tl;dr:Will covers the following: (1) Why executive roles are particularly dependent on having multiple leadership styles. (2) How and when to use three primary styles: leading with policy, leading from consensus, and leading with conviction. (3) How lessons taught early in management careers about micromanagement discourage too many executives from leading with conviction. (4) How to develop leadership styles that you currently feel uncomfortable using. (5) How to balance across these styles, especially when you’re uncertain which is most appropriate for a given scenario.
tl;dr:Will argues that many companies lack a coherent engineering strategy, leading to inefficiencies and frustrations among team members. An effective engineering strategy consists of two core components: (1) "Honest diagnosis that engages with the reality your organization’s current needs and challenges." (2) "Practical approach to move forward while addressing the circumstances raised in the diagnosis." Written strategies are more effective than implicit ones, allowing for feedback, updates, and accountability. Will provides insights into how individuals can drive strategy from both top-down and bottom-up approaches.
tl;dr:Will discusses: (1) The conflicting goals between those designing, operating, and participating in performance and compensation processes. (2) How to run performance processes, including calibrations, and their challenges. (3) How to participate in a compensation process effectively. (4) How often you should run performance and compensation cycles. (5) Why your goal should be an effective process rather than a perfect one.
tl;dr:Will discusses your role as an executive in your organization’s hiring, the components you need to build for an effective hiring process and provides concrete recommendations for navigating the many challenges that you’re likely to run into while operating the hiring process. He gives you enough to get started, build a system that supports your goals, and start evolving it into something exceptionally useful.”
tl;dr:Will discusses: (1) Debugging the engineering leadership team after stepping into a new role. (2) Gelling your leadership into an effective team. (3) What to expect from your direct reports in that leadership team. (4) Diagnosing conflict within your team.
tl;dr:“I’ve started to notice recurring communication challenges between executives and the folks they work with. The most frequent issue I see is when a literal communicator insists on engaging in the details with a less literal executive. I call the remedy, “extracting the kernel.” Focus on the insight or perspective within the question.
tl;dr:The topics that Will explores are: (1) Avoiding the unicorn search. (2) How interviewing executives goes wrong. (3) Structuring your evaluation process. (4) Focusing on four areas to evaluate engineering executives.
tl;dr:Will discusses: (1) Approaching planning as an infinite process rather than a finite one. (2) Discussing the default planning process at most companies. (3) Decomposing planning into three discrete components: financial plan, functional portfolio allocation, and roadmap. (4) Setting the company’s annual financial plan. (5) Defining Engineering’s functional portfolio allocation. And more.
tl;dr:Will focusses on reading and acting upon survey data from the perspective of an engineering leader. In this post he works through: (1) Reading survey results. (2) Taking action on survey data. (3) Whether to modify survey questions. (4) When to start and how frequently to run.
tl;dr:Will discusses: (1) Fundamental components of onboarding, including examples. (2) Role of executive sponsor, orchestrator, manager and buddy in a typical process. (3) Curriculum to consider including in your onboarding. (4) Why onboarding programs fail. (5) Whether to integrate with wider company onboarding. (6) When to prioritize onboarding.