Why Learn Management as a Software Engineer?

First, you don't have to. Most companies now understand that it's critical to offer individual contributor tracks for seniors.

This post is for those who want to become better managers, even if pushed by circumstances.
To be frank, coding is pretty easy, and you can overcome most problems with time and collaboration. Sadly, managing humans is a lot more complex, and fixing errors is not a simple git push away.

In my opinion, I started managing a bit too early as I was still heavily maturing (and who still isn't), and even though I wanted to do an excellent job, I had plenty of failures.
Here are a few recommendations so you get a head start and avoid the cost of learning management on people.

Resources to Learn Management

• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: Yes, I was butt-hurt when my previous CTO suggested this book to me. But once you get past the ego-triggering title, it's a nice book that can be a good reminder regarding a few things you should do: smile a lot, call people by name, etc.
• Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen: An amazing book both for receiving feedback, a gift for progression. As a leader, you need to show that you are open to feedback and that you take it well. Obviously important in giving feedback and teaching people to use it as a tool for progression.
• Engineering Management for the Rest of Us by Sarah Drasner: A great to-the-point book about what engineering management entails, what's your role, etc. https://www.engmanagement.dev/
• Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Handbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle: An interesting book about what being a coach means and how to be great at it.

I highly recommend learning about negotiation as well. The best book I found regarding this subject is:

• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz: An exceptional book about negotiation, not as a taboo technique or some secret skill but more as an everyday activity you always use.

I used to recommend Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton, but I find it to be less applicable in real interaction, even if some notions are really interesting, like having a no-deal fallback (maybe you don't want to negotiate).

If you have any recommendation, please do comment them below or contact me on twitter.

Cover image by Shiromani Kant.