145: The foundation of exceptional teams lies in mutual trust

Foster trust and autonomy to build exception teams

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Unrelated: From Staff Engineers to Staff-Plus Roles

Principal Engineers are the level above Staff Engineers. StaffPlus engineers hold a significant position and are respected by others. They may also experience isolation and stress. They can still struggle with impostor syndrome. Managers should provide feedback that helps their progress to support senior engineers. The skills and behaviors of role model engineers have a direct impact on the code, algorithms, and decisions we make.

Staff-plus roles are leadership positions, and the support system that brought you here may fade away in these roles. To remain effective in a Staff-plus role, you must learn to align yourself with the organization's authority.

Staff Engineers are expected to define the technical direction of their team. Curate technical quality to maintain the integrity of your company's architecture as it evolves. Staying aligned with authority is critical for long-term leadership effectiveness. Time invested in completing work is always well spent, and authentic leadership requires the ability to follow.

Embrace feedback and avoid resisting responsibility or problems. When presenting a question, provide an answer to drive alignment in the room. Avoid academic-style presentations and the urge to push for a specific outcome. It is helpful to have a sponsor present in meetings and bring something valuable to contribute. Review the program status with your sponsor. Stay aligned with your manager, optimize for the group's collective success, and strive to reduce friction. Come prepared and maintain focus and presence. Volunteer for tasks that may be considered low-status but contribute to the team's success. Be enthusiastic to support your team's and peers' work on platforms like Slack. 

[^]: Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the management track

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