Real-life Tips and no-BS Stories of Exceptional Engineering Leaders
summary
Companies with ~700 to ~2,000 engineers describe promotion as evidence-driven: write packets, pull 360 feedback from a review panel, and show sustained impact for ~12 months (some fast cases at ~6 months). Typical hire counts: roughly 10 director promotions at a 700‑engineer org; VP is rarer. Concrete tactics that work: build leverage across teams, run Friday Fives DM workflow for lightweight feedback, cut recurring meetings in half, use executive coaches, and insist on manager readiness to manage managers rather than just technical output.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (8)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:25Director promotion at Datadog
- 3:55Director traits at SoFi
- 7:51Slack’s director model
- 11:43Promotion timelines and feedback
- 16:35Disagree and commit
- 20:28Leadership tips
- 23:39Closing remarks
related talks
15mManaging During Growth & Change
27mProfessional Pull Request: How to Promote Your Work Internally
48mHealthy Performance & Career Management for Engineers
31mCareer Ladders & Performance Management for Eng. Teams
22mWhat the Best Engineering Leaders Do Differently
21mGrowing engineering managers: Breaking down the monolith
45mHaving impact as an Engineering Manager
20mHow to Turn Engineering Work into a Promotion