Why Developers Avoid/Regret Being Leaders #3: 404 Help Not Found!

Hurray!!! You’ve just been promoted! ?? Congratulations! Or should I say, welcome to the world of sleepless nights, endless meetings, and the occasional urge to ctrl+Z your career move.

You have seen it, I have seen it, maybe we've both BEEN in it: You move from a Software Development role to a Leadership role, and the amount of training and preparation you receive from your company is calculated with the following formula:

0 * Training Development for Leadership = 0

According to recent studies regarding Leadership training, it's quite possible for this to be your case, since:

• 76% of employees are looking for opportunities to expand their careers.
• 59% of employees report no formal workplace training.

Missing the “Leadership.dll” File ??

Imagine this: You’re about to deploy a new feature, but you realize you’re missing a crucial .dll file. You scramble around, but it’s nowhere to be found. That’s exactly what it feels like when companies promote developers to leadership roles without any real training.

You were great at writing code, optimizing algorithms, and maybe even throwing in a clever Easter egg or two. But now, instead of debugging software, you’re expected to debug people without having access to the source code. The skills you’ve honed over the years aren’t the ones you need to lead a team, manage stakeholder expectations, or resolve conflicts. It’s like trying to refactor legacy code without any documentation: It's frustrating and fraught with potential errors!

Almost like someone swapped out your clean, well-commented code for a spaghetti mess of human emotions and office politics. And no, there isn’t a debugger in sight.

The Emotional Firewall ???

As developers, we’re often equipped with a strong logical firewall. It keeps us focused, efficient, and able to handle complex coding challenges without our emotions triggering a denial of service attack on our brains. But here’s the catch—when you move into leadership, that firewall can become a barrier.

Leading a team requires empathy, the ability to listen like a seasoned debugger, and the wisdom to know when to simply console.log(“How are you feeling?”) rather than offering a solution. However, if your emotional firewall is too strong, it might prevent you from connecting deeply with your team!

Without that connection, you’re just another process running in the background, present, but not truly engaged.

Most probably, you've NEVER received any training on Emotions, Empathy, Listening, or Refraining from Judgment. Still, your organization expects you to succeed, WITHOUT teaching you how to safely create those "bypass" rules so you may open the right "port" for when a Team Member needs connection, feedback, or guidance.

Vulnerability: The Unhandled Exception ??

The obvious answer would be: Ask for help! But let's face it, the conditions do not "help" the probability of asking for help (double negative????):

• You are highly likely, at minimum, a capable technical professional who very rarely struggled to find the solution to your challenges in the past. It's probably what made the organization decide in your favour, this means that you don't even have a "history" of failing or showing vulnerability. How will they react to this "new side" of you may be your worry. ??
• In many cases, this "promotion" is triggered by current demand, either the team is growing too big, or the stakes are higher. This added pressure of "you are the solution to this team/project problems" makes it super challenging for circling back to say: "Hey, I actually may not be the solution!" ??
• Many organizations do not promote collaboration between leaders, in my experience, the structures and processes would normally promote the opposite: conflict and competition. You literally have colleagues going through the same challenges and concerns as you, but the environment and/or culture do not increase the odds of an honest friendly chat about it.
• Even if you ask for help, the budget or constraints of the project won't allow you to take time off to receive some training and come back only when ready. (And I'm sorry DBZ Fans, there is no Hyperbolic Time Chamber to save "compress" time either).

Admitting that you’re struggling in your new role feels like letting an UNHANDLED EXCEPTION crash your program.

Here’s the thing: leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating an environment where your team can thrive, even when you’re feeling lost. Vulnerability is a powerful tool in leadership, but it’s one that’s often left commented out, unused in favour of maintaining the appearance of control.

Updating Your Leadership Framework ???

So, how do you avoid a complete system crash? Well, start by recognizing that leadership is an ongoing update, not a one-time install. Here are a few steps you can take to upgrade your leadership framework:

• Seek Out Training ????: Share with your organization that you feel the need for Leadership Training. Look for courses that focus on emotional intelligence, team dynamics, and conflict resolution. Consider it your new onboarding process.
• Find a Mentor ??: Just like you might consult Stack Overflow when you’re stuck on a coding problem, find a mentor who can guide you through the challenges of leadership. Check Ricardo Castelhano 's article on this.
• Join Leadership Communities ??: Connect with other leaders who’ve been where you are. Sharing experiences can provide insights and make the journey less lonely.
• Practice Vulnerability ??: Start small. Share your challenges with a trusted colleague or in a safe space. It’s okay to admit you’re still figuring things out. Hear the episode with José Formiga on the FCTL Podcast for some light on this (Portuguese only).
• Iterate and Reflect ??: Leadership is like software—it’s never truly finished. Regularly reflect on what’s working and what isn’t, and don’t be afraid to make adjustments.
• Leverage Your Developer Skills ??: Use your logical thinking to break down complex leadership challenges into manageable parts. Think of it as debugging the human element.

In the end, moving into leadership doesn’t have to feel like you’re beta-testing your career. With the right training and a willingness to embrace the bugs along the way, you can debug your leadership style and deploy a version of yourself that’s ready to lead with confidence, empathy, and a touch of humour.

External Sources

From Coders to Leaders Podcast: Spotify | Apple | Castbox

[Zippia] 35 Key Employee Training And Development Statistics [2023]: Data + Trends: https://www.zippia.com/employer/employee-training-development-statistics/