How Teaching Made Me a Better Leader

I haven’t always worked in Tech. I was a teacher in my first career. I taught high school and college courses, ranging from Spanish I to AP Spanish. At the time, I didn’t think I was learning much about leadership, but I realize now how much teaching shaped how I lead today.

When I transitioned into engineering leadership roles, I didn’t think I had any experience. But the truth is, the years I spent as a foreign language teacher were invaluable in shaping my leadership skills.

This week I want to share some lessons I learned as a teacher. And how they’ve influenced my leadership style.

Personalize your leadership

It didn’t take long for me to realize that every student is different. They have various skill levels and ways of learning. This revelation changed the way I approached teaching and now perceive leadership.

Not everyone learns the same way or has an equal level of knowledge in a subject. This proves the need to diversify lessons and get to know your students individually.

In a software engineering team, there can be a wide range of levels and roles. Some engineers might learn more from pair programming than from solo coding sessions. Other engineers prefer greenfield projects with many unknowns. While certain developers enjoy refactoring old code and fixing bugs where the outcome is anticipated.

That’s why engineering leaders need to spend time getting to know their team. When you understand how someone likes to work and what excites them, you can create an environment that supports their success and allows them to safely fail.

Here are two ways to do this:

1. Help engineers embrace variety in their work. This can mean working on a different part of the codebase or learning a new technology. Or it can happen by letting engineers lead projects, write proposals, and improve team rituals. This spotlights the unique value each engineer brings to the team. And it uncovers their passions.
2. Schedule regular 1:1s with your team. And no, you don’t need a special job title to do this. Talking with someone privately allows you to get to know them personally. You learn how they tick and what they appreciate most about their job and career. Over time you can foster a trusting relationship that enables candid feedback and meaningful support to take root.

Continued…

You can read the full article here:

https://www.besidescode.com/p/how-teaching-made-me-a-better-leader