". . From keyboard to strategy board . ."
Transitioning into Tech Leadership can feel like stepping into a new world. Suddenly, your priorities as a great developer shift from writing great code to mentoring teams, strategic planning, and aligning with business goals. But how do you balance leadership responsibilities without losing touch with the deep technical work that got you that promotion into a leadership role?
Here are a few thoughts on how you can grow as a Tech Leader while staying sharp as an Engineer ..
Define your role: Architect vs. Manager vs. Thought Leader
Not all engineering leadership roles are the same. Some demand people management, while others focus on technical decision-making.
Some things to consider:
- Engineering Managers: Prioritise team growth, strategy, and execution over day-to-day coding.
- Architects and Principal Engineers: Focus on high-level system design, ensuring scalability and best practices.
- Thought Leader: Guide teams through tech vision, architecture choices and hands-on mentorship.
Carve out dedicated time for Technical work
Leadership naturally pulls you into meetings, strategy, and mentoring. But if you want to stay hands-on, be intentional:
- Allocate protected time to contribute to code, whether it’s reviewing code, proof-of-concept work, or debugging.
- Focus on high-leverage coding tasks (design decisions, prototypes, research) rather than day-to-day feature development.
- Get involved in architecture reviews and technical discussions to stay engaged.
Shift from execution to enabling others
As a Leader, your technical depth should empower your team and not create bottlenecks. Instead of doing everything yourself:
- Set clear technical standards through documentation, mentoring, and code reviews.
- Guide engineers toward better decision-making, rather than dictating solutions.
- Encourage collaborative architecture discussions so teams feel ownership of technical choices.
Stay up-to-date without getting overwhelmed
You don’t need to master every new framework, but you do need to stay informed about industry trends. Consider doing these:
- Skimming engineering blogs, podcasts, and whitepapers (without deep-diving into unnecessary details).
- Attending technical talks and conferences to stay connected to innovation.
- Pair programming occasionally to get first hand exposure to evolving technologies.
Use Leadership as a Tool to shape engineering culture
One of the biggest perks of being a Tech Leader? You should be able to influence the culture of engineering teams.
- Push for code quality and best practices, ensuring sustainable tech choices.
- Advocate for continuous learning, encouraging teams to experiment and innovate.
- Shape the development process, balancing speed and maintainability in strategic ways.
Being a Tech Leader doesn’t mean walking away from technical work, it means shifting from executing code to empowering teams.
If you structure your role intentionally, you can still contribute technically, while driving high-impact decisions that shape the future of engineering.
