This is a great thread!
Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?
111–120 of 220 posts
Re: Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?
#112Here 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-...
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.
Re: Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?
#113Here'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)
Re: Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?
#114The 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/CD... I can't stress enough how excellent…
The military is an org that has a chain of command in which strict adherence to orders from your superiors is a question of life and death. I don't know if it's a good idea that managers in an office environment attempt to emulate the military.
Great point. Can you please indicate that you read it the linked text, and how the linked text emphasizes the criticisms you raise?
Re: Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?
#115Everything 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/B... […
The Infinite Game is also great. The focus is on building companies that last hundreds of years, so you need leadership, culture and investors that are all about long term stability over keeping sort term investors happy. There are some rants, but nothing I disagree with!
Re: Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?
#116The 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/CD... I can't stress enough how excellent…
The military is an org that has a chain of command in which strict adherence to orders from your superiors is a question of life and death. I don't know if it's a good idea that managers in an office environment attempt to emulate the military.
From TFA:
> The principal audience for ADRP 6-22 is all leaders, military and civilian
Re: Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?
#117Leading Snowflakes is written specifically for new engineering managers. In my opinion, it nails it:
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 qualityRe: Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?
#118Extreme Ownership
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-eboo...
The Phoenix Project 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.
Re: Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?
#119A 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.
Re: Ask HN: Best book / resources on leadership, especially for tech teams?
#120The 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/CD... I can't stress enough how excellent…
"Serve to Lead" is the British Army's version. Unfortunately I don't think there is a PDF version available.