Showing items from Leadership

Building a Culture of Ownership and Collaboration in Distributed Engineering Teams

Over the past decade, engineering teams have become increasingly distributed across cities, countries, and time zones. What once was a single office filled with whiteboards and hallway conversations has evolved into a global network of talented engineers collaborating through screens.

Distributed work has unlocked enormous potential: access to global talent, better work-life balance, and round-the-clock productivity. But it’s also introduced a new leadership challenge: how do you maintain deep collaboration and a shared sense of ownership when your team rarely meets in person?

Continue Reading

Steering Engineering Teams Through Shifts Without Losing Momentum

If there’s one thing you can count on in engineering, it’s that nothing stays the same for long. New tools, shifting priorities, acquisitions, reorganizations. Change is part of the job description. But as someone who has guided multiple teams through these transitions, I’ve seen firsthand how the way leaders handle these moments can either accelerate progress or derail it completely.

Continue Reading

Why Your Team Feels Stuck — and What to Do About It

Over the years I’ve learned that when a team feels stuck because they are constantly busy but not moving fast the answer isn’t more effort but better focus.

I’ve seen talented engineers grind through backlog after backlog, push late nights, automate everything in sight and still, somehow, progress stalls. Features pile up waiting to ship. Bugs reappear. Morale dips. And everyone wonders: What’s going wrong?

Continue Reading

Outcomes vs. Output: The Leadership Mindset Shift That Matters Most in Engineering

As a Director of Software Engineering, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is the distinction between output and outcomes. It’s not just a matter of semantics; it’s a mindset shift that defines the difference between being busy and being effective, between a high-velocity team and a high-impact team.

Continue Reading

The Buck Stops Here: Why Ownership Builds Better Engineering Teams

In any software engineering organization—whether a fast-moving startup or an enterprise-scale platform—leadership style doesn’t just shape the culture; it defines it. And when things go wrong (which they will), how leaders respond sets the tone for how teams grow, communicate, and deliver.

Over the years, I’ve seen two dramatically different approaches play out: one where leaders instinctively point fingers when things go off the rails, and one where leaders step up and say, “The buck stops here.” The difference between these styles is more than philosophy—it’s a deciding factor in whether your team thrives or erodes under pressure.

Continue Reading