One skill many leaders lack

Hey friend,

Can you believe that the weather in Toronto was 25 degrees Celsius these past few days ☀️? It's insane. Coby 🐶 and I couldn't be happier. It gave me a glimpse of summer - long walks, ice cream runs and biker shorts weather 🚴‍♀️ if that's your thing.

I'll be working from different coffee shops ☕️, most likely from a Patio on Developer to Leader 🚀 and my upcoming free workshop: Engineering Manager Blueprint 🔥. I'll be closing doors in the next few hours, so sign up if you haven't already.

Speaking of good weather, I'll be travelling to speak 🎙️ at 3 conferences in May, will be a lot of fun. In 2018, I discovered my passion for teaching when I started speaking at conferences (I gave 15+ talks) and once I started coaching part-time.

But here is the thing about Coaching → many get it wrong ❌

It's not about turning you into a coach but teaching you how to lead. Don't rush into giving advice, Hold off a little.

Coaching is a very crucial skill you need in your toolkit as a Leader 💪

What you want is a little more asking people questions and a little less telling people what to do.

A few years ago, a dev reporting to me looking to grow into a Tech Lead was really frustrated 😥. They said that coaching is slow and they don’t have time for it. So why would they waste time asking questions when they can use their experience to help grow people faster?

While that’s true, remember when you code, if someone handed you the answer 😤 and told you exactly what to do, how would that make you feel? Well, I bet it won't be fun, and you won't know how to do it yourself the next time.

📚 True learning happens when you get through those million errors, i.e. you make mistakes and learn from them!

I recommend reading the book ‘Coaching Habit’ in Developer to Leader because coaching is an important skill every leader must have.

The author says there are 7 habits we need to build as a Leader.

The 7 coaching habits are designed to help you have more effective coaching conversations with your team.

Here are a few coaching questions,

🤔 The Kickstart Question - "What's on Your Mind?"

💡 The AWE Question - "And What Else?"

🔍 The Focus Question - "What's the Real Challenge Here for You?"

🎯 The Foundation Question - "What Do You Want?"

🤲 The Lazy Question - "How Can I Help?"

⚖️ The Strategic Question - "If You're Saying Yes to This, What Are You Saying No To?"

🌟 The Learning Question - "What Was Most Useful for You?"

Giving every question a title makes it easier for us to remember and connect. To be honest, though, I took this from a lesson on "Coaching for the Win" from Developer to Leader 🚀. I cover a lot more in the program with examples.

Behind the Scenes 👀

As you may know, I'm really close to launching Developer to Leader which teaches you everything on building a high-performing team and to be successful alongside other leaders on the same journey as you. The program is meant for Aspiring, Early, Newer or Mid-level Engineering leaders (0-2 yrs of experience).

Quick update, I am currently setting up the community 🤝.

And I left out the workbook 🔖 from the landing page, but I plan to include it over the weekend. But in the meantime, I wanted to offer you an exclusive sneak peek preview 👀 of the workbook, which plays a significant role in the program.

If you're interested in receiving more updates about Developer to Leader, be sure to join the Waitlist Newsletter.

Join the Waitlist 🔥

If you are unsure of the Waitlist but are interested in the program, Here's a sample to give you a sense of what this Waitlist Newsletter will be like.

Quick question for you 👇

I've been writing to you for every single week since end of August last year and now this newsletter has grown to close to 2000 folks 🤯. Thank you for reading and hi-five 🖐️ if you are an early adopter.

💰 I'm considering adding paid sponsors so I can keep running this newsletter. To be honest, I did get a couple requests for it so I want to hear from you.

👉 If I included sponsors, what would you think? (Click an option below to vote)

1️⃣ I'd be curious to see them
2️⃣ I'd be interested in sponsoring
3️⃣ No ads, they are annoying

There are no wrong answers. I genuinely want to know what you think. Your vote matters 🗳️

🧰 The Engineering Leader's Toolbox

That's all from me, have a lovely day!