Making the Leap to Tech Lead

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Ryan Cromwell MAKING THE LEAP TO TECH LEAD

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Disclaimer: Framed by Sparkbox, our business, the culture we've developed, and my own background.

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Making the Leap to Tech Lead A TECH LEAD IS...

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A tech is the right hand to the project manager.

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A tech lead is measured by the success of the team. https://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-new-manager-death-spiral

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A tech lead is regularly describing the technical vision.

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A tech lead is a model of "how we work together". https://seesparkbox.com/foundry/successful_tech_teams_and_projects

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A tech lead empowers and unlocks the team through communication, leadership, technical skill, and impact.

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Making the Leap to Tech Lead TECHNICAL SKILL

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Go-to expert in at least one area of the codebase. Technical Skill

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Perfect person to debug some of the most opaque issues. Technical Skill

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Finding and building seams in your architecture to enable the team to be productive and collaborate effectively. Technical Skill

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Advocating for and building a robust build and delivery pipeline using the tools at your disposal to create feedback loops. Technical Skill

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Making the Leap to Tech Lead COMMUNICATION & LEADERSHIP

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Clearly and convincingly presenting ideas, vision, and architecture is a skill. Communication & Leadership

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Mentor and teach other developers with grace. Communication & Leadership

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Making the Leap to Tech Lead MANAGING PROJECTS

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Give our customer/client, project manager, and team the ability to navigate to success. Managing Projects

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Decompose work to avoid a single, large release. Managing Projects

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With budgets and reasonably achievable iterations in mind, you'll be expected to provide forecasts. Managing Projects

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Making the Leap to Tech Lead MANAGING SELF

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It's essential that a tech lead deal effectively with pressure. Managing Self

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Maintaining healthy relationships with users, clients, and team members. Managing Self

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Making the Leap to Tech Lead IMPACT

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Makes others better through code reviews, thorough documentation, technical guidance, and mentoring. Impact

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Opportunities to evolve the architecture and open seams for the rest of the team. Impact

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Making the Leap to Tech Lead GROWING

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• Have a plan • Talk to your manager • Brag sheet (aka resume) • Partner Growing