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Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?

882 points by learnaholic 7y ago

Although I know self help books are of little value, but wondering if any author has really nailed the topic? Would be even be better if the book is specific to tech leadership.

lawn 7y ago
Extreme Ownership is an excellent book on the topic (or so peoole tell me, I started reading it today actually).
- fsloth 7y ago
  It is. It is also filled with gratuitous disregard for human life and cruelty towards animals. But that's what war is about, and having a book about military leadership without actual examples of conflict would be kind of vacuous.
- eloff 7y ago
  And the dichotomy of leadership.
leothekim 7y ago
Try "The Manager's Path" by Camille Fournier. http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920056843.do http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920056843.do
- ericskiff 7y ago
  Seconding this
- sidcool 7y ago
  +1 excellent book
- jmcgough 7y ago
  Also highly recommend this. Unlike some other books, it's highly tailored towards being a leader at a tech startup, and has great, specific advice. It's also broken down by chapter, so you can read the bits that are relevant for your role.
- romanhn 7y ago
  Having read many of the books recommended here, I found this one to be the most concretely useful of the bunch. No fluff, just solid advice from someone that went from engineer to CTO.
- abridgett 7y ago
  Agreed, I particularly like the way each chapter dealt with a rank further up. Even if you have _no intention_ of going higher, seeing what they want from you and what they should be doing was immensely helpful and clarifying.
- jeffnappi 7y ago
  I would also advise this one. I appreciate the section enumerating the roles that the VP of Engineering and the CTO share/split.
- chrisguitarguy 7y ago
  Seconded, this is a great book. I think all non-managers should read it as well as it will give you some clarity on what you should expect from your manager and what their day-to-day is like.
- caust1c 7y ago
  I read both this and "The Making of a Manager", and I've got to say, "The Making of a Manager" has much better advice and is a lot easier to act on than what Manager's Path gives. I think the primary difference is what point in their careers the book was written. Julie wrote the book early in her career while Camille has been in upper management for some time meaning that she's more distant from the challenges of becoming a first time manager. And despite Julie's only experience being at Facebook, I still found the advice widely applicable.
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tz180k 7y ago
For leading through tough times - Only the paranoid survive by Andy Grove is great! It was our book of the month in April! https://www.techbookofthemonth.com/books/april19 https://www.techbookofthemonth.com/books/april19
beh9540 7y ago
It depends on what your definition of "leadership" is - personally I found "Managing Humans" by Michael Lopp to be really insightful. It's really more a collection of anecdotes than a seminal work on the topic, but I think there's a bunch of good components in understanding team dynamics around technical / software engineering teams.
softwaredoug 7y ago
Not strictly management, but related:”The Trusted Advisor” is a book about consulting. Which is really the same soft skills you would need in leadership positions where you have a lot of domain experience and leadership is more about helping the team make their own tech decisions
HealthyTree 7y ago
"An elegant puzzle", "High output management" and "Behind Closed Doors" have all been useful to me.
asplake 7y ago
It's years since I read it but Gerald Weinberg's Becoming a Technical Leader. The best general book on leadership I've read for a while is Marquet's Turn the Ship Around – great also as an audiobook. I referenced the latter in my own Right to Left: The digital leader's guide to Lean and Agile (arguably a leadership book too)
- pjmorris 7y ago
  'If you are a good leader, Who talks little, They will say, When your work is done, And your aim fulfilled, “We did it ourselves.”' - Lao Tse, quoted in 'Becoming a Technical Leader' I heartily second 'Becoming a Technical Leader.' The exercises there are designed to get you to think about and grow in the situation that you are currently in, so the book will be a perennial. I'd add that Weinberg also produced a four-volume series, 'Quality Software Management', where he sums up all he learned about project management in his programming, management and consulting careers. He later republished the material in a series of smaller eBooks [0] at LeanPub. I know of no better written resources for people who want to learn to manage software development in a way that accomplishes the technical tasks while respecting the people who do the work. [0] https://leanpub.com/b/qualitysoftware https://leanpub.com/b/qualitysoftware
  - cafard 7y ago
    Upvoted. Also by Weinberg, The Secrets of Consulting.
simonswords82 7y ago
Turn The Ship Around!: A True Story of Building Leaders by Breaking the Rules https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Ship-Around-Building-Breaking/dp/0241250943/ref=sr_1_1?crid=M1VNDUFRQ7LB&keywords=turn+ship+around&qid=1575555726&sprefix=turn+ship%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Ship-Around-Building-Breaking/... HN post about this book recently: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662941 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662941
Pandabob 7y ago
The best management book I read this year was "The Making of a Manager" by Julie Zhou [1]. The book is concise, clearly written and actionable. It's specifically written for first time managers and the author is a design lead at Facebook. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Manager-What-Everyone-Looks/dp/0735219567 https://www.amazon.com/Making-Manager-What-Everyone-Looks/dp...
- dlo 7y ago
  +100 for this book. Absolutely amazing.
- hongzi 7y ago
  Thanks for sharing! Julie is amazing!
goodgoblin 7y ago
"Peopleware" is a great one -- https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-3rd/dp/0321934113 https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-...
- splittingTimes 7y ago
  +100 for peopleware.
- rimliu 7y ago
  IMHO, the best one.
- johncoogan 7y ago
  Agreed, Peopleware is great. Very good for engineering leadership specifically.
- robertdx 7y ago
  Highly recommended. 100% agree with the "emotional part" and "engineers hate wasting time... DUE TO YOU" haha. A mind changer to me.
- foobar_ 7y ago
  Excellent book! Adding Managing Humans to that. https://randsinrepose.com/books/ https://randsinrepose.com/books/
  - samk3nny 7y ago
    I concur! Just finished MH and really enjoyed it.
anacleto 7y ago
[0] The Score Takes Care of Itself. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/1591843472 https://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp...
mjlee 7y ago
This isn't specifically about tech, but The Culture Map by Erin Meyer is really worth reading. I'm not 100% sold on it being correct, but it does give you a framework to think within when you're working with other people, no matter which culture you're from. Forbes have a decent write-up: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rawnshah/2014/10/06/the-culture-map-shows-us-how-we-work-worldwide/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/rawnshah/2014/10/06/the-culture...
dominotw 7y ago
Be Slightly Evil: A Playbook for Sociopaths is pretty good on this topic.
d2161 7y ago
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- deleted 7y ago
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Bumerang 7y ago
Everything by Simon Sinek, but most important for me is "Leaders Eat Last" [0]. I haven't read the last one (The Infinite Game), but I've heard it's pretty good as well. Also Extreme Ownership [1] and Dichotomy of Leadership [2] by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. All of these books had tremendous impact on me as a leader and I highly recommend them. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/B00HQ3K34M/ https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/B... [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-ebook/dp/B00VE4Y0Z2 https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-eboo... [2]: https://www.amazon.com/Dichotomy-Leadership-Balancing-Challenges-Ownership/dp/B07BN5NGQ5/ https://www.amazon.com/Dichotomy-Leadership-Balancing-Challe...
- abhiyerra 7y ago
  Leaders Eat Last was one of the best books I read this year. Extreme Ownership was also quite good but Simon really explains the “Why” of leadership that most books are missing. High-Output Management is another classic.
  - TimTheTinker 7y ago
    I understand the “why” of leadership very well, but as a high-functioning autistic person, I struggle very much with the “how”, especially around communication. Like - for all possible values of X, if X is what I want someone to do, how do I communicate that so people (a) understand that I want X from them and (b) aren’t offended and understand that it is meant kindly/charitably (which it really is, I often just don’t know how to say so without sounding weird or changing the value of X). Here’s a small example scenario from home life: my son was crying in his room. I was in the middle of something but wanted to take care of him and let my wife rest. She got up and started down the hall. I said “I was going to get it” expecting her to say “OK” and come back. Instead she sighed and did it anyway, and later said she felt frustrated that I made an excuse instead of either taking action or not. I explained to her what I wanted and asked what I should have said instead, and she said to say “Please stop. I’ve got this.” Next time I said that instead, and was amazed how different her response was - she was happy/grateful to let me take cars of it. I guess I need a book full of “scripts” that would help me communicate both text and subtext accurately. Any resource suggestions?
jordanf 7y ago
The Great CEO Within (great for non-CEO leaders too). Free here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnwl-dwqx5xl0s65DE3wO8/edit# https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnw...!
ahnooie 7y ago
Managing the Unmanageable, a second vote for Peopleware, The Mythical Man-Month, and The Conviction to Lead https://b3n.org/programming-management-leadership-books/ https://b3n.org/programming-management-leadership-books/
hongzi 7y ago
Creativity, Inc. [1] It's not a textbook but a really fun read for the inside stories that pushed Pixar to its success. Maybe it's just me personally but I found it hard to follow some syllabus to learn management --- instead, I enjoy being inspired by other great managers through their concrete stories. [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUZQYBO/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUZQYBO/
- jppope 7y ago
  This was an amazing read. Ed Catmull explains many nuanced aspects of leadership, management, creative organizations, and related. All of these lessons are wrapped into the personal history and narrative surrounding Pixar, which is fascinating in its own right.
siddhant 7y ago
I run Developer to Manager (https://devtomanager.com https://devtomanager.com), where we interview tech leaders and ask them for advice they have for someone new to this field. I'm of course biased, but I do feel it's turning out to be a good resource. Feedback is always welcome!
bandrade 7y ago
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz and The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins.
splittingTimes 7y ago
"Manager tools" and "career tools" podcasts have been eye-openers for me about corporate relationships and management politics.
altendo 7y ago
My boss gave me a copy of _Talking with Teach Leads_ by Patrick Kua. I enjoy it. It's an anthology of testimonials by tech leads. It helped give me some perspective on what I need to focus. edit: grammar
sonabinu 7y ago
Satya Nadella’s ‘Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone’
bakenator 7y ago
When managing people in tech, I think it is equally as important to know how to organize as it is to know how to lead. I would recommend "The Phoenix Project" and "The Unicorn Project" and "The Goal" to all tech managers. No matter how good your communication/leadership skills are, your team will be severely handicapped if they are working in an inefficient/limiting environment. Coming at the same lessons from a different perspective, I have also found "Turn The Ship Around!" to be a very good resource.
- MisterOctober 7y ago
  "Turn the Ship Around!" has been awesome resource for our team, most definitely recommend
- madhadron 7y ago
  > I would recommend "The Phoenix Project" and "The Unicorn Project" and "The Goal" to all tech managers. Goldratt's "The Goal" and its sequels are interesting reading, but please, please internalize the principles he was arguing from for the theory of constraints before trying to apply it to software. Otherwise you end up with "The Pheonix Project" (whose author is apparently making a nice living as a snake oil process consultant, according to friends who have dealt with his appearance in companies) which is the "software factory" mess of the 1980's rewarmed and shoved out the door again. Rather, go read Deming's "The New Economy" (just ignore the section on intrinsic/extrinsic motivation).
  - ahpearce 7y ago
    I'm not really following your criticisms on The Phoenix Project... Can you elaborate?
    - madhadron 7y ago
      I didn't attempt to make a detailed criticism. Basically, it's the naive application of Goldratt's "The Goal" to IT. People have been trying to model IT processes on manufacturing for decades. Still doesn't work. The opinion of several engineers that I respect very highly who suffered from the author's consulting services makes me discount his work entirely. If you read farther in Goldratt, the sequels to "The Goal", he refines the notion of constraints in very interesting ways that leave the factory floor. I don't think the author of the Phoenix Project ever got that.
DarwinMailApp 7y ago
What Every Body is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People [1] This book has allowed me to understand what the people around me are saying, without even saying a word! "Read this book and send your nonverbal intelligence soaring. Joe Navarro, a former FBI counterintelligence officer and a recognized expert on nonverbal behavior, explains how to "speed-read" people: decode sentiments and behaviors, avoid hidden pitfalls, and look for deceptive behaviors. You'll also learn how your body language can influence what your boss, family, friends, and strangers think of you." [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1173576.What_Every_Body_is_Saying https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1173576.What_Every_Body_...
gbersac 7y ago
The best definition of what's a good leader is found in the book "the captain class" : https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Class-Hidden-Behind-Greatest/dp/1785030272 https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Class-Hidden-Behind-Greatest/... What's interesting is that the author have a data oriented strategy to find a good definition of a leader: he processed a lot of data to find which teams had really exceptionnal success IN THE HISTORY OF ALL SPORTS. When he found the 8 teams with the most exceptionnal success, he looked for what they share. He found that all of those exceptionnal team success coincide with the arrival and departure of a captain. Then he looked for shared trait between all those captain. What he found is the best definition of a leader.
- snorberhuis 7y ago
  I am definitely going to read this!
  - gbersac 7y ago
    You won't regret it ;)
- deleted 7y ago
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- grumpy8 7y ago
  hardbook starting from 899$, I think I'll get the 10$ kindle :D
scorpion_farmer 7y ago
Brene Brown 'Dare to Lead' is excellent
musha68k 7y ago
Gerald Weinberg's "Becoming a Technical Leader" is an often overlooked classic.
- philk10 7y ago
  Seconded - and most stuff written by Weinberg is worth reading
  - musha68k 7y ago
    Agreed, one of my secret goals is reading each and every one of his books ;)
hrachyah 7y ago
Read Watership down.
rarspace01 7y ago
One of my personal favorites is Tribal Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Tribal-Leadership-Leveraging-Thriving-Organization/dp/0061251321 https://www.amazon.com/Tribal-Leadership-Leveraging-Thriving...
- jppope 7y ago
  Also a really good book. +1
sidcool 7y ago
I recently bought 'Talking with tech leads' by Patrick Kua. Very applicable to tech companies
Jagat 7y ago
My favorite is 'Multipliers'
troymc 7y ago
Most bookstores would put leadership books and self help books in different sections of the bookstore. And these are the folks who put science fiction books and fantasy books in the same section!
snorberhuis 7y ago
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin This book is about the lessons learned on leadership by two Navy Seal Officers and how they are applied in business. It learned me to take ownership on what is happening, always work together, keep it simple, focus on a single priority, and give ownership. Turn the ship around! by L. David Marquet This book tells the story of a submarine captain that turns his subordinates into leaders and his submarine goes on becoming the best submarine in the US Navy. It learned me to move authority to information, train competence, and the power of clear communication. You can find more good books at https://www.norberhuis.nl/books/ https://www.norberhuis.nl/books/
- DailyHN 7y ago
  +1 Turn the ship around! by L. David Marquet
zt 7y ago
I think this is a more complicated question that it first appears. What do you mean by leadership? Getting things done for some strict definition? Managing a team? Managing a huge enterprise? I think reading books across the spectrum of leadership and management is critical, as each gives you some feeling of the underlying “truth” that you’re trying to find. I think the best book on the topic as I think you mean it is High Output Management by Andy Grove. It’s a classic. Incredibly well written. Direct. From there, I’d actually take a pivot and read MCDP 1 Warfighting, which is concise, brilliant, generally applicable, and completely aligned with the thinking of Grove. Along the same lines, I’d consider reading about OODA (I like “Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War” but not strictly necessary to read an entire biography). I think then you start to see that “Management” began to mean something particular in the post-war era for those who could see it, that it’s been lost in most organizations. Agile, lean, blah blah blah is all sort of derived from here. Then get some conditioning on how it all goes wrong, for which I would suggest the classic “The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering”, which is generally applicable. Then personally, I era toward thinking about organizations that have accomplished great things, so suggest “Creativity, Inc”, “Doing the Impossible: George E. Mueller & the Management of NASA's Human Spaceflight Program”, and books of those type.
charliepark 7y ago
The US Army has an exceptionally well-crafted field manual on leadership. No fluff, but also no chest-thumping. It's honestly the best resource I've ever seen on what constitutes a good leader, how good leaders are developed, and how good leaders develop their teams. Being a DOD publication, it's in the public domain: https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/misc/doctrine/CDG/cdg_resources/manuals/adrp/adrp6_22_new.pdf https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/misc/doctrine/CD... I can't stress enough how excellent it is.
- mmillin 7y ago
  It looks like there's a newer version (July 2019) available here: https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/adp6_22.pdf https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/adp6_22.pdf
  - charliepark 7y ago
    Brilliant. Thank you.
  - asd4 7y ago
    Ebook is available too! https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/Details.aspx?PUB_ID=1007609 https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/Details.aspx?P...
- jdgoesmarching 7y ago
  “Leadership is influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” I was taught a lot of bullshit in my Army days but the definition on the first page of that book is seared into my brain. It’s succinct and I still refer to it when evaluating myself and my efficacy as a leader. It’s a great little manual to start with, especially when most books on leadership are 90% marketing garbage.
- naim08 7y ago
  Couldn't agree more. Read a couple of battle analysis by the USA army , which constantly compared decisions to what the decision should be accordingly to the USA army field manual to explain. You're absolutely right!
austincheney 7y ago
My favorites are Good to Great and Principles * https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=good+to+great&qid=1575558089&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0... * https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/1501124021/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3TSPWCDP7GWFR&keywords=principles+ray+dalio&qid=1575558133&sprefix=principles%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/150...
tbarringer816 7y ago
High Output Management by Andy Grove. Great resource that I re-read every year or so
throwaway_19086 7y ago
I found this podcast very interesting https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-is-a-personal-choice/id1473306732 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-is-a-person...
Stronico 7y ago
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Not really about leadership per se, but it helps you get out of your own way which allows a lot of other good things room to happen.
vertigolimbo 7y ago
"On Becoming a Leader" by Warren Bennis This book is not very big but is exceptionally dense and easy to read. I found a lot of useful information that I apply to my daily life - reflection, being authentic, allowing oneself to make mistakes and much more. I reread it three times already and I always found new ideas. (As a technical guy) I developed a great passion for philosophy and arts in general thanks to his book.
filipn 7y ago
Radical Candor by Kim Scott. By far the best management book that I have read, it changed my way of thinking when it comes to leading a team.
cocktailpeanuts 7y ago
Just so you know, leadership is completely different for middle managers and founders. A lot of the "leadership books" are targeted at middle managers, and if you follow their advice word for word, it won't work.
mmhsieh 7y ago
Dynamics of Software Development, by McCarthy.
byteface 7y ago
Tribes by Seth Godin is good as it talks about how communities grow around ideas not individuals. Also read things written by great leaders. i.e. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html
neves 7y ago
Any of the classic books of the late Jerry Weinberg is full of wisdom. Oldies but goldies. Leanpub has all of them: https://leanpub.com/u/jerryweinberg https://leanpub.com/u/jerryweinberg There's the People Skill bundle: https://leanpub.com/b/peopleskillssoftbutdifficult https://leanpub.com/b/peopleskillssoftbutdifficult with the books: Are Your Lights On?, What Did You Say? The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback, Exploring Requirements One, Exploring Requirements Two, Becoming a Change Artist, More Secrets of Consulting, and Becoming a Technical Leader But maybe the better for you are his classic The Psychology of Computer Program (to understand the mind of programmers) https://leanpub.com/thepsychologyofcomputerprogramming https://leanpub.com/thepsychologyofcomputerprogramming Becoming a Technical Leader (to grow to a leadership position) https://leanpub.com/becomingatechnicalleader https://leanpub.com/becomingatechnicalleader Managing Teams Congruently (to manage groups) https://leanpub.com/managingteamscongruently https://leanpub.com/managingteamscongruently
- hkon 7y ago
  Thanks for those links, I will check out a number of those. Weird I've never heard about him before, impressive number of books.
  - neves 7y ago
    Maybe because he is from the pre-internet era. The tech parts are dated, but since he sees people as the center of the problems, it doesn't matter much. Any of his books will give you a year of blog posts.
motohagiography 7y ago
Question is, do you want a book about the input factors to how people end up leading, or one on evaluating the output effects of other leaders against? Leadership is not an activity or an action you can mimic, it it is an effect. Most books are the stories people tell afterwards about how virtuous they were and they call that leadership. Jeffery Pfeffer says this specifically as well. Pfeffers books on management provide the insight into the dynamics leadership emerges from. His triad of, "performance, credentials, and relationships," that describe power in a situation also describe the necessary factors we look back on as leadership. https://www.amazon.ca/Power-Some-People-Have-Others/dp/0061789089 https://www.amazon.ca/Power-Some-People-Have-Others/dp/00617... I like Jocko Willnick's whole attitude about ownership, respect, delegation, and working with people to leverage their skills to achieve outcomes. He says the hierarchy in the military isn't as much of a factor as how you relate to your team and the world, but I suspect Pfeffer would disagree in that its hierarchy and training culture provides the credential piece in his triad, where in business, that's more dynamic. There are lots of good books about leadership, but reading them without having read Pfeffer's "Power.." is exploring the territory without the map, imo.
Juha 7y ago
Recently I have been relying on two good sources for leadership: - Book: The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker: I think this is an excellent book to teach the part of the brain that wants to execute to think more strategically and concentrate on the leadership side. - Podcast: Modern CTO: This podcast has lots of interviews CTO's from all kinds of companies. It's pretty casual and entertaining but also seems to always motivate me to be a better leader.
rusk 7y ago
I think "Team Geek" [0] is probably worth a mention in this light. It's written in that infuriating cutesy techy-language that seems to infuse a lot of the "hipper" books of this genre but there really is some good advice in there. FYI these are the guys that did Subversion, which was a pretty successful project for a while, back in the day. This same writing style pervades the SVN docs as well. Yeuch. In the same vein, I also enjoyed "rework" by Jason Fried [1] though that's more about modern work, than purely management. Also kind of "hip" in style, but not so insufferable ;-) [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14514115-team-geek https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14514115-team-geek [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6732019-rework https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6732019-rework
- rahimnathwani 7y ago
  FYI the most recent edition of the book has a new title 'Debugging Teams: Better Productivity through Collaboration'.
- growlist 7y ago
  > infuriating cutesy techy-language Happy to see I'm not the only curmudgeon around here. I'd say this trend is at its most loathsome when employed by big corporates - it's as if everyone is so terrified of being mischaracterised as old or uncool (daddio) that noone is willing to point out how facile, affected and obnoxious this type of language is.
  - dhimes 7y ago
    OK, boomer...
- looping__lui 7y ago
  Yes, totally agree. Imho one of the best books out there on the topic. Also: “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” Beyond managing teams, you probably will need to cope with politics as well. “The 48 Laws of Power” are a good start... It is also worth understanding how asymmetry works in the business world: give Taleb’s “Antifragile” I think managing teams has always to be seen in the culture of the respective company. Good managers make sure they position their teams for high-impact (depending on what high impact is), get the resources they need and the credit they deserve. All that has almost 0 to do with how to lead people but will probably determine success like no other factor...
karl11 7y ago
High Output Management by Andy Grove, Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz would be my top 3.
- darkerside 7y ago
  I'm sad to have to scroll down so far to see High Output Management. Timeless principles that boil down the ABCs of being an effective manager. No bells and whistles. This is a must-read for any new manager.
- mikesabat 7y ago
  Hard Thing About Hard Things is amazing. I've given this book to two people and both shared stories with me about how incredible it was.
dan_wood 7y ago
Just FYI your search input goes over your header on mobile, looks a bit odd. Give that header a z-index :)
anhldbk 7y ago
I think leadership stems from engineering cultures. So I guess you may find Netflix Culture Code interesting [1]. It's introduced by Reed Hastings, the CEO [1] https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/reed2001/culture-1798664 https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/reed2001/culture-1798664
wjossey 7y ago
This comment is for anyone like the OP who is looking for resources beyond books. I run a free mentoring service for managers, and most (but not all) tend to come from the tech side of the world. My sessions are 45 minutes long, and I did over 120 in 2019. I’m currently on hiatus till January as I just had a baby boy I’m spending time with (actually sleeping on me as I type this out!), but feel free to grab some time in January if you’d like to talk to someone live. https://freemanagermentor.com https://freemanagermentor.com A lot of people in comments below have talked about struggling with the “How” when it comes to taking the concepts they’ve learned and putting them into practice. This is the value of a live conversation with another human being, where we can talk through specific examples, play around with the scenarios, and either prepare for a future challenge, or come up with a plan to address the current one head on.
- bryanmgreen 7y ago
  I think I will!
carapace 7y ago
The best book on leadership IMO is the Tao Te Ching, Ch. 17. It's very short, about ten lines, but it contains all that you need to know. The final verse, especially, destroys or subsumes pretty much all concepts of leadership. YMMV: http://taoteching.org.uk/chapter17.html http://taoteching.org.uk/chapter17.html http://www.egreenway.com/taoism/ttclz17.htm http://www.egreenway.com/taoism/ttclz17.htm https://www.taoistic.com/taoteching-laotzu/taoteching-17.htm https://www.taoistic.com/taoteching-laotzu/taoteching-17.htm https://taoteching.daodejing.org/17.htm https://taoteching.daodejing.org/17.htm http://tao-in-you.com/lao-tzu-tao-te-ching-chapter-17/ http://tao-in-you.com/lao-tzu-tao-te-ching-chapter-17/
- maneesh 7y ago
  Amazing
- stronglikedan 7y ago
  But that's only the "what", and not the "how", no?
  - shantly 7y ago
    Bit like if someone asks you to teach them to paint and you show them a Monet and go "like that!", yeah.
  - carapace 7y ago
    There are plenty of books mentioned here that have great tactics and strategy already. The Tao is more like the "Alpha and Omega" of wisdom. Consider a kind of hierarchy: Identity Values Beliefs Capabilities Behaviours Most of the other books mentioned here are generally talking about the lower three levels with some attention to Values, whereas the Tao Te Ching spends most of its verses on the upper two levels.
- nestorherre 7y ago
  Concise, yet so powerful. Thanks for sharing
- 7y ago
spodek 7y ago
Most books on leadership give principles and science, which don't hurt to know, but leading is a practice -- an active, social, emotional, expressive, performance-based field. We learn to perform by practicing the basics in any field. Leadership Step by Step https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others/dp/0814437931 https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others/... gives a set of 20 exercises that teach the basics of leading yourself and others. If you practice, you'll develop the skills, experiences, and beliefs of an effective leader. Other books are like music appreciation. This book is like learning to play the piano. Written by a PhD in physics (me) then started several companies, got an MBA, and teaches leadership at NYU to stellar reviews. http://joshuaspodek.com/reviews-leadership-step-step http://joshuaspodek.com/reviews-leadership-step-step Leadership Step by Step: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others/dp/0814437931 https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others/...
- kod 7y ago
  Self promotion usually rubs me the wrong way, but judging from this excerpt, your book looks like it's well worth reading: http://spodekacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/spodekacademy-com/LeadershipStepByStep_JoshuaSpodek_MeaningfulConnectionExcerpt.pdf http://spodekacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/spodekacademy-co...
  - spodek 7y ago
    Thank you. I appreciate your suspending judgment enough to research it. If you read it, I hope you'll share your thoughts on it, especially if you do the exercises.
runjake 7y ago
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink -> https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-ebook/dp/B0739PYQSS https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-eboo... Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek -> https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/B00HQ3K34M https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/B...
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mavelikara 7y ago
I found "An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management" by Will Larson quite good for advice on practical management challenges one comes across in technology companies.
tapatio 7y ago
The only one you need: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756 https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fab...
kinnth 7y ago
This is a great thread!
rramadass 7y ago
Here is my favourite; David Packard's (of HP fame) address to HP managers - https://gizmodo.com/the-hp-way-how-bill-hewlett-and-i-built-our-company-5634378 https://gizmodo.com/the-hp-way-how-bill-hewlett-and-i-built-... Read and memorize the above. There is a whole lot of BS in the Leadership Industry and we should first educate ourselves on the realities. Start with Jeffrey Pfeffer's "Leadership BS". The above same charge of BS can also be laid at the door of of various Management "theories". A good antidote is Ted Stephenson's "Management: A political activity". Leadership/Management is more about understanding People/Organizational psychology and behaviours and not "feel good" theories.
jppope 7y ago
Here's my shortlist: - The Art of the Advantage (33 stratagems) - Winning By Jack Welch - Tribal Leadership - Creativity Inc - The Lean Startup (~leadership in the face of uncertainty)
brandonb 7y ago
Leading Snowflakes is written specifically for new engineering managers. In my opinion, it nails it: https://leadingsnowflakes.com/ https://leadingsnowflakes.com/ Unlike many books on leadership, this one is specific about the challenges of leading a technical team: * Carving out maker vs manager time * "Code reviewing" your management decisions with your teammates * How to delegate without losing visibility or quality
thewanisdown 7y ago
Extreme Ownership https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-ebook/dp/B00VE4Y0Z2 https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-eboo... How to Win Friends and Influence People https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People-ebook/dp/B0811Z2NNF/ https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People-eboo... The Phoenix Project https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business-ebook/dp/B078Y98RG8/ https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Busine... Don't worry about "tech specific". Core leadership principles are universal. The first two books on the list show the principles, and the mindset you should approach them with to be successful. The 3rd book will help set the tone for leading in a modern tech environment, and what kind of business decisions you should prioritize.
- bor100003 7y ago
  The third book is also good for bragging at work about devops.
lynfogeek 7y ago
A few recommendations from me and peers in my company who highly value some of the following: - "Managing Humans" by Michael Lopp very insightful and easy to read. - "Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations" by Dr Nicole Forsgren brings a long research on how to organize teams for success. - "The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change" by Camille Fournier which I especially recommend for new managers. Lastly, and this time not tech-specific, but by far my best read of 2019: "Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell" written by Eric Schmidt & others.
ChuckMcM 7y ago
I liked Bossidy's "Execution" and "Facing Reality", like all such books they wander a bit but they have some good insights. "Managing Humans" was okay but I guess I may have come to it a bit later in my managing experience so it seemed pretty obvious. "The 5 dysfunctions of the team" is useful for understanding how to look at root causes of teams that become dysfunctional, can be depressing when you recognize your own team in its pages :-). And not a management book per se but "The Sociopath Next Door" was a useful read because it better helped me understand and identify people who were very different than I am in terms of their emotional investment in things.
tlapinsk 7y ago
Not specific to just tech teams, but I loved The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William Thorndike. So many great notes about leadership and successfully running a business in general. https://www.amazon.com/Outsiders-Unconventional-Radically-Rational-Blueprint/dp/1422162672/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=outsiders+book&qid=1575567270&s=books&sr=1-3 https://www.amazon.com/Outsiders-Unconventional-Radically-Ra...
StudioElite 7y ago
Hey, I really like your contribution with such a great collective approach, I loved reading them, l would really appreciate it if you add me in your collection to lend me a thumbs up also and keep up the good work though. besides, I'll be reading them whether it would be yes or no :) https://studioelitechicago.com/ https://studioelitechicago.com/ Thank you
Gianella1305 7y ago
Hi
- specialityfoods 7y ago
  Hi
AdamN 7y ago
We know where Trump lies
bryanmgreen 7y ago
Most of my responses are covered already, and I know this is cliche, but Art of War by Sun Tzu. One thing that has always stayed with me about leadership is his five traits that define a great leader. 1) Wisdom 2) Courage 3) Sincerity 4) Benevolence 5) Discipline -------------- And on a side note, I love seeing the increased submissions around leadership!
achenatx 7y ago
Leadership for me is "influencing people to create change". We use many books, but my favorite is 5 dysfunctions of a team. After that is first break all the rules Both of these are extremely practical and give a model for how to operate on a daily basis.
cushychicken 7y ago
I'm reading High Output Management by Andy Grove at the moment. Definitely one of the best practical guides on being a leader and a people manager I've ever read.
chasedehan 7y ago
“Score takes care of itself” By Bill Walsh While not necessarily a “tech” book, the parallels to leading high performing teams are incredible. For me, this was the book that changed the way I think about leading my team.
dcolkitt 7y ago
This is a little bit out-of-left field. But I'd recommend the classic Foreign Policy essay "Why Arabs Lose Wars". On the surface it's obviously about military doctrine, and how it's affected the various conflicts in recent Middle Eastern history. But fundamentally its about management culture, and what factors distinguished well-run organizations from dysfunctional ones. [0] https://www.meforum.org/441/why-arabs-lose-wars https://www.meforum.org/441/why-arabs-lose-wars
mrwzy 7y ago
On the topic of General Management - High Output Management by Andrew Grove Visibility and Alignment - Measure What Matters by John Doerr Understanding People and Teams - Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson
npr11 7y ago
For being immensely practical, I'm a big fan of 1. "An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management" 2. "High Output Management" 3. "Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams"
antoncohen 7y ago
"Extreme Ownership" by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. I highly recommend the audiobook, it is narrated by the authors and is very engaging. Some of the comments in this thread say that military orders and life and death situations don't apply in the business world. But that isn't what this book is about, the advice is really the opposite of giving orders the must be followed without question. And the lessons are explained in ways that clearly relate to business management.
Bar_Code 7y ago
There is a nice compilation of articles in a github repo, divided by topic. https://github.com/charlax/engineering-management https://github.com/charlax/engineering-management Leadership is an expansive topic and I don't think it's possible to nail it. "Turn the Ship Around" I think really nails the strategy of Functional Leadership, plus it's a true story. Keep in mind that Leadership and Management are two very different topics that people often conflate.
plinkplonk 7y ago
A variant on the OP's question. What are good books on leadership that are written by people who have actual experience of being great leaders? Most books on leadership seem to be written by people who have no experience of leadership, they just know how to market their books.
koolhead17 7y ago
The Phoenix Project
aprdm 7y ago
I've been a team lead for close to four years now in two different companies, both times my teams spanned multiple time zones! I really enjoy this subject and read a lot about it. My favorite books so far are: - Radical Candor -- Gives a great framework for candid conversations and empathy which IMO are the most important thing! Clear #1 in my list. - Leading by Alex Ferguson -- A great successful leader in another area - Soccer - that had many years building effective teams. It's incredible how many concepts can be mapped over, he talks for example on how having "rockstars" in a team that aren't team players isn't worth it. - Ride of a lifetime by Bob Iger -- It's mostly a biography of Disney's most successful CEO, I thought it was very authentic and gave good advices on how to deal with creative people, empathy, setting goals and navigating hard situations (compartmentalizing) - Creativity Inc Amy / Ed -- Pixar's president biography on how to manage creative teams, it is a bit repetitive but it is golden! Lots of good ideas and insightful chapters that make you think about how to build a successful culture. - The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders -- IMO a bit shallow compared to the other books I mentioned but it was a pleasant read.
- egads 7y ago
  Radical Candor is easily the most impactful leadership book I've read. I've always struggled with finding the balance between being direct without being a jerk and being compassionate without being ineffective. I still feel like I nail it about 10% of the time, but at least I have a clearer picture of what the communication style I'm aiming for looks like.
geekraver 7y ago
Lots of good recommendations here; two I would add are "Debugging Teams" and "The Geek Leader's Handbook"
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Diesel555 7y ago
You learn from history and what other people did well and didn't do well. Leadership is a combination of your own innate abilities combined with self-awareness and feedback. From this, you can apply historical knowledge (understand you may not have Washington's height and strength, but may be a better tactical decision maker). Read biographies on others: Washington: A Life Hamilton Grant Fighter Pilot (Robin Olds) Boyd Anyone you admire - read about them - find out what was good and what was bad. Mattis's new book is good: Call Sign Chaos.
lonriesberg 7y ago
Not a book but Software Lead Weekly is a great newsletter that curates content from around the web about leadership in tech: https://softwareleadweekly.com https://softwareleadweekly.com
sbmthakur 7y ago
Relevant discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21663254 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21663254
tikiman163 7y ago
I strongly recommend the following: Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap and Others Don't The Goal: A process of Continuous Improvement Team of Teams Strategy that Works: Bridging the Stategy to Execution Gap There isn't a single book that will teach you everything you need to know, but these 5 books taken together will cover nearly everything. The points I suggest paying the most attention to are level 5 leadership, the hedgehog concept, the flywheel concept, Kaizen style continuous improvement, how to organize groups of teams to avoid micromanaging, and how to work with a company culture to make decisions supported by real data that tells you what the most effective decisions would be and how to achieve this by choosing concepts to promote to employees in order to guide their decision making.
thewileyone 7y ago
The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard. It's simple but effective and malleable once you've had some experience.
cnicolaou 7y ago
While i really value the books from the US and British armies that were shared, I think "Principle Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey" is a really good book on the topic of Leadership. https://www.amazon.com/Principle-Centered-Leadership-Stephen-Covey-dp-0671749102/dp/0671749102/ https://www.amazon.com/Principle-Centered-Leadership-Stephen...
Dowwie 7y ago
see a famous Harvard Case study, with an emphasis on leadership in crisis, about Ernest Shackleton's race to the South Pole: "Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance"
dawsoon 7y ago
I also looking for such books about leadership and time managment

882 points by learnaholic 7y ago

Although I know self help books are of little value, but wondering if any author has really nailed the topic? Would be even be better if the book is specific to tech leadership.

lawn 7y ago

Extreme Ownership is an excellent book on the topic (or so peoole tell me, I started reading it today actually).

fsloth 7y ago
It is. It is also filled with gratuitous disregard for human life and cruelty towards animals. But that's what war is about, and having a book about military leadership without actual examples of conflict would be kind of vacuous.
eloff 7y ago
And the dichotomy of leadership.

leothekim 7y ago

Try "The Manager's Path" by Camille Fournier. http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920056843.do http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920056843.do

ericskiff 7y ago
Seconding this
sidcool 7y ago
+1 excellent book
jmcgough 7y ago
Also highly recommend this. Unlike some other books, it's highly tailored towards being a leader at a tech startup, and has great, specific advice. It's also broken down by chapter, so you can read the bits that are relevant for your role.
romanhn 7y ago
Having read many of the books recommended here, I found this one to be the most concretely useful of the bunch. No fluff, just solid advice from someone that went from engineer to CTO.
abridgett 7y ago
Agreed, I particularly like the way each chapter dealt with a rank further up. Even if you have _no intention_ of going higher, seeing what they want from you and what they should be doing was immensely helpful and clarifying.
jeffnappi 7y ago
I would also advise this one. I appreciate the section enumerating the roles that the VP of Engineering and the CTO share/split.
chrisguitarguy 7y ago
Seconded, this is a great book. I think all non-managers should read it as well as it will give you some clarity on what you should expect from your manager and what their day-to-day is like.
caust1c 7y ago
I read both this and "The Making of a Manager", and I've got to say, "The Making of a Manager" has much better advice and is a lot easier to act on than what Manager's Path gives. I think the primary difference is what point in their careers the book was written. Julie wrote the book early in her career while Camille has been in upper management for some time meaning that she's more distant from the challenges of becoming a first time manager. And despite Julie's only experience being at Facebook, I still found the advice widely applicable.
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tz180k 7y ago

For leading through tough times - Only the paranoid survive by Andy Grove is great! It was our book of the month in April! https://www.techbookofthemonth.com/books/april19 https://www.techbookofthemonth.com/books/april19

beh9540 7y ago

It depends on what your definition of "leadership" is - personally I found "Managing Humans" by Michael Lopp to be really insightful. It's really more a collection of anecdotes than a seminal work on the topic, but I think there's a bunch of good components in understanding team dynamics around technical / software engineering teams.

softwaredoug 7y ago

Not strictly management, but related:”The Trusted Advisor” is a book about consulting. Which is really the same soft skills you would need in leadership positions where you have a lot of domain experience and leadership is more about helping the team make their own tech decisions

HealthyTree 7y ago

"An elegant puzzle", "High output management" and "Behind Closed Doors" have all been useful to me.

asplake 7y ago

It's years since I read it but Gerald Weinberg's Becoming a Technical Leader. The best general book on leadership I've read for a while is Marquet's Turn the Ship Around – great also as an audiobook. I referenced the latter in my own Right to Left: The digital leader's guide to Lean and Agile (arguably a leadership book too)

pjmorris 7y ago
'If you are a good leader, Who talks little, They will say, When your work is done, And your aim fulfilled, “We did it ourselves.”' - Lao Tse, quoted in 'Becoming a Technical Leader' I heartily second 'Becoming a Technical Leader.' The exercises there are designed to get you to think about and grow in the situation that you are currently in, so the book will be a perennial. I'd add that Weinberg also produced a four-volume series, 'Quality Software Management', where he sums up all he learned about project management in his programming, management and consulting careers. He later republished the material in a series of smaller eBooks [0] at LeanPub. I know of no better written resources for people who want to learn to manage software development in a way that accomplishes the technical tasks while respecting the people who do the work. [0] https://leanpub.com/b/qualitysoftware https://leanpub.com/b/qualitysoftware
- cafard 7y ago
  Upvoted. Also by Weinberg, The Secrets of Consulting.

simonswords82 7y ago

Turn The Ship Around!: A True Story of Building Leaders by Breaking the Rules https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Ship-Around-Building-Breaking/dp/0241250943/ref=sr_1_1?crid=M1VNDUFRQ7LB&keywords=turn+ship+around&qid=1575555726&sprefix=turn+ship%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Ship-Around-Building-Breaking/... HN post about this book recently: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662941 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21662941

Pandabob 7y ago

The best management book I read this year was "The Making of a Manager" by Julie Zhou [1]. The book is concise, clearly written and actionable. It's specifically written for first time managers and the author is a design lead at Facebook. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Manager-What-Everyone-Looks/dp/0735219567 https://www.amazon.com/Making-Manager-What-Everyone-Looks/dp...

dlo 7y ago
+100 for this book. Absolutely amazing.
hongzi 7y ago
Thanks for sharing! Julie is amazing!

goodgoblin 7y ago

"Peopleware" is a great one -- https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-3rd/dp/0321934113 https://www.amazon.com/Peopleware-Productive-Projects-Teams-...

splittingTimes 7y ago
+100 for peopleware.
rimliu 7y ago
IMHO, the best one.
johncoogan 7y ago
Agreed, Peopleware is great. Very good for engineering leadership specifically.
robertdx 7y ago
Highly recommended. 100% agree with the "emotional part" and "engineers hate wasting time... DUE TO YOU" haha. A mind changer to me.
foobar_ 7y ago
Excellent book! Adding Managing Humans to that. https://randsinrepose.com/books/ https://randsinrepose.com/books/
- samk3nny 7y ago
  I concur! Just finished MH and really enjoyed it.

anacleto 7y ago

[0] The Score Takes Care of Itself. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/1591843472 https://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp...

mjlee 7y ago

This isn't specifically about tech, but The Culture Map by Erin Meyer is really worth reading. I'm not 100% sold on it being correct, but it does give you a framework to think within when you're working with other people, no matter which culture you're from. Forbes have a decent write-up: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rawnshah/2014/10/06/the-culture-map-shows-us-how-we-work-worldwide/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/rawnshah/2014/10/06/the-culture...

dominotw 7y ago

Be Slightly Evil: A Playbook for Sociopaths is pretty good on this topic.

d2161 7y ago

Saved

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Bumerang 7y ago

Everything by Simon Sinek, but most important for me is "Leaders Eat Last" [0]. I haven't read the last one (The Infinite Game), but I've heard it's pretty good as well. Also Extreme Ownership [1] and Dichotomy of Leadership [2] by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. All of these books had tremendous impact on me as a leader and I highly recommend them. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/B00HQ3K34M/ https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/B... [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-ebook/dp/B00VE4Y0Z2 https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-eboo... [2]: https://www.amazon.com/Dichotomy-Leadership-Balancing-Challenges-Ownership/dp/B07BN5NGQ5/ https://www.amazon.com/Dichotomy-Leadership-Balancing-Challe...

abhiyerra 7y ago
Leaders Eat Last was one of the best books I read this year. Extreme Ownership was also quite good but Simon really explains the “Why” of leadership that most books are missing. High-Output Management is another classic.
- TimTheTinker 7y ago
  I understand the “why” of leadership very well, but as a high-functioning autistic person, I struggle very much with the “how”, especially around communication. Like - for all possible values of X, if X is what I want someone to do, how do I communicate that so people (a) understand that I want X from them and (b) aren’t offended and understand that it is meant kindly/charitably (which it really is, I often just don’t know how to say so without sounding weird or changing the value of X). Here’s a small example scenario from home life: my son was crying in his room. I was in the middle of something but wanted to take care of him and let my wife rest. She got up and started down the hall. I said “I was going to get it” expecting her to say “OK” and come back. Instead she sighed and did it anyway, and later said she felt frustrated that I made an excuse instead of either taking action or not. I explained to her what I wanted and asked what I should have said instead, and she said to say “Please stop. I’ve got this.” Next time I said that instead, and was amazed how different her response was - she was happy/grateful to let me take cars of it. I guess I need a book full of “scripts” that would help me communicate both text and subtext accurately. Any resource suggestions?

jordanf 7y ago

The Great CEO Within (great for non-CEO leaders too). Free here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnwl-dwqx5xl0s65DE3wO8/edit# https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJZbv4J6FZ8Dnb0JuMhJxTnw...!

ahnooie 7y ago

Managing the Unmanageable, a second vote for Peopleware, The Mythical Man-Month, and The Conviction to Lead https://b3n.org/programming-management-leadership-books/ https://b3n.org/programming-management-leadership-books/

hongzi 7y ago

Creativity, Inc. [1] It's not a textbook but a really fun read for the inside stories that pushed Pixar to its success. Maybe it's just me personally but I found it hard to follow some syllabus to learn management --- instead, I enjoy being inspired by other great managers through their concrete stories. [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUZQYBO/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FUZQYBO/

jppope 7y ago
This was an amazing read. Ed Catmull explains many nuanced aspects of leadership, management, creative organizations, and related. All of these lessons are wrapped into the personal history and narrative surrounding Pixar, which is fascinating in its own right.

siddhant 7y ago

I run Developer to Manager (https://devtomanager.com https://devtomanager.com), where we interview tech leaders and ask them for advice they have for someone new to this field. I'm of course biased, but I do feel it's turning out to be a good resource. Feedback is always welcome!

bandrade 7y ago

The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz and The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins.

splittingTimes 7y ago

"Manager tools" and "career tools" podcasts have been eye-openers for me about corporate relationships and management politics.

altendo 7y ago

My boss gave me a copy of _Talking with Teach Leads_ by Patrick Kua. I enjoy it. It's an anthology of testimonials by tech leads. It helped give me some perspective on what I need to focus. edit: grammar

sonabinu 7y ago

Satya Nadella’s ‘Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone’

bakenator 7y ago

When managing people in tech, I think it is equally as important to know how to organize as it is to know how to lead. I would recommend "The Phoenix Project" and "The Unicorn Project" and "The Goal" to all tech managers. No matter how good your communication/leadership skills are, your team will be severely handicapped if they are working in an inefficient/limiting environment. Coming at the same lessons from a different perspective, I have also found "Turn The Ship Around!" to be a very good resource.

MisterOctober 7y ago
"Turn the Ship Around!" has been awesome resource for our team, most definitely recommend
madhadron 7y ago
> I would recommend "The Phoenix Project" and "The Unicorn Project" and "The Goal" to all tech managers. Goldratt's "The Goal" and its sequels are interesting reading, but please, please internalize the principles he was arguing from for the theory of constraints before trying to apply it to software. Otherwise you end up with "The Pheonix Project" (whose author is apparently making a nice living as a snake oil process consultant, according to friends who have dealt with his appearance in companies) which is the "software factory" mess of the 1980's rewarmed and shoved out the door again. Rather, go read Deming's "The New Economy" (just ignore the section on intrinsic/extrinsic motivation).
- ahpearce 7y ago
  I'm not really following your criticisms on The Phoenix Project... Can you elaborate?
  - madhadron 7y ago
    I didn't attempt to make a detailed criticism. Basically, it's the naive application of Goldratt's "The Goal" to IT. People have been trying to model IT processes on manufacturing for decades. Still doesn't work. The opinion of several engineers that I respect very highly who suffered from the author's consulting services makes me discount his work entirely. If you read farther in Goldratt, the sequels to "The Goal", he refines the notion of constraints in very interesting ways that leave the factory floor. I don't think the author of the Phoenix Project ever got that.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago

What Every Body is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People [1] This book has allowed me to understand what the people around me are saying, without even saying a word! "Read this book and send your nonverbal intelligence soaring. Joe Navarro, a former FBI counterintelligence officer and a recognized expert on nonverbal behavior, explains how to "speed-read" people: decode sentiments and behaviors, avoid hidden pitfalls, and look for deceptive behaviors. You'll also learn how your body language can influence what your boss, family, friends, and strangers think of you." [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1173576.What_Every_Body_is_Saying https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1173576.What_Every_Body_...

gbersac 7y ago

The best definition of what's a good leader is found in the book "the captain class" : https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Class-Hidden-Behind-Greatest/dp/1785030272 https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Class-Hidden-Behind-Greatest/... What's interesting is that the author have a data oriented strategy to find a good definition of a leader: he processed a lot of data to find which teams had really exceptionnal success IN THE HISTORY OF ALL SPORTS. When he found the 8 teams with the most exceptionnal success, he looked for what they share. He found that all of those exceptionnal team success coincide with the arrival and departure of a captain. Then he looked for shared trait between all those captain. What he found is the best definition of a leader.

snorberhuis 7y ago
I am definitely going to read this!
- gbersac 7y ago
  You won't regret it ;)
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
grumpy8 7y ago
hardbook starting from 899$, I think I'll get the 10$ kindle :D

scorpion_farmer 7y ago

Brene Brown 'Dare to Lead' is excellent

musha68k 7y ago

Gerald Weinberg's "Becoming a Technical Leader" is an often overlooked classic.

philk10 7y ago
Seconded - and most stuff written by Weinberg is worth reading
- musha68k 7y ago
  Agreed, one of my secret goals is reading each and every one of his books ;)

hrachyah 7y ago

Read Watership down.

rarspace01 7y ago

One of my personal favorites is Tribal Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Tribal-Leadership-Leveraging-Thriving-Organization/dp/0061251321 https://www.amazon.com/Tribal-Leadership-Leveraging-Thriving...

jppope 7y ago
Also a really good book. +1

sidcool 7y ago

I recently bought 'Talking with tech leads' by Patrick Kua. Very applicable to tech companies

Jagat 7y ago

My favorite is 'Multipliers'

troymc 7y ago

Most bookstores would put leadership books and self help books in different sections of the bookstore. And these are the folks who put science fiction books and fantasy books in the same section!

snorberhuis 7y ago

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin This book is about the lessons learned on leadership by two Navy Seal Officers and how they are applied in business. It learned me to take ownership on what is happening, always work together, keep it simple, focus on a single priority, and give ownership. Turn the ship around! by L. David Marquet This book tells the story of a submarine captain that turns his subordinates into leaders and his submarine goes on becoming the best submarine in the US Navy. It learned me to move authority to information, train competence, and the power of clear communication. You can find more good books at https://www.norberhuis.nl/books/ https://www.norberhuis.nl/books/

DailyHN 7y ago
+1 Turn the ship around! by L. David Marquet

zt 7y ago

I think this is a more complicated question that it first appears. What do you mean by leadership? Getting things done for some strict definition? Managing a team? Managing a huge enterprise? I think reading books across the spectrum of leadership and management is critical, as each gives you some feeling of the underlying “truth” that you’re trying to find. I think the best book on the topic as I think you mean it is High Output Management by Andy Grove. It’s a classic. Incredibly well written. Direct. From there, I’d actually take a pivot and read MCDP 1 Warfighting, which is concise, brilliant, generally applicable, and completely aligned with the thinking of Grove. Along the same lines, I’d consider reading about OODA (I like “Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War” but not strictly necessary to read an entire biography). I think then you start to see that “Management” began to mean something particular in the post-war era for those who could see it, that it’s been lost in most organizations. Agile, lean, blah blah blah is all sort of derived from here. Then get some conditioning on how it all goes wrong, for which I would suggest the classic “The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering”, which is generally applicable. Then personally, I era toward thinking about organizations that have accomplished great things, so suggest “Creativity, Inc”, “Doing the Impossible: George E. Mueller & the Management of NASA's Human Spaceflight Program”, and books of those type.

charliepark 7y ago

The US Army has an exceptionally well-crafted field manual on leadership. No fluff, but also no chest-thumping. It's honestly the best resource I've ever seen on what constitutes a good leader, how good leaders are developed, and how good leaders develop their teams. Being a DOD publication, it's in the public domain: https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/misc/doctrine/CDG/cdg_resources/manuals/adrp/adrp6_22_new.pdf https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/misc/doctrine/CD... I can't stress enough how excellent it is.

mmillin 7y ago
It looks like there's a newer version (July 2019) available here: https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/adp6_22.pdf https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/adp6_22.pdf
- charliepark 7y ago
  Brilliant. Thank you.
- asd4 7y ago
  Ebook is available too! https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/Details.aspx?PUB_ID=1007609 https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/Details.aspx?P...
jdgoesmarching 7y ago
“Leadership is influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” I was taught a lot of bullshit in my Army days but the definition on the first page of that book is seared into my brain. It’s succinct and I still refer to it when evaluating myself and my efficacy as a leader. It’s a great little manual to start with, especially when most books on leadership are 90% marketing garbage.
naim08 7y ago
Couldn't agree more. Read a couple of battle analysis by the USA army , which constantly compared decisions to what the decision should be accordingly to the USA army field manual to explain. You're absolutely right!

austincheney 7y ago

My favorites are Good to Great and Principles * https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=good+to+great&qid=1575558089&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0... * https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/1501124021/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3TSPWCDP7GWFR&keywords=principles+ray+dalio&qid=1575558133&sprefix=principles%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/150...

tbarringer816 7y ago

High Output Management by Andy Grove. Great resource that I re-read every year or so

throwaway_19086 7y ago

I found this podcast very interesting https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-is-a-personal-choice/id1473306732 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-is-a-person...

Stronico 7y ago

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Not really about leadership per se, but it helps you get out of your own way which allows a lot of other good things room to happen.

vertigolimbo 7y ago

"On Becoming a Leader" by Warren Bennis This book is not very big but is exceptionally dense and easy to read. I found a lot of useful information that I apply to my daily life - reflection, being authentic, allowing oneself to make mistakes and much more. I reread it three times already and I always found new ideas. (As a technical guy) I developed a great passion for philosophy and arts in general thanks to his book.

filipn 7y ago

Radical Candor by Kim Scott. By far the best management book that I have read, it changed my way of thinking when it comes to leading a team.

cocktailpeanuts 7y ago

Just so you know, leadership is completely different for middle managers and founders. A lot of the "leadership books" are targeted at middle managers, and if you follow their advice word for word, it won't work.

mmhsieh 7y ago

Dynamics of Software Development, by McCarthy.

byteface 7y ago

Tribes by Seth Godin is good as it talks about how communities grow around ideas not individuals. Also read things written by great leaders. i.e. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html

neves 7y ago

Any of the classic books of the late Jerry Weinberg is full of wisdom. Oldies but goldies. Leanpub has all of them: https://leanpub.com/u/jerryweinberg https://leanpub.com/u/jerryweinberg There's the People Skill bundle: https://leanpub.com/b/peopleskillssoftbutdifficult https://leanpub.com/b/peopleskillssoftbutdifficult with the books: Are Your Lights On?, What Did You Say? The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback, Exploring Requirements One, Exploring Requirements Two, Becoming a Change Artist, More Secrets of Consulting, and Becoming a Technical Leader But maybe the better for you are his classic The Psychology of Computer Program (to understand the mind of programmers) https://leanpub.com/thepsychologyofcomputerprogramming https://leanpub.com/thepsychologyofcomputerprogramming Becoming a Technical Leader (to grow to a leadership position) https://leanpub.com/becomingatechnicalleader https://leanpub.com/becomingatechnicalleader Managing Teams Congruently (to manage groups) https://leanpub.com/managingteamscongruently https://leanpub.com/managingteamscongruently

hkon 7y ago
Thanks for those links, I will check out a number of those. Weird I've never heard about him before, impressive number of books.
- neves 7y ago
  Maybe because he is from the pre-internet era. The tech parts are dated, but since he sees people as the center of the problems, it doesn't matter much. Any of his books will give you a year of blog posts.

motohagiography 7y ago

Question is, do you want a book about the input factors to how people end up leading, or one on evaluating the output effects of other leaders against? Leadership is not an activity or an action you can mimic, it it is an effect. Most books are the stories people tell afterwards about how virtuous they were and they call that leadership. Jeffery Pfeffer says this specifically as well. Pfeffers books on management provide the insight into the dynamics leadership emerges from. His triad of, "performance, credentials, and relationships," that describe power in a situation also describe the necessary factors we look back on as leadership. https://www.amazon.ca/Power-Some-People-Have-Others/dp/0061789089 https://www.amazon.ca/Power-Some-People-Have-Others/dp/00617... I like Jocko Willnick's whole attitude about ownership, respect, delegation, and working with people to leverage their skills to achieve outcomes. He says the hierarchy in the military isn't as much of a factor as how you relate to your team and the world, but I suspect Pfeffer would disagree in that its hierarchy and training culture provides the credential piece in his triad, where in business, that's more dynamic. There are lots of good books about leadership, but reading them without having read Pfeffer's "Power.." is exploring the territory without the map, imo.

Juha 7y ago

Recently I have been relying on two good sources for leadership: - Book: The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker: I think this is an excellent book to teach the part of the brain that wants to execute to think more strategically and concentrate on the leadership side. - Podcast: Modern CTO: This podcast has lots of interviews CTO's from all kinds of companies. It's pretty casual and entertaining but also seems to always motivate me to be a better leader.

rusk 7y ago

I think "Team Geek" [0] is probably worth a mention in this light. It's written in that infuriating cutesy techy-language that seems to infuse a lot of the "hipper" books of this genre but there really is some good advice in there. FYI these are the guys that did Subversion, which was a pretty successful project for a while, back in the day. This same writing style pervades the SVN docs as well. Yeuch. In the same vein, I also enjoyed "rework" by Jason Fried [1] though that's more about modern work, than purely management. Also kind of "hip" in style, but not so insufferable ;-) [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14514115-team-geek https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14514115-team-geek [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6732019-rework https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6732019-rework

rahimnathwani 7y ago
FYI the most recent edition of the book has a new title 'Debugging Teams: Better Productivity through Collaboration'.
growlist 7y ago
> infuriating cutesy techy-language Happy to see I'm not the only curmudgeon around here. I'd say this trend is at its most loathsome when employed by big corporates - it's as if everyone is so terrified of being mischaracterised as old or uncool (daddio) that noone is willing to point out how facile, affected and obnoxious this type of language is.
- dhimes 7y ago
  OK, boomer...
looping__lui 7y ago
Yes, totally agree. Imho one of the best books out there on the topic. Also: “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” Beyond managing teams, you probably will need to cope with politics as well. “The 48 Laws of Power” are a good start... It is also worth understanding how asymmetry works in the business world: give Taleb’s “Antifragile” I think managing teams has always to be seen in the culture of the respective company. Good managers make sure they position their teams for high-impact (depending on what high impact is), get the resources they need and the credit they deserve. All that has almost 0 to do with how to lead people but will probably determine success like no other factor...

karl11 7y ago

High Output Management by Andy Grove, Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz would be my top 3.

darkerside 7y ago
I'm sad to have to scroll down so far to see High Output Management. Timeless principles that boil down the ABCs of being an effective manager. No bells and whistles. This is a must-read for any new manager.
mikesabat 7y ago
Hard Thing About Hard Things is amazing. I've given this book to two people and both shared stories with me about how incredible it was.

dan_wood 7y ago

Just FYI your search input goes over your header on mobile, looks a bit odd. Give that header a z-index :)

anhldbk 7y ago

I think leadership stems from engineering cultures. So I guess you may find Netflix Culture Code interesting [1]. It's introduced by Reed Hastings, the CEO [1] https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/reed2001/culture-1798664 https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/reed2001/culture-1798664

wjossey 7y ago

This comment is for anyone like the OP who is looking for resources beyond books. I run a free mentoring service for managers, and most (but not all) tend to come from the tech side of the world. My sessions are 45 minutes long, and I did over 120 in 2019. I’m currently on hiatus till January as I just had a baby boy I’m spending time with (actually sleeping on me as I type this out!), but feel free to grab some time in January if you’d like to talk to someone live. https://freemanagermentor.com https://freemanagermentor.com A lot of people in comments below have talked about struggling with the “How” when it comes to taking the concepts they’ve learned and putting them into practice. This is the value of a live conversation with another human being, where we can talk through specific examples, play around with the scenarios, and either prepare for a future challenge, or come up with a plan to address the current one head on.

bryanmgreen 7y ago
I think I will!

carapace 7y ago

The best book on leadership IMO is the Tao Te Ching, Ch. 17. It's very short, about ten lines, but it contains all that you need to know. The final verse, especially, destroys or subsumes pretty much all concepts of leadership. YMMV: http://taoteching.org.uk/chapter17.html http://taoteching.org.uk/chapter17.html http://www.egreenway.com/taoism/ttclz17.htm http://www.egreenway.com/taoism/ttclz17.htm https://www.taoistic.com/taoteching-laotzu/taoteching-17.htm https://www.taoistic.com/taoteching-laotzu/taoteching-17.htm https://taoteching.daodejing.org/17.htm https://taoteching.daodejing.org/17.htm http://tao-in-you.com/lao-tzu-tao-te-ching-chapter-17/ http://tao-in-you.com/lao-tzu-tao-te-ching-chapter-17/

maneesh 7y ago
Amazing
stronglikedan 7y ago
But that's only the "what", and not the "how", no?
- shantly 7y ago
  Bit like if someone asks you to teach them to paint and you show them a Monet and go "like that!", yeah.
- carapace 7y ago
  There are plenty of books mentioned here that have great tactics and strategy already. The Tao is more like the "Alpha and Omega" of wisdom. Consider a kind of hierarchy: Identity Values Beliefs Capabilities Behaviours Most of the other books mentioned here are generally talking about the lower three levels with some attention to Values, whereas the Tao Te Ching spends most of its verses on the upper two levels.
nestorherre 7y ago
Concise, yet so powerful. Thanks for sharing
7y ago

spodek 7y ago

Most books on leadership give principles and science, which don't hurt to know, but leading is a practice -- an active, social, emotional, expressive, performance-based field. We learn to perform by practicing the basics in any field. Leadership Step by Step https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others/dp/0814437931 https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others/... gives a set of 20 exercises that teach the basics of leading yourself and others. If you practice, you'll develop the skills, experiences, and beliefs of an effective leader. Other books are like music appreciation. This book is like learning to play the piano. Written by a PhD in physics (me) then started several companies, got an MBA, and teaches leadership at NYU to stellar reviews. http://joshuaspodek.com/reviews-leadership-step-step http://joshuaspodek.com/reviews-leadership-step-step Leadership Step by Step: https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others/dp/0814437931 https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Step-Become-Person-Others/...

kod 7y ago
Self promotion usually rubs me the wrong way, but judging from this excerpt, your book looks like it's well worth reading: http://spodekacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/spodekacademy-com/LeadershipStepByStep_JoshuaSpodek_MeaningfulConnectionExcerpt.pdf http://spodekacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/spodekacademy-co...
- spodek 7y ago
  Thank you. I appreciate your suspending judgment enough to research it. If you read it, I hope you'll share your thoughts on it, especially if you do the exercises.

runjake 7y ago

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink -> https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-ebook/dp/B0739PYQSS https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-eboo... Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek -> https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/B00HQ3K34M https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/B...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

mavelikara 7y ago

I found "An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management" by Will Larson quite good for advice on practical management challenges one comes across in technology companies.

tapatio 7y ago

The only one you need: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756 https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fab...

kinnth 7y ago

This is a great thread!

rramadass 7y ago

Here is my favourite; David Packard's (of HP fame) address to HP managers - https://gizmodo.com/the-hp-way-how-bill-hewlett-and-i-built-our-company-5634378 https://gizmodo.com/the-hp-way-how-bill-hewlett-and-i-built-... Read and memorize the above. There is a whole lot of BS in the Leadership Industry and we should first educate ourselves on the realities. Start with Jeffrey Pfeffer's "Leadership BS". The above same charge of BS can also be laid at the door of of various Management "theories". A good antidote is Ted Stephenson's "Management: A political activity". Leadership/Management is more about understanding People/Organizational psychology and behaviours and not "feel good" theories.

jppope 7y ago

Here's my shortlist: - The Art of the Advantage (33 stratagems) - Winning By Jack Welch - Tribal Leadership - Creativity Inc - The Lean Startup (~leadership in the face of uncertainty)

brandonb 7y ago

Leading Snowflakes is written specifically for new engineering managers. In my opinion, it nails it: https://leadingsnowflakes.com/ https://leadingsnowflakes.com/ Unlike many books on leadership, this one is specific about the challenges of leading a technical team: * Carving out maker vs manager time * "Code reviewing" your management decisions with your teammates * How to delegate without losing visibility or quality

thewanisdown 7y ago

Extreme Ownership https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-ebook/dp/B00VE4Y0Z2 https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-eboo... How to Win Friends and Influence People https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People-ebook/dp/B0811Z2NNF/ https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People-eboo... The Phoenix Project https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business-ebook/dp/B078Y98RG8/ https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Busine... Don't worry about "tech specific". Core leadership principles are universal. The first two books on the list show the principles, and the mindset you should approach them with to be successful. The 3rd book will help set the tone for leading in a modern tech environment, and what kind of business decisions you should prioritize.

bor100003 7y ago
The third book is also good for bragging at work about devops.

lynfogeek 7y ago

A few recommendations from me and peers in my company who highly value some of the following: - "Managing Humans" by Michael Lopp very insightful and easy to read. - "Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations" by Dr Nicole Forsgren brings a long research on how to organize teams for success. - "The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change" by Camille Fournier which I especially recommend for new managers. Lastly, and this time not tech-specific, but by far my best read of 2019: "Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell" written by Eric Schmidt & others.

ChuckMcM 7y ago

I liked Bossidy's "Execution" and "Facing Reality", like all such books they wander a bit but they have some good insights. "Managing Humans" was okay but I guess I may have come to it a bit later in my managing experience so it seemed pretty obvious. "The 5 dysfunctions of the team" is useful for understanding how to look at root causes of teams that become dysfunctional, can be depressing when you recognize your own team in its pages :-). And not a management book per se but "The Sociopath Next Door" was a useful read because it better helped me understand and identify people who were very different than I am in terms of their emotional investment in things.

tlapinsk 7y ago

Not specific to just tech teams, but I loved The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William Thorndike. So many great notes about leadership and successfully running a business in general. https://www.amazon.com/Outsiders-Unconventional-Radically-Rational-Blueprint/dp/1422162672/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=outsiders+book&qid=1575567270&s=books&sr=1-3 https://www.amazon.com/Outsiders-Unconventional-Radically-Ra...

StudioElite 7y ago

Hey, I really like your contribution with such a great collective approach, I loved reading them, l would really appreciate it if you add me in your collection to lend me a thumbs up also and keep up the good work though. besides, I'll be reading them whether it would be yes or no :) https://studioelitechicago.com/ https://studioelitechicago.com/ Thank you

Gianella1305 7y ago

specialityfoods 7y ago
Hi

AdamN 7y ago

We know where Trump lies

bryanmgreen 7y ago

Most of my responses are covered already, and I know this is cliche, but Art of War by Sun Tzu. One thing that has always stayed with me about leadership is his five traits that define a great leader. 1) Wisdom 2) Courage 3) Sincerity 4) Benevolence 5) Discipline -------------- And on a side note, I love seeing the increased submissions around leadership!

achenatx 7y ago

Leadership for me is "influencing people to create change". We use many books, but my favorite is 5 dysfunctions of a team. After that is first break all the rules Both of these are extremely practical and give a model for how to operate on a daily basis.

cushychicken 7y ago

I'm reading High Output Management by Andy Grove at the moment. Definitely one of the best practical guides on being a leader and a people manager I've ever read.

chasedehan 7y ago

“Score takes care of itself” By Bill Walsh While not necessarily a “tech” book, the parallels to leading high performing teams are incredible. For me, this was the book that changed the way I think about leading my team.

dcolkitt 7y ago

This is a little bit out-of-left field. But I'd recommend the classic Foreign Policy essay "Why Arabs Lose Wars". On the surface it's obviously about military doctrine, and how it's affected the various conflicts in recent Middle Eastern history. But fundamentally its about management culture, and what factors distinguished well-run organizations from dysfunctional ones. [0] https://www.meforum.org/441/why-arabs-lose-wars https://www.meforum.org/441/why-arabs-lose-wars

mrwzy 7y ago

On the topic of General Management - High Output Management by Andrew Grove Visibility and Alignment - Measure What Matters by John Doerr Understanding People and Teams - Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson

npr11 7y ago

For being immensely practical, I'm a big fan of 1. "An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management" 2. "High Output Management" 3. "Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams"

antoncohen 7y ago

"Extreme Ownership" by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. I highly recommend the audiobook, it is narrated by the authors and is very engaging. Some of the comments in this thread say that military orders and life and death situations don't apply in the business world. But that isn't what this book is about, the advice is really the opposite of giving orders the must be followed without question. And the lessons are explained in ways that clearly relate to business management.

Bar_Code 7y ago

There is a nice compilation of articles in a github repo, divided by topic. https://github.com/charlax/engineering-management https://github.com/charlax/engineering-management Leadership is an expansive topic and I don't think it's possible to nail it. "Turn the Ship Around" I think really nails the strategy of Functional Leadership, plus it's a true story. Keep in mind that Leadership and Management are two very different topics that people often conflate.

plinkplonk 7y ago

A variant on the OP's question. What are good books on leadership that are written by people who have actual experience of being great leaders? Most books on leadership seem to be written by people who have no experience of leadership, they just know how to market their books.

koolhead17 7y ago

The Phoenix Project

aprdm 7y ago

I've been a team lead for close to four years now in two different companies, both times my teams spanned multiple time zones! I really enjoy this subject and read a lot about it. My favorite books so far are: - Radical Candor -- Gives a great framework for candid conversations and empathy which IMO are the most important thing! Clear #1 in my list. - Leading by Alex Ferguson -- A great successful leader in another area - Soccer - that had many years building effective teams. It's incredible how many concepts can be mapped over, he talks for example on how having "rockstars" in a team that aren't team players isn't worth it. - Ride of a lifetime by Bob Iger -- It's mostly a biography of Disney's most successful CEO, I thought it was very authentic and gave good advices on how to deal with creative people, empathy, setting goals and navigating hard situations (compartmentalizing) - Creativity Inc Amy / Ed -- Pixar's president biography on how to manage creative teams, it is a bit repetitive but it is golden! Lots of good ideas and insightful chapters that make you think about how to build a successful culture. - The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders -- IMO a bit shallow compared to the other books I mentioned but it was a pleasant read.

egads 7y ago
Radical Candor is easily the most impactful leadership book I've read. I've always struggled with finding the balance between being direct without being a jerk and being compassionate without being ineffective. I still feel like I nail it about 10% of the time, but at least I have a clearer picture of what the communication style I'm aiming for looks like.

geekraver 7y ago

Lots of good recommendations here; two I would add are "Debugging Teams" and "The Geek Leader's Handbook"

deleted 7y ago

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Diesel555 7y ago

You learn from history and what other people did well and didn't do well. Leadership is a combination of your own innate abilities combined with self-awareness and feedback. From this, you can apply historical knowledge (understand you may not have Washington's height and strength, but may be a better tactical decision maker). Read biographies on others: Washington: A Life Hamilton Grant Fighter Pilot (Robin Olds) Boyd Anyone you admire - read about them - find out what was good and what was bad. Mattis's new book is good: Call Sign Chaos.

lonriesberg 7y ago

Not a book but Software Lead Weekly is a great newsletter that curates content from around the web about leadership in tech: https://softwareleadweekly.com https://softwareleadweekly.com

sbmthakur 7y ago

Relevant discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21663254 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21663254

tikiman163 7y ago

I strongly recommend the following: Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap and Others Don't The Goal: A process of Continuous Improvement Team of Teams Strategy that Works: Bridging the Stategy to Execution Gap There isn't a single book that will teach you everything you need to know, but these 5 books taken together will cover nearly everything. The points I suggest paying the most attention to are level 5 leadership, the hedgehog concept, the flywheel concept, Kaizen style continuous improvement, how to organize groups of teams to avoid micromanaging, and how to work with a company culture to make decisions supported by real data that tells you what the most effective decisions would be and how to achieve this by choosing concepts to promote to employees in order to guide their decision making.

thewileyone 7y ago

The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard. It's simple but effective and malleable once you've had some experience.

cnicolaou 7y ago

While i really value the books from the US and British armies that were shared, I think "Principle Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey" is a really good book on the topic of Leadership. https://www.amazon.com/Principle-Centered-Leadership-Stephen-Covey-dp-0671749102/dp/0671749102/ https://www.amazon.com/Principle-Centered-Leadership-Stephen...

Dowwie 7y ago

see a famous Harvard Case study, with an emphasis on leadership in crisis, about Ernest Shackleton's race to the South Pole: "Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance"

dawsoon 7y ago

I also looking for such books about leadership and time managment