QFM047: Engineering Leadership Reading List - December 2024

Source: Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

The December edition of the Engineering Leadership Reading List begins with The 6 Mistakes You’re Going to Make as a New Manager, a practical guide to navigating the transition from individual contributor to management. It explores how new managers often struggle with delegation and redefining their measures of success, emphasising empowerment and balanced team engagement. A complementary perspective can be found in Egoless Engineering, which examines how humility and collaboration break down silos, creating environments where teams thrive across boundaries.

Reflecting on leadership effectiveness, Study: Intuitive introverts lead the most successful teams challenges traditional leadership archetypes. The research highlights how introverted, intuitive leaders excel in complex team environments, underscoring the value of introspection and deep understanding in fostering team success.

AI continues to play a big role in reshaping technical and managerial practices. In The End of Front-End Development, Josh Comeau reassures developers concerned about AI’s impact, arguing that while tools evolve, the demand for skilled developers persists (watch out for the click-bait-y headline, the article is actually making the opposite point). This theme is echoed in Being Human in the Age of AI, which contemplates how human identity is defined in a world increasingly influenced by intelligent systems, focusing on experiences and connections as the essence of humanity.

The intersection of leadership and technology emerges in The Slow Death of the Hands-on Engineering Manager, which examines the diminishing technical involvement of engineering managers. By highlighting how small technical contributions—such as creating internal tools—can sustain technical relevance, the article offers a roadmap for balancing managerial responsibilities with impact.

From ‘Great Resignation’ to ‘Great Detachment’ explores the shift in the US job market from employee empowerment to employer advantage. For a contrasting perspective on individual agency within professional environments, How to Grow Professional Relationships presents the TJS Collaboration Model, encouraging readers to assess and nurture synergistic relationships, with a focus on trust and abundance.

Finally, Estimating How Much It Costs to Run Greenfield Systems provides a ten-step guide for predicting cloud operational costs in greenfield projects, while The Smartest Person in the Room recounts a personal journey of professional growth, emphasising the value of continuous learning, mentorship, and shared knowledge within the engineering community.

As always, the Quantum Fax Machine Propellor Hat Key will guide your browsing. Enjoy!

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Originally published on quantumfaxmachine.com and cross-posted on Medium.

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