How do you become an engineering team lead?

Liderar um time e aprimorar suas habilidades de liderança ocorre de fato na prática. É como aprender a andar de bicicleta. Só se aprende andando. Livros, exemplos de outros líderes são importantes para você ter um repertório de ações e ideias fundamentadas para agir. Neste sentido, mentores, pares e mesmo seus liderados podem contribuir com feedbacks para seu desenvolvimento. Lembre-se que errar faz parte do seu desenvolvimento. Aprenda com seus erros e peça ajuda.

One simple way to develop your soft skills is through regular practice of active listening. Focus on understanding their perspective rather than just waiting for your turn to speak. Reflect on what they're saying before responding, and show empathy by acknowledging their feelings and experiences. It is a simple and powerful way to connect with others on a deeper level.

El desarrollo de habilidades blandas es crucial para cualquier líder. En el mundo empresarial, existen diversas herramientas y métodos para mejorar estas habilidades. En mi experiencia las evaluaciones de comportamiento, como las retroalimentaciones 360°, ofrecen una visión medible de las áreas de mejora. La capacitación en liderazgo ético, empatía, comunicación efectiva, trabajo en equipo y resolución de conflictos son aspectos clave para fortalecer estas habilidades. También mediante programas de formación, mentoría, coaching ejecutivo, talleres prácticos y actividades de desarrollo personal. Además, la auto-reflexión y la aplicación práctica en el entorno laboral son fundamentales para el crecimiento y desarrollo del liderazgo.

Definitivamente no se puede generalizar, pero muchos equipos en los que predominan Ingenieros se caracterizan por ser escépticos, muy enfocados a resultados, pero poco orientados a habilidades blandas, por lo que para ganarte el liderazgo lo primero que tienes que entender su lenguaje técnico y sus códigos y rituales de comportamiento. No obstante, lo anterior, de acuerdo tanto a mi experiencia como a mi formacion como Ingeniero, el mejor consejo siempre será que en todo sentido seas el primero en dar el ejemplo.

A jornada de liderança é contínua e exige dedicação e comprometimento ao longo do tempo. Muito mais do que habilidades e conhecimentos técnicos é se permitir genuinamente a se conectar com pessoas, para motivar, engajar, inspirar e resolver conflitos de forma construtiva, como tomar decisões difíceis . Assumir riscos não previstos, promover um ambiente saudável, analisar estrategicamente o cenário, o negócio para atingir os resultados esperados do Planejamento proposto. E para se obter sucesso, as habilidades técnicas, de comunicação e de liderança são essências. Com a experiência que possuo em RH, conseguimos desenvolver profissionais através de ferramentas de Avaliação de competências, Treinamentos para liderança com foco em resultados.

Como líderes debemos sentirnos obligados a buscar a terceros lideres que inspiren y motiven las causas y objetivos parecidos o iguales en nuestro camino a la revelación del éxito; figuras virtuosas que ejerzan sobre nosotros y nuestros subalternos influencia positiva tanto para llevar la palabra a la acción y de la acción a la hazaña, estos modelos deben impulsar el crecimiento y la evolución del liderazgo en los que se intenta encontrar la virtud. Encontremos el significado de la palabra “virtud” como aquel don o habilidad que esta dentro pero “dormido” en aquel o aquellos que vamos a liderar. Antes de conformar nuestro modelo virtuoso, es indispensable que consideremos liderar a otros bajo este modelo. #lider #liderazgo #leadership

Si estás en una fase de aprendizaje como Líder, tienes que tener mucha curiosidad por aprender de otras personas, saber escuchar las experiencias, observar y lo más importante incorporar lo aprendido. Algo que sugiero a muchos coachee es que sean humildes en escuchar nuevas perspectivas, líderes senior han pasado experiencias similares a las de ellos, ya nos pueden dar una ruta importante. Pero solo se logra si estás realmente enfocado y abierto al aprendizaje. También puedes aprender de otras personas de tu equipo, ellos quieren ser escuchados y tomados en cuenta, realmente se aprende también de sus puntos de vistas. Mi invitación, apertura y curiosidad por aprender.

Mentorship is truly an under-utilized approach to getting help on developing your own skills and providing a good sounding board to 'test out' your approach. Too many people second-guess themselves and feel like some of the senior people they admire are too busy to provide mentorship to them. I think that 9 times out of 10, these senior leaders are more than happy to make the time to share some of the hard-fought wisdom that they had gained. They also likely got to where they are today because they had their own mentors who were able to give them feedback and a different perspective on how to think approach a problem or situation.

Despite the conventional emphasis on learning from established leaders, skeptics argue that blindly replicating their approaches may hinder innovation and diversity in leadership styles. This challenges the traditional mentorship model, suggesting that overreliance on emulation might perpetuate a homogeneous leadership culture. Advocates counter that drawing inspiration from successful leaders is foundational for skill development and effective leadership. The debate centers on striking a balance between learning from others' experiences and fostering individuality, encouraging aspiring engineering team leads to glean insights while forging their distinct leadership identity.

No one knows everything. The more you know, the more you know you don't know. These are the words a leader should follow every time. A team can be full of different types of people, and some of them may be people with new personalities you haven't worked with yet, but a fellow leader may have worked with that type of personality. And this does not end with people, the world is evolving constantly, new machines will be built tomorrow, so keeping pace is key. We as leaders have to keep updating an updating all the information we have and help the people in the team with it.

Cuando el líder asume más responsabilidades por iniciativa propia, no solo demuestra su compromiso y capacidad de liderazgo, sino que también se ve impulsado a crecer y mejorar. Al enfrentarse a nuevos desafíos, desarrolla su habilidad para tomar decisiones, gestionar equipos y resolver problemas de manera efectiva. Esto no solo beneficia al líder, sino también a su equipo y a la organización en su conjunto, ya que se fomenta un ambiente de confianza, crecimiento y excelencia. "Adquirir más responsabilidades por cuenta propia te hace ser más responsable contigo mismo", lo que refleja el compromiso del líder con su propio desarrollo y el de su equipo.

Looking for ways of adding value to the organization and to other people by taking on more responsibility is a great way of learning and applying leadership and influencing skills. If you are strong in fixing nasty problems, volunteering to lead a team to tackle a problem that others are backing away from provides a great opportunity. Two things to remember: 1) avoid taking on a "death march" project, and 2) don't concern yourself with title/promotion and raises. There is a balance between stretching yourself and taking on too much. Learn where that is for you (and it probably means learning it through failure, which is Ok). Recognition (promotion/titles/raises) comes as a result of delivering successes; not beforehand.

Actualmente las personas están buscando mayor equilibrio entre su trabajo y su vida personal, pero eso no debe ser un excusa para asumir proyectos y actividades extra, es la mejor manera de demostrar las capacidades que uno tiene. Siempre invito a todos que levanten la mano, o sean proactivos en proponer alguna acción en donde puedan mostrar mas sus capacidades. Otro punto importante, es conversar con su jefe directo, y comentarle el interés personal que se tiene, para que el jefe también los ayude a identificar que otras actividades puede delegarte, como presentar algunos resultados, coordinar alguna reunión o liderar algún proyecto.

Critics argue that the pressure to take on additional responsibilities can lead to burnout and undermine work-life balance. They contend that an excessive focus on showcasing leadership potential might disregard the importance of employee well-being. Balancing ambition with the need for a sustainable workload is crucial, and organizations should evaluate leadership potential holistically, considering qualities beyond an individual's ability to handle more tasks. This challenges the conventional notion that continuously increasing responsibilities is the sole indicator of leadership readiness and prompts a reconsideration of how leadership potential is identified and nurtured in the workplace.

Before you get the role as the team lead, you have to be a team leader first. This means that you need to be proactively finding the opportunities where the qualities of leadership are important. This can mean that when you observe a problem and you don't just ignore it, but you take the initiative to proactively address it. This also means that when you see a teammate running into roadblocks, you find a way to help them. On project assignments, you assume responsibility over it's success and don't necessarily 'stop at the end of your task', but take an active role to ensure that the whole project is completed. These are the ways that you earn the respect and trust of your team, which will make you the defacto team leader.

This is a great topic. Once you have decided to move into an engineering lead role, you will generally have large skills gaps in your non-core technical fields. Eg. Even if you are the best electrical engineer, you probably don't know what aggregate is needed for all that structural concrete. Yet aggregate is a key challenge for most projects. So you will have big gaps. Knowing what you don't know, is the most important technical skill as you move beyond your core discipline.

In my experience, expanding your knowledge and skills can look like attending Summit, global Summit’s, webinars, podcast any form of continuous learning in the field in which you are engaging. For example, I attended several major global summit’s every year and take as many courses as I possibly can so that my knowledge is as broad and as Inclusive as it needs to be for me to be an effective member of trans national teams and programs.

En mi experiencia, en el proceso de desarrollo de un líder, el entrenamiento en medular, si bien todos deben confiar en su experiencia y conocimiento, el contexto se vuelve más desafiante y nos invita a prepararnos cada día más. Áreas que recomiendo son de habilidades blandas, como comunicación, feedback, negociación también temas de tecnología como IA. Y mucho de este entrenamiento debe estar comandado por el líder, no esperas que su organización lo forme, hoy existen muchos mecanismos incluso gratuitos para poder hacerlo.

Volunteer to teach others on your team what you have learned from any training courses that your organization sends you to for development. Get hands on experience by going to visit job or construction sites to see how engineering requirements are being implemented to the project.

In my experience, I suggest: In terms of technical expertise, stay abreast of the latest advancements in your field, including emerging technologies, programming languages, project management, and software development. Engage in online courses, attend industry events, and read relevant publications to keep your knowledge current. Additionally, actively participate in general projects to hone your problem-solving and analytical skills. Beyond technical proficiency, invest in developing your leadership and soft skills. Seek opportunities to mentor and coach junior engineers. Enhance your communication skills by practicing clear and concise articulation of complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Un líder es un gestor de resultados, los resultados deben estar conectados a los resultados del negocio, tiene que desarrollar esa capacidad de ver el contexto de forma estratégica. Para ello un lieder de ingeniería debe aprender del negocio, saber de la competencia, del producto y valor que ofrece y desarrollar los comportamientos que su equipo necesita desarrollar. Un ejercicio sencillo y de alto impacto que puede hacer un lider de un equipo de ingeniería es: Hacer una lista de los objetivos y al lado derecho hacer una lista de los comportamientos que necesita su equipo para lograrlo, por ejemplo: Objetivo: Crecer en proyectos con nuevos clientes. Comportamientos: Desarrollar orientación de servicio, aprender técnicas de negociacion.

Agree this is one of the more difficult balances to strike for engineering teams. The triangle of cost, speed, and quality. To make safe, effective designs and contribute positively to the businesses financial and people performance. It's a tough gig. The biggest challenge in this space, is translating the value proposition or drivers into actions that the engineering team can accomplish. Translating a why statment, into a what and how so that the team can effectively execute.

Engineering is not just about coding. It’s about creating value. Value for your customers, your stakeholders, and your organization. But how do you create value as an engineer? How do you align your work with the business goals? Here's a few tips: • Stay updated on the organization’s strategy, mission, and values. • Make sure your team understands how their work contributes to the bigger picture. ↳Set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals and track them regularly. • Communicate your team’s progress and achievements. ↳Highlight the impact and value of your team’s work. The skill of aligning with the business goals will make you a better leader, a better engineer, and a better person.

Becoming an engineering team lead for me involves technical expertise and experience. But the most important part is to learn from your team, listen to your team and be a team player always.

When you're not aligned with your business goal, you're driving a car without headlights in the dark - You believe you are moving in the right direction but you're headed towards a tree. :)

Step away, let go of from the detail and the technical specialty and control and into influence and connecting with people. Sometimes we need to unlearn our traditional engineering training and embrace the uncertainty of people.

Figure out why you want to become an engineering lead. For me personally it was about having more impact, and being able to both see and influence the greater picture. I moved into engineering leadership roles to get the best out of engineering teams, and create true value from the potential I could see within the team. So my recommendation is to figure that out, and then the path you take will become clearer.

Un punto adicional que puedo recomendar es que si estás en proceso de desarrollo como líder de un equipo de ingeniería, debes calibrar las expectativas que tienen de ti tus jefes directos, qué resultados esperan ver en el corto y mediano plazo, eso te permite identificar cuáles son tus logros. Les recomiendo un libro: Tus primeros 90 días, un libro que te ayuda a establecer una estrategia rápida que sustente tu posición y que noten el aporte que haces a la organización. Cuando ingresé a una nueva empresa, tomé mucha de sus recomendaciones.

Para ser líder de algún área se requiere primero un profundo autoconocimiento… auto liderarse!!! Seguramente la persona tendrá conocimientos técnicos y requiere cambiar su mindset: desarrollar habilidades Core, generar confianza y seguridad psicológica y poder contribuir a través de otros, los miembros de su equipo, más desde hacerles preguntas (líder - coach)

Lembre-se de que o desenvolvimento de soft skills é um processo contínuo e leva tempo. Seja paciente consigo mesmo e esteja disposto a ajustar suas abordagens à medida que evolui. A prática consistente é fundamental para aprimorar essas habilidades ao longo do tempo.