Lead Software Developers Better By Letting Go!
7/10/2018Topics:Leadership • Software Development Career Advice
Over the years I’ve had to lead many software developers, and it’s become much easier since letting go of being seen as “the expert”.
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Over the years I’ve had to lead many software developers, and it’s become much easier since letting go of being seen as “the expert”.
Even if I’m only leading a few people there’s always too much work and I have to choose really carefully what I do.
If you’ve watched any of my other videos you know I’m a big fan of teams where there’s less management.
But whether someone is officially recognized as a “lead developer” or not, most teams usually have people on them who are more experienced.
And people naturally seem to take ownership for areas of the product they’re most interested in and can start being seen as a leader around that idea.
Maybe that’s you, or maybe you’re considering stepping into a role where you’ll be leading developers to do something with the software.
In my career I’ve found it’s really easy to get overwhelmed when I’m leading other developers.
Meeting with the business, supporting developers, and still trying to get work done on the product myself can feel impossible.
You’ve probably heard the saying “give someone a fish, feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish feed them for a lifetime”.
But even though I know this, it can be hard to let other developers do more to help you if it’s going to take longer than just doing it yourself.
In this episode, I share how I’ve had more time to support my team when I let other developers have more responsibility, and you can too.
Skip To Points In The Video
- How Leads Get Overwhelmed (1:47)
- Let Others Know You Can’t “Know It All” (4:18)
- Clarify Your Role As Team Helper (5:19)
- Delegate Research (6:30)
- Delegate Information Requests (7:39)
- Be Forgiving Of Mistakes (8:54)
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About the Healthy Software Developer show.
On the show, Jayme shares all of his teamwork and leadership strategies, guidelines for healthy company culture, and stories about real projects so you can have a sustainable career in the software industry.
Develop a mindset and habits to keep you calm so you still love writing code - avoiding the traps most developers fall into.
Jayme Edwards
A family man and veteran of over 30 software projects, Jayme experienced many wins and losses that led him to helping developers succeed in their careers online.
