DPC16: Things I was unprepared for as a lead developer

Tthis is the story of how I became a lead developer and all the things I did wrong. It's about delegating, culture building, mentoring, planning, meetings (oh dreadful meetings), upper management and all the other stuff that a leader has to go through. It's also about all the fun I had and the things I learned. Next to that, I'm going to hand out some tips that can prepare you for the job a little better. And hopefully, it will inspire you to be the greatest leader of all.

Given at DPC '16

Transcript

1. Who here is a developer? (Keep your hand raised!)
2. Who does not intend to be a developer forever?
3. Who thinks she/he is ready to lead a team?
4. Who’s arm is tired?
5. Pascal de Vink @pascaldevink Things I was unprepared for as a lead developer
6. Alexander the Great
7. How do we get to be the great leader?
8. Mid Dev Keynote Speaker Sr. Dev Chief Architect Distinguished Dev Dev Evangelist Author/ Speaker Junior Dev Dev Manager Project Manager Freelance Dev Solopreneur Startup Founder Small Business CEO Founder, 3rd company Chairperson of the Board Director of Product Engineering/ Team Lead VP of Product Director/VP Engineering CTO Developer Manager Entrepreneur Founder, 2nd company Brandon Hays
9. The story…
10. It didn’t go so well…
11. Why were these tasks distracting me?
12. I wasn’t prepared!
13. Go home with this Lesson #1 Expectation management
15. Make sure you still get enough code time
16. Agenda management
17. Say NO more often
18. Delegating
19. C. VanHook - Flickr
20. Culture (building)
21. –Gruenter and Whitaker “The culture of any organisation is shaped by the worst behaviour the leader is willing to tolerate”
23. Culture is shaped by the best behaviour a leader is willing to promote
24. • Mentoring • Giving and receiving feedback • Motivating • Hiring (and firing) people • Sickness / personal problems • Lead by example
26. Financial management
27. That day the boss came up to me…
29. Public speaking
31. Talk to others
32. –Susan Gale “We all have something in common. It’s just a matter of taking the time to find out what it is.”
33. Things you can do right now • Start mentoring • Ask for help • Feedback • Public speaking • Take an interest
 
 PHPMentoring.org
34. Questions? • https://speakerdeck.com/tehviking/hacking-spacetime- for-a-successful-career • https://phpmentoring.org • http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Asking-Learned- Worrying/dp/1455581089 • https://leanpub.com/talking-with-tech-leads • http://simpleprogrammer.com/2015/05/25/some- advice-on-becoming-a-lead-developer/