Personal Development
Beyond senior: lessons from the technical career path
Summarized using AI
Beyond senior: lessons from the technical career path
by Dawn RichardsonIn her talk at RailsConf 2024, Dawn Richardson discusses her journey as a Principal Engineer and shares valuable lessons learned while transitioning into a technical leadership role beyond senior engineering positions. She emphasizes that this alternative path to management, known as Staff Plus roles, allows professionals to maintain strong technical skills while developing leadership capabilities. Key points of her presentation include:
Understanding the Role: Dawn highlights the differences between senior and Staff Plus roles, noting that technical leadership involves defining a long-term technical vision and overseeing project execution without the overhead of direct people management. She describes the Principal Engineer role as a mix of tech lead and architect, focusing on strategic problem-solving instead of just coding.
Prioritizing Yourself: Dawn stresses the importance of self-care in high-demand positions. She shares her experiences of feeling overwhelmed and emphasizes strategies for managing workload and prioritizing focus tasks, using calendar control and mentorship to navigate her responsibilities effectively.
Uplifting Others: She believes that true effectiveness in a technical leadership role comes from empowering team members and encouraging their growth. Dawn discusses the importance of building trust, setting objectives in one-on-one meetings, and being a role model for her team.
Strategizing Technical Initiatives: Dawn elaborates on her evolving perception of technical strategy, emphasizing that it involves collaboration and clear communication with stakeholders to advocate for initiatives that align with the company’s goals. She provides examples, such as developing a technical strategy document and addressing integration projects, to illustrate her approach.
Overall, Dawn's talk provides a comprehensive overview of the skills and mindset needed to succeed in technical leadership roles. She concludes by encouraging both aspiring and current Staff Plus role holders to redefine their definitions of success, adopt a collaborative mindset, and focus on the opportunities to influence their organizations positively.
00:00:10.400
Welcome everyone! We're going to get started with our final breakout session for this year's RailsConf. We made it! We have a great talk planned for you here today.
00:00:16.600
We have Dawn, a New Zealand turned Canadian transplant, who's been working with Ruby and Rails for over 10 years. Currently, she's working as a Principal Engineer at Thinkific, living the mountain life in Vancouver, Canada. Everyone, please join me in welcoming Dawn.
00:00:48.559
Hello Ruby friends! I'm very excited to be here. As mentioned, it's actually my premier Ruby anniversary. Back in 2014, I attended my first Ruby conference and was welcomed with such open arms and kindness that I decided this was the community I wanted to be a part of. I hope long-time audience members remember that it's my first time on stage, so wish me lots of smiles!
00:01:24.000
Today, I will be talking to you about the technical career path—moving beyond senior roles into technical leadership, into what the industry often refers to these days as Staff Plus roles. I'll be sharing with you my personal journey in one of these roles over the past three years and the lessons I've learned along the way.
00:01:47.000
If you're considering a Staff Plus role, my hope is that this talk might give you some insights into what it might look like compared to a senior role. If you're already in a Staff Plus role, I hope you can learn something from the strategies I'm using to succeed.
00:02:03.200
So, first, who am I? My name is Dawn, for you North Americans. Here I am hanging out in the mountains in Vancouver, Canada, but this is not a Canadian accent—I am from New Zealand. It's important to clarify that New Zealand is not the same as Australia; it's a proud, independent little island that is very unique.
00:02:12.879
I am a Principal Engineer at Thinkific. This is us at our last company retreat. We have an online platform that has helped over 50,000 educators.
00:02:36.800
The technical career path often starts out like a ladder, with all sorts of different titles in various companies. Generally, the path is quite linear once you reach a senior level. You've developed your technical skills, perhaps leading projects and mentoring peers. But what's next?
00:03:02.800
Traditionally, there is the management track, which starts with leading people and having direct reports. However, a growing option in tech is also this Staff Plus technical lead role. This is where you'll find titles like mine, and these two tracks are not mutually exclusive. The pivot between the two can actually help you build valuable skills for both sides.
00:03:30.000
For example, managers benefit from retaining strong technical skills, while technical leaders can enhance their skills in areas like empathy and communication. Today, I will be sharing my experience focused on the right side, particularly in the technical leadership domain.
00:03:53.440
Looking back, I was hired as a senior engineer, but I was really operating closer to a Staff role. However, we were a smaller company at the time, and the levels were not so well defined. It quickly became clear that I was interested in more than just my senior title; I wanted to reach beyond my immediate technical responsibilities.
00:04:06.720
I was particularly interested in growing in the architectural direction. So, when a position for Principal Engineer opened up, I was encouraged to apply, and I got the role. However, there was a lot of naivety in my decision to take it.
00:04:21.600
On paper, it sounded like a natural progression, but the role itself was a big shift. What even is a Principal Engineer? It's just a title, and these titles can mean very different things at different companies. The descriptions often get vaguer, using terms like 'influence' and 'strategy' without clarity on what they truly entail.
00:04:49.960
Coming into this role, I had a limited understanding of the expectations, and didn't fully grasp what I would need to learn to do the job effectively without burning out.
00:05:07.980
Three years on since taking the role, I summarize my learning into four core lessons: understand the role, prioritize yourself, uplift others, and strategize. Each of these lessons builds upon the others.
00:05:21.960
You need to understand the role to know what to prioritize for yourself. You need to have self-stability before you can properly uplift others, and you need to support others to strategize effectively. Let's unpack these lessons.
00:06:00.240
Lesson one: understand the role. One thing I can say for certain is that being a Principal Engineer is a very different job. I still write code—I'm still active in the codebase—but it's not my primary focus anymore. When I do write code, it tends to be more about investigation or providing context.
00:06:28.400
The Principal Engineer role at my company is a mix between a tech lead and an architect, defining a technical vision for a particular business line and leading teams to deliver projects while delegating execution. The expectation is to focus on higher-level technical challenges rather than just coding.
00:06:51.440
The definition of Principal Engineer will vary by company, but at my organization, it means maintaining a long-term view. As a senior engineer, I was focused on the short term—thinking weeks or months ahead—while as a Principal Engineer, I think in quarters or years.
00:07:32.840
Instead of concentrating on immediate deliveries, I'm now looking towards the long-term vision for our product and considering how to make more impactful decisions. In this role, I don't have the overhead of managing direct reports, allowing me to spend more time delving into the technical aspects of challenges that affect multiple teams.
00:08:10.560
This perspective helps me identify the most impactful areas to influence across the organization.
00:08:29.760
At this level, there's also the autonomy to define my own priorities. It's akin to a personal adventure where I can chart my own course, balancing time effectively across multiple initiatives and adjusting to the dynamic nature of the role.
00:09:06.320
For example, I must be adaptable in the face of integration calls, product strategy changes, and production incidents while keeping focused on my own projects.
00:09:27.920
To do this effectively, I'm leveraging various skills—leadership, strategizing, and communication—skills that were not taught in my computer science classes, but there are many resources available for learning.
00:09:51.680
Recognizing that I must consciously upskill in these areas has been critical for my transition into this role.
00:10:00.320
Before transitioning into this role, I asked myself if the tasks and skills required would genuinely interest and energize me. At Thinkific, there is much room for growth in both senior and staff roles where I can push my technical skills further.
00:10:27.240
It's important to understand the role's expectations and whether it fulfills your ambitions in the right way.
00:10:49.880
Moving down this path presents lots of new challenges, which leads us to lesson two: prioritize yourself.
00:11:09.640
Even as a senior engineer, there can be a substantial workload with endless tasks and messages. But for me, becoming a Principal Engineer multiplied these challenges tenfold. I now manage significantly more meetings and commitments than ever before.
00:11:43.360
I often apply the concept of 'putting your own oxygen mask first.' You can’t help others unless you take care of yourself. You can’t support your team if you are overloaded.
00:12:09.920
For a long time, I struggled with the role because I hated relying on others while feeling overwhelmed. I wasn't receiving bad feedback; however, my inner critic left me feeling as though I was underperforming.
00:12:28.240
The jump from senior to principal was daunting, especially as I found myself supporting three teams, leading to feelings of inadequacy and signs of burnout.
00:13:05.600
After a period where I tried to do everything for everyone, I learned to find better ways to manage my workload. In my early days, I mistakenly thought that my problems stemmed solely from time management.
00:13:23.480
Navigating the demands of various business areas meant I spent more time in discussions. As an introvert, nothing burned me out quite like back-to-back meetings. Therefore, calendar control became vital for maintaining balance.
00:14:12.120
I put a lot of effort into organizing my calendar, prioritizing focus tasks and ensuring I had sufficient time to work with my teams.
00:14:47.000
If everything is prioritized, nothing is prioritized. To stay accountable, I've started writing down my priorities.
00:15:10.640
I've found it's essential to identify one top priority and genuinely focus on it, minimizing distractions. I’ve broadened my understanding of the importance of prioritization.
00:15:38.000
For instance, I avoid multitasking in meetings, recognizing that it diminishes the quality of both tasks.
00:15:57.760
I create intentional blocks of time for focused work, allowing me to catch up on messages and address more complex requests later.
00:16:20.080
Taking accountability has helped me build better habits at work. I started seeking mentorship and formalizing my relationships with my manager.
00:16:38.880
I've found that building good relationships, both with my team and across the company, has made me feel more connected and supported.
00:17:04.240
Regular reflections on what's worked, what hasn't, and what I want to do next have been invaluable.
00:17:28.000
One tool I've utilized is seeking counseling, which has provided me with exercises and techniques that have been beneficial in managing my experiences.
00:18:00.480
Accepting 'good enough' instead of perfectionism has freed me from the shackles of unrealistic expectations.
00:18:23.680
Lesson three is uplifting others. At this level, the impact of your work comes not just from solving problems but from helping your team grow.
00:18:44.560
I believe that my effectiveness as a technical leader stems from empowering my team to solve their problems. I'm not the one delivering; instead, they are.
00:19:09.720
Being a role model is crucial in this respect. People look up to me, so I must act responsibly. I strive to maintain a high technical standard without being afraid to show my human side.
00:19:28.240
If I make a mistake, I own it and promote a culture of learning. At the Principal level, the focus expands to uplifting skills beyond the technical realm.
00:19:52.640
For example, I strongly encourage my team in areas like gaining visibility and learning how to lead projects effectively. During one-on-one sessions, setting objectives helps in ensuring they receive what they need.
00:20:35.920
Being proactive in asking questions and encouraging direct answers enhances their learning, allowing for a richer development experience.
00:20:43.760
The biggest game changer has been trust. Learning to let go and empower my team with opportunities eases my workload while facilitating their growth.
00:21:20.960
Even if I think they might not complete tasks the way I would, I allow them to take charge. It's through trial and error that my engineers truly grow.
00:21:54.560
I can still be influential in my engineers' career growth by providing support, visibility, and mentorship. It's about being an advocate even from a non-managerial position.
00:22:22.360
Principal Engineers should act as a force multiplier. I gain satisfaction from witnessing my team achieve success.
00:22:40.640
Finally, lesson four is strategizing technical initiatives. Initially, the words 'technical strategy' were intimidating, as they imply having all the answers, a place where I didn't feel confident.
00:23:05.920
However, as I found my footing, I recognized that technical strategy is simply a natural extension of ideas I've been advocating for—to reduce risk, support scalability, and enhance developmental efficiency.
00:23:36.560
Now, I have the authority to influence progress significantly. At Thinkific, my team has started to formalize a technical strategy document that outlines our annual goals.
00:24:05.680
This document guides our technical direction and helps advocate for projects that align with those goals.
00:24:22.560
An example of this was in the last quarter when I assisted my teams in integrating our new Federated APIs, moving away from our legacy system.
00:24:38.160
I've learned that being an influence does not mean dictating practices; it means being a guiding presence that developers turn to.
00:24:58.160
When pressure comes from above to deliver, engineers may feel compelled to follow newer techniques, even if it affects timelines.
00:25:15.680
My perspective helps to navigate these situations and make a case for investments to improve our products.
00:25:37.920
Money is indeed a significant factor; it influences decisions on what to build and how resources are allocated.
00:25:54.640
For example, one of my first projects was to re-architect our notification system. When I proposed a fully managed distributed architecture, I quickly learned that its high cost would hinder approval.
00:26:11.920
In 2022, business investments were primarily targeted elsewhere. Money dictates many avenues within a business.
00:26:40.000
By demonstrating the value of projects, I've successfully gotten support for initiatives, even where technical work had previously stalled.
00:27:05.520
Last quarter, I proposed a solution for feature archiving so our customer support team could more efficiently address deletion requests.
00:27:25.680
By calculating the financial savings from reduced support tickets versus the effort on engineering time, I proved it would generate a net positive impact.
00:27:48.560
Communicating these technical visions to stakeholders and advocating strategically requires a new skill set, which I'm still honing.
00:28:07.680
Success lies in putting on both your technical and product hats, finding the sweet spot of advancing both strategies simultaneously.
00:28:23.300
A key element of this is thinking beyond the immediate technical limitations.
00:28:39.760
As engineers, we often focus on the constraints of solutions. Instead, I try to embrace a 'yes, and...' mentality, expanding our thinking.
00:29:02.560
Collaboration is crucial. When you're included in critical conversations, you can influence key strategic decisions.
00:29:20.320
Reflecting on this journey, it’s essential to understand that different companies have different definitions of roles.
00:29:32.560
My three-year journey as a Principal Engineer has been about redefining what that role means to me, embracing the opportunity to influence beyond coding.
00:29:54.880
In summary, Staff Plus roles require more than just technical skills. Applying technical strategy demands leadership and collaboration.
00:30:19.440
Your teams are greater than just you, emphasizing the need to focus on uplifting others.
00:30:40.600
Finally, accept that perfection does not exist; focus on the areas where you can exert the most influence.
00:30:52.720
I hope this provided insight into what a Staff Plus role might look like compared to a senior role.
00:31:05.920
If you're in a Staff Plus role, I trust you take away valuable principles to enhance your performance.
00:31:29.840
I would also love to hear about your experiences in similar roles, so feel free to come and find me. Thank you!
Explore all talks recorded at RailsConf 2024
+29