post

This email I received from a recent workshop attendee describes a common, but challenging, situation: (read more)

Resources for leading through crises  blog post

My blog post from 2017, “Managering through terrible times,” continues to (sadly) be relevant for folks leading teams through the tumultuous times we find ourselves in. Since first writing that post, I’ve developed a bunch more resources to help you and your teammates as you navigate the frightening impact of world events. (read more)

When your coaching questions freak someone out  blog post

In my workshop on mentoring, coaching, and sponsoring, I talk about the difference between these three skills and how to employ each effectively. We spend a lot of time talking about what makes a good coaching question (like these 20 example questions!), like: make sure the question starts with the word “what,” be genuinely curious and open-ended (not leading), and keep it short and sweet. (read more)

The dreaded reorg  blog post

Back in 2017, I wrote an article about desk moves, and the surprising emotions we might see from our coworkers when a desk move is announced. (read more)

Huffington Post: Is It OK To Tell Your Boss That You're Unhappy At Work?   interview

There are four questions you should ask yourself to determine whether a conversation with your manager could help change how you are feeling:

• What’s the No. 1 thing you need right now, such as rest, support or clarity?
• If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about your work, what would it be?
• What’s the No. 1 thing your manager cares or worries about, such as attrition or deadlines?
• Where’s the overlap between what your manager cares about and what you need?

Delegation is an art, not a science  blog post

When managers get to the “Delegate these tasks” quadrant of the Eisenhower matrix, they can hit a big mental roadblock. Delegation sometimes feels like it will require more of your time, energy, and focus than just doing the project yourself! (read more)

How to announce promotions fairly  blog post

This post originally appeared on Lead Dev. (read more)

When to delegate, when to say no  blog post

A common theme that’s come up in recent coaching calls is a feeling of being overwhelmed with the volume of work. I’ve heard it from newer managers, a founder CTO, a few VPE’s, and some experienced mid-level managers in just the past few weeks. (read more)

The Digital Workplace podcast   interview

We talked about what it’s like to be managers in the “digital age,” particularly when it comes to facilitating digital meetings. We also talked a bit about humans’ core needs at work and how to switch between mentoring, coaching, and sponsoring your teammates.

Jean, Jorts, and tough feedback  blog post

I can’t stop thinking about a recent AITA post from the manager of two cats named Jorts and Jean. (read more)

Help your teammates navigate moments of self-doubt  blog post

This post originally appeared on Lead Dev. (read more)

Don't soften feedback.  blog post

When I talk about balancing being directive and empowering as a leader, the distinction between being kind and being nice often comes up. (read more)

You can be directive without being a jerk  blog post

Last newsletter, I answered a manager’s question about helping their team break the cycle of going in circles, while still being as empowering as possible. (read more)

Finding the right kind of opportunities for your sponsee  blog post

This post originally appeared on Lead Dev. (read more)

My team is going in circles. Help!  blog post

“Lara, I’m a manager, and my team is kind of going in circles. We have a critical project deadline, I’m trying to keep everyone moving forward, but it’s almost like we don’t know who’s in charge of what and it’s slowing us down. One thing to note, we typically try to solve problems as a team. Do you have any tips?” (read more)

From creator to coach: Founders share lessons from the transition to CEO   interview

While there’s no one right way to navigate the transition to CEO, there are lessons to be learned from other founders who have made the shift successfully.

The Changelog: Leading leaders who lead engineers   interview

The majority of our conversation focuses on the four primary hats leaders and managers end up wearing; mentoring, coaching, sponsoring, and delivering feedback. We also talk about knowing when you’re ready to lead, empathy and compassion, and learning to lead.

Help Your Colleagues Take Real Time Off By Answering These Six Questions  blog post

Your colleagues need real, respected time off. After a time where we weren’t able to get away at all, disconnecting deserves to be treated as protected time. (read more)

Why 'bring solutions not problems' doesn’t work  blog post

Many years ago, when I asked a very grumpy direct report to “start bringing solutions, not just problems,” it did not go well. (read more)

How To Share Complex Company News With Your Team And Build Trust  blog post

There are a number of pitfalls leaders can fall into when organizational changes or world events start impacting our teams. By responding poorly, leaders will create a lot more strife down the line. So, when a fraught issue arises, how can we help our organization move forward in a way that actually builds rather than breaks trust? (read more)

Borrowing lines from great leaders around you  blog post

This post originally appeared on Lead Dev. (read more)

How To Evaluate Your Leadership Impact On A Performance Review  blog post

Given that identifying visible, measurable progress in leadership work is a challenge, how can you evaluate your impact as a leader? And when it’s performance review season, how can you describe the impact of your work to your manager, human resources department and others who are evaluating you? (read more)

What to do when your employees are in crisis mode  blog post

Years ago, Paloma Medina—whose name you may be familiar with, since she’s the person who developed the BICEPS core needs acronym—taught me how to quickly spot when someone’s amygdala has been hijacked. Folks in fight-or-flight mode will commonly display one of these five forms of resistance: (read more)

The art of the tick tock doc  blog post

Let’s say you need to get a critical new message out to your team: like a teammate’s departure, or a significant change to the business strategy. It’s time to get familiar with the art of the communications plan: a step-by-step strategy for sharing new information throughout an organization. (read more)

Updated! The New Manager Care Package  blog post

In a year when celebrations have been very difficult to come by, I hope you’ll lend a little extra support to those you care about—with helpful management tools and some newly updated goodies. (read more)

We need to talk about your Q3 roadmap  blog post

As people complete their vaccination schedule, as the world around us continues to burn, and as the product roadmap chugs along, something’s gotta give. And I think it’s going to be your feature plans—because the humans behind them need time to recuperate. (read more)

What if you dread 1:1s with a direct report?  blog post

This post originally appeared on Lead Dev. (read more)

Becoming A Manager In 2021  blog post

Are you—or someone you know—moving into a manager role this year? I’ve got your back! (read more)

Handling the Emotional Weight of 1:1s  blog post

As the anniversary of the first pandemic lockdowns loom, I am sharing a round-up of resources to help you lead and support your teammates as they deal with continued grief and burnout—and resources to help you navigate your own emotional workload as a manager or leader. (read more)

Your brain on progress   publication

Strategies for nurturing that feel-good sense of accomplishment when doing largely invisible work.

Set future performance reviews up for success now  blog post

Hopefully you’re nearing the end of the current performance review season! (read more)

Performance reviews should be unsurprising, fair, and motivating  blog post

Performance review season is upon us again! (read more)

Tough love for managers who need to give feedback  blog post

I’m honored to coach a lot of really terrific managers and leaders in my work. But no matter how experienced or how smart these folks are, we all still get some things wrong sometimes. When it comes to feedback, I have a lot of tough love to give. (read more)

How to say no right now  blog post

We are in an absolutely bananas season. (read more)

Managers: what do you do when your teammate shares their grief?  blog post

Most of us aren’t taught how to respond when someone shares with us a really heavy piece of information. (read more)

Now Live: The Complete Demystifying Management Program Digital Course  blog post

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of the totally digital Demystifying Management Program! (read more)

What happens if you become a director without being a manager first?  blog post

I’ve written before about managing at different levels: the skills you need to hone, what changes, what you start doing and what you stop doing. But recently I was asked: what happens if you skip the introductory level of being a line manager? (read more)

How to be a sponsor when you're a developer (Lead Dev)   publication

If you’re not a manager, but you’ve wondered how you can help someone else grow in their career, this article is for you.

Recognize your management wins  blog post

A question I get a lot is: what’s a big manager mistake you’ve made? (read more)

Distributed: the secret to being a successful manager   interview

Are companies setting up their managers for success? What are BICEPS? How do you assemble your colleagues like a management Voltron? I talked with Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic, on his podcast.

How to learn about someone's core needs  blog post

The 6 core needs that humans have at work (BICEPS) are on my mind all of the time. In the past, I’ve talked about how to use the BICEPS core needs list to: (read more)

Productivity & Engineering Podcast by Veamly   interview

Whether you are a seasoned engineering manager or a software engineer considering the option way down the road, there are certain aspects of management that make the job tough especially with what’s going on with the world right now. Veamly’s CEO Emna Ghariani sat down with me to discuss the essence of building resilient teams that rise in times of crisis.

Easy check-in questions for your 1:1s during times of crisis  blog post

Here are the questions I’ve been asking in coaching calls with managers and individual contributors alike, to get a gut check on how folks are feeling during this awful, strange season—without making the conversation too heavy. (read more)

Scaling Software Teams Podcast   interview

A resilient manager is the foundation of every successful team. How do you become a more resilient manager? In this episode, I provided Wes with some 1:1 coaching on his management style and uses the BICEPS framework to help him better understand resistance patterns he may see in his daily work.

3 steps for leaders to take in emergencies  blog post

I’ll keep this intro short, because I know your energy and attention are precious resources during this season. (read more)

Creating predictability and stability in times of rapid change  blog post

A few years back, spurred by the effects of the 2016 election, I published a blog post called “Managering in terrible times”. It begins: (read more)

How to manage up effectively  blog post

In the last post, I walked through: (read more)

Is managing up a bad thing?  blog post

One of the topics I’m asked to write about with some frequency is “managing up”. So I asked on Twitter: (read more)

Socially visible progress  blog post

Our brains are trained to look for socially visible progress. (read more)

Programming Leadership: Rise of the Resilient Manager   interview

Are you a resilient manager? Do you want to become one? In this episode of Programming Leadership, Marcus and I discuss what it means to be a resilient manager. We discuss some effective management skills and thought processes, and introduced Marcus to the idea of the manager Voltron.

On direction 'versus' empowerment  blog post

I first learned the phrase “balance direction and empowerment” from Dana Trader, Meetup’s former VP of HR (now she’s a VP at Teachers Pay Teachers). (read more)

Huffington Post: The 4 Biggest Mistakes First-Time Managers Make (And How To Avoid Them)   interview

“Generally, when we become a manager, we are just trying to do our best, and the shortcut to doing our best is, ‘Well, what would I want in this situation? What would I need?’ It’s very natural to leap from that to assuming that everybody else is going to want or need the same needs that you do.” But it turns out: that doesn’t work!

Humans+Tech Podcast   interview

In this episode of the Humans + Tech podcast, we cover how to get feedback from your team, dealing with times of crisis, a gross metaphor for growth, and so much more.

CodeNewbie: How to be a good manager and a good employee   interview

You can be an amazing developer, but a terrible manager. We discuss why becoming a manager isn’t necessarily a promotion, and some of the most important skills people need to not only be good managers, but in any supporting role.

How to offer challenges to your teammates  blog post

Think about when a manager’s helped skyrocket your growth—what did they do? Did they teach you a new skill? Did they give you hard feedback? (read more)

Introducing: New Manager Care Packages  blog post

Wishing you could congratulate the new manager in your life while also giving them some more support in their new role? Meet my New Manager Care Package. (read more)

Interviewing at senior levels  blog post

In my last newsletter, I wrote about a few skills that indicate someone is distinctly more senior in their role: (read more)

Updated: Work at different management levels  blog post

“As a leader, your job should change every six months even if you stay put.” —Cate Huston (read more)

Presentable podcast   interview

We discuss the qualities that help teams thrive and how you can contribute whether you’re a leader … or aspire to be.

Track Changes podcast   interview

Focus on Core Needs: I joined Paul and guest host Gina Trapani to chat about my new book and about leadership in the workplace. I walked through a framework for managing different types of people and gave tips on how to adapt your management style. I also gave Paul some useful advice on where he should sit in the office and explained why moving desks can be so traumatic.

My 3 favorite types of manager meetings  blog post

The first time I came across the concept of a “first team”, it was in the incredible book The Manager’s Path: (read more)

Strong Feelings podcast   interview

Did your first management gig come with a small pay bump and zero training? Ours too! But being good at doing a job doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be good at managing people doing it. We cover: why there’s more to managing than just mentoring, why moving desks in your office seems like a pretty small thing but is actually often a Big Deal in the workplace, and why it’s a must to get to know people who aren’t just like you in the workplace and find ways to sponsor them in their areas of interest.

Build by Femgineer   interview

Just when you thought you had a handle on your job… it’s time to lead a team! Time to be responsible for others. Their career growth, emotional well-being at work, and job satisfaction. We cover a ton of ground in this video!

Order Now: Resilient Management book  blog post

This announcement was a long time in the making: (read more)

A Tiny, Powerful Question for Better Feedback  blog post

This post originally appeard on the 11:11 Supply Nerd Out Blog (read more)

Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots   interview

We discuss finding my ideal job coaching and mentoring, evaluating for management alignment, what makes for a strong manager, the value of role-play for difficult conversations, constructive feedback, and my upcoming book, Resilient Management.

Frontier Podcast   interview

We talk about the surprising human emotions that crop up at work, how to navigate them as a manager, and how to know to create your own Manager Voltron.

Roleplaying Difficult Conversations  blog post

As a manager, I had no idea how to handle my first disruptive teammate. The work environment was becoming less and less psychologically safe; the rest of the team had started to work from home more to avoid being yelled at by her. But she rarely acted out when I was around, so I found myself struggling to give this teammate feedback. (read more)

Feedback Equation   worksheet

It's performance review season!  blog post

Ah, performance reviews. The season that eats up most managers’ spare time as they collect and synthesize feedback from others. The season that ramps up anxiety in teammates as they wait to hear what’s been said about them, and whether or not they’re gonna get that promotion. It’s both draining and tedious, and tremendously important. (read more)

Tools for Introspection  blog post

As you wrap up the year, and as you reflect on your role as a manager or leader, I encourage you to develop a one-line leadership philosophy that you can share with your mouthwords in the new year. (read more)

Coaching Reflections  blog post

In my full-day workshop for managers, I lead participants through a series of exercises to become better mentors and coaches for their direct reports. (read more)

Software Engineering Radio   interview

Travis Kimmel talks with Lara Hogan and Deepa Subramaniam about evidence-based tactics that leaders can use to increase clarity and build healthier, high-performing organizations. Their conversation covers: diagnosing and treating problems that are slowing product, design, and engineering teams; “organization smells”; clarifying roles and responsibilities; improving documentation; facilitating better meetings; improving inter and intra-team dynamics. Audio

Fairness and management  blog post

I’ve been thinking a ton about fairness since I came across this HBR article: “Research: When Managers Are Overworked, They Treat Employees Less Fairly” (read more)

Advice for a new executive  blog post

When I was getting ready to join Kickstarter as VP of Engineering, Chad Dickerson (who was the CEO of Etsy when I worked there) offered to send me a bunch of advice. Chad had been a CTO multiple times before being CEO; he knew that this executive-level role was brand new to me, so he offered to help give me a steer and a foundation as I walked into this totally new territory. (read more)

Acknowledging When You Mess Up  blog post

We all mess up sometimes. (read more)

Simple Leadership Podcast  

Christian McCarrick and I discuss expectation setting as a manager, mindful communication, my new company and a surprise management challenge! Find out what it is: Audio and Transcript

Week in Review Leadership Comms  blog post

As an Engineering Director at Etsy and VP of Engineering at Kickstarter, I sent a “Week in Review” document every two-ish weeks to my whole team. This doc helped me set records straight, disseminate info to lots of people at once, and open up conversation internally, while reflecting on the themes that had come up in weekly one-on-ones, backchannels, team meetings, etc. (read more)

Tips for Hiring Managers  blog post

This post originally appeared on Making Meetup (read more)

Feedback Equation  blog post

As I mention in my book Demystifying Public Speaking, humans are mostly bad at giving feedback. We’re also really bad at preparing ourselves to receive feedback. (read more)

Leadership Style Colors  blog post

Search for “leadership styles” on Google, and you’ll find lots of different articles describing the various types and numbers of leadership styles. Here are some examples of articles that say there are five, six, seven, eight, nine, and twelve leadership styles. (read more)

Management/Leadership Philosophy   worksheet

Defrag Your Calendar   worksheet

Calendar color coding and defraging

Step one: Color code your calendar based on the kind of brain you use in each event. For example, in my week, I’ll have:

• one-on-ones where I’m coaching others (listening/empathy brain)
• planning meetings with senior leaders to set strategy and timelines (strategy/tactics brain)
• calls with potential consulting clients to discuss what kind of work they need (sales/logistics/planning brain)

Step two: Use those colors to analyze how much context switching you’re doing each day. Also analyze how much you’re drained at the end of the day when there’s large blocks of the same brain.

Are you finding yourself using different mental energy every other hour? Is there a way to make shared-brain meetings follow each other in your day?

Relatedly, if you have a day where you JUST do one-on-ones, maybe you’re far more or less drained on those days than the other days. Make a note to yourself at the end of each day for two weeks how tired you are, and what the calendar colors looked like that day.

Step three: Defrag or reorganize. Move some things around so you’re doing less context-switching, and see if that helps. Or scatter the super draining events throughout the week to see if that makes it a little less taxing.

Manager Voltron Bingo   worksheet

Revamp a Meeting   worksheet

Setting Expectations   worksheet

Setting Communication Expectations   worksheet

Onsite Interview Loop   template

Questions for your first 1:1   worksheet

Example compensation calibration   spreadsheet

Tracking compensation and promotion inequity blog post

One of my suggestions is to calculate whether you compensate and promote people fairly, which requires some level of manual analysis.

Read Jason Wong’s post Bootstrapping Inclusion: Education & Effecting Behavioral Change to read about how he structures Compensation Calibration meetings. Also check out this example template for tracking and measuring compensation changes, based on Jason’s original comp calibration template.

Holding Balanced One on Ones   worksheet

It’s helpful to walk into your 1:1s with a game plan to build trust, help your direct report grow, and tackle some problems together. To do that, it’s important to find a balance between the three main hats you can wear as a manager: mentoring, coaching, and sponsoring.

Use this worksheet to plan your 1:1s, based on what your direct reports each need most.

How to Facilitate a Working Group Meeting  blog post

This is where the magic happens. After you’ve laid all the ground work for organizing a working group (define ground rules, choose and invite attendees, plan your agenda arc, and communicate broadly), here’s what to do when you finally get your participants in the room together. (read more)

How to Organize a Working Group  blog post

I’ve been running a lot of working groups as part of my consulting practice, leveling up product and engineering organizations. (read more)

Meetup Architecture Principles  blog post

Our Goal: Empower Meetup engineers to build coherent, lasting architecture solutions. (read more)

Onsite Interview Loop Template  blog post

This post originally appeared on Making Meetup (read more)

Open Questions: Lara Hogan (NYT Open)   interview

Nick Rockwell (CTO of the New York Times) interviewed me about my work in technology, managing technologists and “roaming the wilds” as a consultant.

Team Leader Venn Diagram  blog post

A tool for gaining a shared understanding of responsibilities (read more)

Manager Energy Drain  blog post

One of the most frequent questions I hear as I coach managers is, “How do I handle how tired I am as a manager?” (read more)

When your manager isn't supporting you, build a Voltron  blog post

In my years of coaching managers and individual contributors, I’ve routinely heard the following complaints about their bosses: (read more)

Dealing with surprising human emotions: desk moves  blog post

Dealing with surprising human emotions is one of the most challenging aspects of being a manager. Generally, when someone appears triggered, or angry, or some other strong emotion that’s surprising, it’s likely that their amygdala has been hijacked, which I’ve written about before. Our amygdalas are in charge of our emotional reactions, and they’re critical to our “fight or flight” decisionmaking process. When our core needs feel threatened, our amygdala kicks into high gear. (read more)

Etsy's Charter of Mindful Communication  blog post

While I worked at Etsy, the company’s Culture & Engagement team rolled out the following “Charter of Mindful Communication”. I’m not sure if it’s been updated since, but I’ve found this language incredibly useful throughout my work ever since, and even brought it over to Kickstarter. I hope it’s valuable to you! (read more)

Tracking compensation and promotion inequity  blog post

Plenty of tech companies are attempting to make their pipeline of candidates more diverse. But an organization won’t find much success recruiting a more diverse group of employees unless its leaders are aware of their existing internal inclusion and equity issues. Unless leadership has already started to tackle these issues, it’s likely that these new hires will enter into an environment that they won’t want to stick around in for long. (read more)

Manager handoffs  blog post

Y’all know how crucial I think one-on-one’s are for managers to get to know their direct reports: what they need from their manager, how they like feedback, what makes them grumpy, and so much more! But what happens when a person switches managers? (read more)

Etsy Lessons  blog post

During my four and a half years at Etsy, I learned a ton, from a ton of people. Honestly, the lessons are innumerable, and I’m forever indebted to this crew not just for letting me learn and grow there, but for all that they taught me. Here are just a handful: (read more)

What does sponsorship look like?  blog post

Why can't they just...?  blog post

Stealing a page out of other leaders’ books, I began writing a “Week in Review” post every two weeks or so at Etsy, with a link open to anyone internally, and a distribution list of the people in my organization. I used it as a reflection on themes that were coming up in weekly one-on-ones, backchannels, team meetings, etc. (read more)

Managering in Terrible Times  blog post

These are terrible times. You may be facing these events head-on as a member of a marginalized group or as an ally, and if you’re a manager, you likely have direct reports who are doing the same. (read more)

Setting Expectations as a Manager  blog post

This past week, an engineer who I hired a few years ago transitioned into management. It’s been years since he reported to me directly, so we had a first-one-on-one-redux in which we talked through my first 1:1 questions. I realized it might also be helpful to reset expectations about: (read more)

On Better Meetings  blog post

As an engineering director, my week is filled with meetings: one-on-ones with my direct reports, skip-level one-on-ones with theirs. Meetings to make decisions, meetings to share information, meetings to teambuild. I have meetings to provide mentorship, or feedback on a presentation, or to get coaching. (read more)

Work at different management levels  blog post

I remember working as a developer at a company and complaining that I had no idea what the bosses did all day. It felt like while we engineers were working hard and shipping stuff, managers just talked to a lot of people all the time, or sat in their offices behind closed doors, and I had no idea what their work looked like.¹ (read more)

Questions for our first 1:1  blog post

In the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure of kicking off lots of new reporting relationships with both engineers and engineering managers. Over time, I’ve learned that getting some particular data during an initial 1:1 can be really helpful, as I can refer back to the answers as I need to give a person feedback, recognize them, and find creative ways to support them. Most of these I’ve stolen from some really amazing Etsy coworkers. (read more)

ShopTalkShow podcast   interview

I had a blast talking with Monika Piotrowicz, Chris Coyier, and Dave Rupert about career paths - where we started from doesn’t always equal where we’ve landed. Freelancer? Go to university or college? Find a mentor? It’s a common ShopTalk Show question and we did our best to answer from our experiences.

Transitioning to meta-management  blog post

Cate Huston’s post The Hardest, Shortest, Lesson Becoming a Manager recently resonated with me. She writes about the shift from day-to-day engineering to day-to-day management of engineers, and focuses on the reasons why it’s probably a smart idea to step away from coding as a manager. (read more)

Finding support as a new senior (woman) leader  blog post

As a female Senior Engineering Manager at a tech company, I’m in a weird spot. There are lots of women role models ahead of me who I look up to, and who I’m fortunate enough to call mentors. There are a bunch of women who I mentor, too, and many more women just entering the industry. (read more)

The High Road  blog post

"Taking the high road has never once come back to bite me in the ass." —Kelly Sue DeConnick

Think of the last time someone's behavior triggered you. What did they do that hurt you? What did they do that disappointed you? How did you handle the surge of emotions that followed? (read more)

Popforms   interview

Popforms Leader Of The Week is a feature on their blog where they highlight an outstanding leader and share their insights on leadership, career, and being awesome at your job. I wrote about taking the high road, having an awkward career trajectory, and what I look for in a great hire.

Calendar Hacks (Code as Craft)   publication

As an engineering manager, there’s one major realization you have: managers go to lots of meetings. After chatting with a bunch of fellow engineering managers at Etsy, I realized that people have awesome hacks for managing their calendars and time. I wrote up the best ones from a recent poll of Etsy engineering managers.