Mentorship Programs

Navigating Ambiguity in Engineering Leadership

The text discusses strategies for effectively managing ambiguity and uncertainty as an engineering leader. It emphasizes the importance of embracing change and seeking growth opportunities, nurturing mentorship, overcoming fear and seeking feedback, and the role of open communication. The conversation highlights the need for engineers to be open to new challenges and opportunities, take on the role of a mentor, have direct conversations with managers about career goals, and regularly communicate with managers about career growth and challenges. The text concludes by mentioning plans to delve deeper into the topic of mentorship in future sessions. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the importance of embracing change, seeking growth opportunities, and fostering open communication in engineering leadership roles to navigate ambiguity and uncertainty successfully.

Joint Skip-Level Meetings

This article outlines the approach taken by an executive to engage and motivate a team of high-performing entry-level people. The executive created joint skip-level meetings, which he named “Team Collaboration Meetings”, to provide an opportunity for the team to ask questions, learn, and grow. The meetings included discussions on what the team had learned, what new skills they wanted to acquire, and their challenges and pain points. The executive also incorporated a reading club session to dissect books he thought every product person should read. The meetings were successful and helped the team members to develop quickly and propel their careers. The article also outlines the lessons learned from this approach, such as the importance of creating a good working relationship with one level down, and the need to create a space for entry-level PMs to raise their concerns without their bosses present.

From Big Tech to Startup: Adding Value From Day 1

When transitioning from a large tech company to a startup, one must be prepared for a different set of rules and structures. Tasks such as creating a hiring process, building data infrastructure, and coordinating user research must be done, and the mindset must shift from data-driven to insights-driven. To be successful in a startup, one must add value from day one, develop processes, leverage their network, and outsource non-core tasks. Additionally, one must be careful not to recommend major changes while still new and focus on team relations to impact delivery.

Why Engineers Need to Understand Business Perspectives

In a previous organization, the author's role was to create a value proposition to present to the client and create work for the company. Through collaboration with internal leads and senior leaders, the author was able to create a 4 million GBP sales pipeline and a million GBP sales opportunity for the product. The author learned the importance of understanding business problems, collaboration, and engaging with stakeholders early on.

Recap From Our San Francisco Relaunch Party

We recently celebrated our platform-wide upgrade with a demo of our latest features. We announced a fairer revenue model, broader learning opportunities, a more flexible usage approach, and advanced AI features. Watch the full event recording for a full recap.

Building the Future in Front of You

The author reflects on their experience as a manager and how they have taken it upon themselves to mentor and empower those around them. They discuss the importance of having a mentor and how it can help shape one's career path. They also share lessons they have learned from their mentees, such as the importance of asking the right questions and validating people in their decision-making process. Finally, the author shares how they are actively involved in mentoring and helping others in their alumni network and other organizations of diversity.