Things I Wish I’d Known 20 years ago as a new leader
summary
A leader gets set up to manage eight people with no handover, burns into near‑depression and stays out of leadership for six years before returning. Concrete tactics include drafting a written handover email, using checklists and Google Maps for travel logistics, rehearsing difficult conversations and finding a mentor. One project ships — an Excel commodity‑price plugin — and the lesson is to ask whether gold versus bronze service is needed, document scope, push back early and measure whether those fixes actually reduce stress and rework.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (20)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:04Sudden shift into leadership
- 2:48Personal crisis impact
- 5:16Anxiety prevalence
- 6:41Personas and self-perception
- 8:04Managing expectations
- 9:49Unrealistic self-standards
- 11:57Perfectionism and advocacy
- 12:18Imposter syndrome reality
- 14:23Imposter syndrome growth
- 15:27Difficult people and conflict
- 17:12Vulnerability strength
- 18:58Changing mental health views
- 19:19Practical anxiety steps
- 20:00Overcoming impostor syndrome
- 21:04Being an ally
- 21:47Open compassionate culture
- 22:30Q&A: Motivating teams
- 23:34Q&A: Fostering curiosity
- 24:37Q&A: One small change
related talks
26mAll the things I misunderstood about being a leader
31mThings I Wish I Knew When I Became a Manager
35mThings I Wish I Knew When I Became a Manager
43mLeadership Guide for the Reluctant Leader
46mLearning to Lead a Craft Team: Year One.
49mWelcome to Management - Tips and Tricks for Junior Leaders
12mMaking the move to manager: Common pitfalls for new engineering leaders
11mTips on scaling your leadership outside of your comfort zone