About me

During more than two decades in various engineering leadership positions, I've repeatedly seen the same challenge: the transition from developer to manager is brutal. Most engineers who become managers are thrown into the role with little preparation and inadequate support.

Coming from a developer background, I eventually spent a big part of my career leading engineering teams, in small to mid-sized tech companies, managing managers and individual contributors. I led platform- and product-engineering teams, scaled tech organizations up and down, guided managers through high-growth and layoff periods, acquisitions, and even a bankruptcy. I worked in-office, hybrid, and fully remote. These experiences taught me what works and what doesn't in engineering management.

My Values

The core values that I build my leadership style on are compassion, integrity, pragmatism, and continuous learning. I care for the professional and personal well-being of the people I support, and I base my actions on transparency and honesty. I'm curious, I love learning new things, and I try to build a safe-to-fail environment for experimentation.

I strive to be the leader Lao Tzu describes:

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, and compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.

My Focus

I work with:

• Engineering Managers struggling with a lack of confidence in a new role;
• Engineers considering management who want to develop leadership skills and understand what the managerial role involves;
• Organizations that need structured help for their engineering leadership team.

While I might use coaching techniques when appropriate, my mentorship and consulting are grounded in concrete experience. I've been doing this, hiring and firing, delivering under pressure, reorganizing teams, supporting careers and performance issues, and managing through difficult transitions.

My Approach

My mentoring is direct, practical, and rooted in your specific context. I’m focusing more on soft skills and less on technical questions because I found that this is the typical development area for a new Engineering Manager. The transition from writing code to leading people requires a fundamental shift in how you organize your work and measure success. My goal is to help you navigate this shift with confidence.

If you're seeking engineering leadership mentorship, I offer:

• One-on-one mentorship for engineering managers and engineers considering management;
• Structured programs for organizations developing their engineering leaders.

Let's talk about your specific needs.

Schedule a 30-minute intro call to explore if my approach is right for you, or connect with me on LinkedIn to start discussing details.