Great Engineers Aren’t Always Great Managers – Here’s How We Can Change That
Most engineering managers were never trained to lead people, only to ship code. And often, it shows.
In tech, management roles are frequently given to high-performing engineers who receive little to no leadership training. Sometimes, this happens because an engineer actively wants to move into management. This post isn’t about those engineers — they’re doing great! More often, however, senior engineers are pushed into management because it’s the next (or sometimes the only) step available for career advancement.
Unfortunately, this sets these senior engineers—and their teams—up for frustration, burnout, and underperformance. I first noticed this gap between engineering skill and people-management skill when I transitioned from leading quality teams to leading engineering teams. I reached the final interview rounds with several companies, only to be passed over for more technical candidates who performed better on code reviews. At one company, the senior engineer who interviewed me for the coding round even reached out to say I was her preferred candidate — but the hiring manager wanted someone more technically advanced.
Myth: Great Engineers Makes a Great Managers
Over the past fifteen years, I’ve worked with many engineering managers—from first-line managers to VPs of Engineering to CTOs. The least effective of them were often exceptional engineers who prioritized technical expertise over communication, business acumen, and building high-trust environments.
In those environments, engineering teams were poorly represented in cross-functional spaces. I saw former engineers micromanage their reports, insisting they use the exact technical solutions they would have chosen. Eventually, many of those direct reports left in search of greater autonomy and opportunities for growth.
Why is it that organizations assume a great engineer will automatically make a great manager? There seems to be a persistent belief in tech that technical excellence translates into leadership excellence—as if an engineer’s brilliance will magically “rub off” on their team. Perhaps it’s because management is sometimes seen as less valuable or less skill-intensive than engineering.
But those of us who have worked under ineffective managers know how harmful these environments can be. MIT knows it too. Their Engineering Leadership Program for Emerging Engineering Leaders emphasizes that engineering management is a fundamentally different kind of leadership—one that centers on trust, team-building, and aligning smart, capable people toward a shared vision, even when they disagree.
Getting people to disagree and commit is its own skill. And it’s not easy to learn.
Fact: Ignoring Management Skills is a Problem for Everyone
Focusing only on technical skills when promoting into management roles can hurt everyone—especially the new manager. I once worked with a director-level manager who was still deeply involved in coding. While many engineering organizations admire this model, it can be problematic. This manager overlooked and even dismissed team members who used different approaches than their own.
Worse still, the director failed to build relationships outside of engineering. Collaboration with other departments was contentious, when it existed at all.
This isn’t surprising. Educational research shows that leaders who lack people-development skills tend to have more disengaged staff and lower-performing teams. In my experience in education and leadership development, I’ve seen how learning different leadership styles can help grow individuals, resolve performance challenges, and align teams around shared goals. Personally, I use a situational leadership style and aspire to a transformational one.
“At the most basic level, transformational leadership is used to inspire employees to look ahead with a focus on the greater good and to function as a single unit with a common goal in mind. It is not until a leader accomplishes these steps that a successful transformation can begin.”
Shayna Joubert, 2024
What Great Engineering Managers Do
The best engineering leaders I’ve worked with in my career came from all backgrounds. One was a excellent engineer who is an excellent and renowned engineering leader in the field. Another was an engineer who grew an organization from two people to almost two-hundred. The best engineering leader I ever worked with had worked in engineering-adjacent areas before becoming a director at a highly-technical company. All three of these engineering leaders had similar skills in communication, people development, and purpose. Here were the top skills I observed:
The best engineering managers I’ve worked with came from a variety of backgrounds. One was a top-tier engineer who became a respected industry leader. Another grew a company from two employees to nearly two hundred. The best I ever worked with had previously worked in engineering-adjacent roles and became a highly effective director.
Despite their different paths, they shared three key capabilities: strong communication, a focus on people development, and a clear sense of purpose. Here’s what they did well:
1. Build trust through open communication
Each of these leaders communicated with transparency, telling their teams as much as possible, as early as possible, about business decisions that could affect them. This built trust and made space for meaningful conversations.
When something wasn’t going well, they addressed it immediately and clearly, then offered guidance and support—without prescribing solutions—so that team members could analyze and solve problems themselves.
They encouraged opposing views, invited tough questions, and created environments where healthy disagreement improved outcomes. When team members felt heard, they were more committed to solutions.
2. Let go of your old job and trust others
These leaders had fully stepped out of their previous engineering roles. They trusted their reports to understand the vision, execute the plan, and learn from both successes and setbacks.
When someone succeeded, they celebrated the win. When someone struggled, they approached it with curiosity and support, not blame.
3. Redefine your purpose: grow the people who grow the product
These leaders understood that their role was no longer to be the best individual contributor. Instead, they were multipliers—amplifying impact by developing others. Each person they mentored became a force for greater outcomes across the organization.
Management Is a Learnable Skill
The good news? Just like engineering, management skills can be learned and improved.
If we want to set senior engineers up for successful leadership, we need to teach and reinforce key management competencies. Even experienced managers benefit from refreshing and expanding their skillsets.
Here are three areas to focus on:
Giving and receiving feedback
Structured mentorship and regular feedback are key to improving performance and retention. Using models like SBI (Situation–Behavior–Impact) can make feedback more actionable and trustworthy.
Leaders also need to ask for and receive feedback to grow trust, model vulnerability, and stay aware of their blind spots.
Developing emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is critical to effective leadership—but it’s also one of the hardest skills to build. It requires honest self-reflection, empathy, and a willingness to grow.
Practices like journaling, daily reflection, and leadership coaching have helped me immensely. Many strong leaders use similar tools.
Becoming a lifelong learner
Great leaders are constant learners. Staying curious and informed boosts confidence, cognition, and work-life balance. (And learning doesn’t have to stay in your field—I’m a violinist, and I draw leadership lessons from music all the time.)
Some companies invest heavily in management training, while others offer little or none. I once worked for a deeply technical company that also provided the best management training I’ve ever attended—it was required annually.
Even without formal programs, resources are widely available. Many companies offer education stipends. High-quality research and training are available online. And interactive formats—virtual or in person—can offer real-time coaching and feedback.
The key is recognizing that management is a skillset, as complex and valuable as any technical one.
A New Definition of Great Engineering Management
It’s time to broaden our definition of leadership in engineering.
Great engineering managers don’t just ship code. They lead with emotional intelligence, invest in the growth of others, and build resilient, collaborative, high-performing teams.
They don’t just grow products—they grow people. And people make all the difference.