Leadership For Engineering

•Trait theories argue that effective leaders share a number of common personality characteristics, or "traits."

•Early trait theories said that leadership is an innate, instinctive quality that you do or don't have. Thankfully, we've moved on from this idea, and we're learning more about what we can do to develop leadership qualities within ourselves and others.

•Trait theories help us identify traits and qualities (for example, integrity, empathy, assertiveness, good decision-making skills, and likability) that are helpful when leading others.

•However, none of these traits, nor any specific combination of them, will guarantee success as a leader.

•Traits are external behaviors that emerge from the things going on within our minds – and it's these internal beliefs and processes that are important for effective leadership.

Every programmer knows that feeling of satisfaction when you finish building something and ship it. It’s fulfilling to create something from nothing, and then see your creation taken up by users in the real world.

Making the transition from engineer to engineering leader may mean giving up that feeling. As you grow in seniority, you’ll probably see your code in the wild less and less often. Not everyone is willing to give up that immediate kick, but taking on the reins of leadership brings its own kind of satisfaction. The scope of your impact becomes much wider, and you get to see the people on your team grow and (hopefully) benefit from your leadership.