Empowering Others

When you think of a Senior Engineer, who do you have pictured in your head? You are probably thinking of a man :P (We seriously need to help more Women get into STEM fields). Patriarchy aside, I would wager you are thinking of someone who is able to communicate big ideas and make big decisions! Someone who is so smart, they could code circles around everyone else.

I feel our society, well at least here in the US, has this strange way of idolizing individual contributors above all else. I would like to offer a different perspective to you in this post. I believe that it is the responsibility of a Senior Engineer to work with others to build people up and make them better. I think Senior Engineers are really value multipliers. They are the type of individuals who can lead and bring out the best in their team members.

As I have advanced in my career, I have been lucky enough to have been given this opportunity myself. I haven’t always done the best job as a leader, and it is my hope that I can share some wisdom with you.

I would like to share three important lessons:

Trust and empower them do to challenging tasks, even if you think you can do it better

There are millions of organizations out there that all have strict deadlines placed upon teams. One of my greatest lessons from my time as a leader is to trust in my team members’ abilities. If you do most of the work, you will take away the opportunity for your team to grow and learn. If you have been given a senior role, you are most likely used to taking on almost any task and performing it well. Try to think back to when you were given those opportunities. I bet you felt proud when you were able to show your solutions off during a stakeholder demo. You still get to be proud of the work done by others, so be sure to give them those moments and offer them praise.

Allow your them to make mistakes

The great thing about software development in today’s world is that we deliver software in small incremental chunks. Ideally, you can also get rapid feedback from your users. This is a perfect way to allow your team to experiment with new ideas you are not comfortable or familiar with. Allow your team members to take small risks and make decisions! Record the results and reflect together upon it to grow their abilities!

Have Empathy

We are all on this crazy journey together we call life. Kids need attention, family and friends pass away, financial hardships occur, and mental health can be stressed by the demands of our society. Have empathy for your fellow team members as they work with you. Everyone has their ups and downs, and it is critical that you build a team culture where everyone feels safe during times of strife. Use the power of empathy to understand how your team members are doing and support them.

Closing Thoughts

Leadership is a journey, and you will make many mistakes along the way. It is important that you take time to reflect on how you are doing and how others perceive you. These three lessons can better equip you to empower others along the way.