Table of Contents

• From the Author (7)

• Chapter 1: The Role of a Technical Leader (9)

  • Typical IT Career Path (10)
  • Definition of a Technical Leader (11)
  • The Technical Leadership Model (12)
  • Vision (14)
  • Stereotypes of Leadership (15)
  • Types of Leadership (16)
  • The Seven Deadly Sins of Technical Leaders (18)
  • Summary (21)

• Chapter 2: Expert vs. Leader (23)

  • Between Expert and Leader (23)
  • Knowledge and Attitude Authority (26)
  • Balancing Technical and Non-Technical Work (27)
  • Summary (33)

• Chapter 3: From Vision to Action (35)

  • Disney’s Strategy (35)
  • Defining Team Vision Using Disney’s Strategy (37)
  • Examples (38)
  • Summary (40)

• Chapter 4: Motivation (41)

  • Theory X and Y (41)
  • What Motivates Me? (42)
  • Motivational Factors (43)
  • Criteria (45)
  • Quantitative Metrics (45)
  • Motivational Profile (47)
  • Incorporating Motivation into Daily Team Life (49)
  • Analyzing Motivators (49)
  • Focus (50)
  • Daily Practices (51)
  • High Energy (53)
  • Motivational and Hygiene Factors (54)
  • What Motivates Developers? (55)
  • Break All the Rules (56)
  • Drive (57)
  • Elements of an Engaging Environment (59)
  • Slack (63)
  • Summary (63)

• Chapter 5: Working with the Team (67)

  • The Cynefin Model (67)
  • Expectations and Rules (69)
  • Group Development Stages (70)
  • Situational Leadership (72)
  • Team Dysfunctions (74)
  • Summary (76)

• Chapter 6: Process and Engineering (79)

  • Division of Responsibilities (79)
  • Project Vision and Goals (80)
  • Requirements and Business Decisions (81)
  • Process Ownership (81)
  • Processes (82)
  • Retrospectives (83)
  • Daily Meetings (85)
  • Identifying Issues (85)
  • Quality Criteria (86)
  • Summary (87)

• Chapter 7: Knowledge Management (89)

  • Introducing New Team Members (89)
  • Consistent Principles (90)
  • Knowledge Sharing in Teams (91)
  • Code Reviews (91)
  • System Knowledge Updates (92)
  • Continuous Development (93)
  • Architectural Mantra (95)
  • What is an Architectural Mantra? (95)
  • Summary (100)

• Chapter 8: Business Relationships (103)

  • Collaboration Anti-Patterns (103)
  • Best Practices (105)
  • Building Support Networks (106)
  • Establishing Collaboration Rules (107)
  • Satisfaction Index (109)
  • Relationship Mapping (109)
  • Needs Analysis (111)
  • Summary (113)

• Chapter 9: Patterns of Change (115)

  • Change is Inevitable (115)
  • Change Model (116)
  • Painless Change (118)
  • Summary (127)

• Chapter 10: Feedback (129)

  • Feedback Practices (129)
  • Why Don’t We Give Feedback and Its Consequences? (130)
  • Benefits (130)
  • Fundamental Error (130)
  • Feedback and Feedforward (131)
  • Tips for Providing Feedback (132)
  • Feedback Sandwich (133)
  • Team Feedback (133)
  • Difficult Feedback (134)
  • Summary (134)

• Chapter 11: Difficult Conversations (137)

  • The Source of Emotions (137)
  • What Breaks Communication? (139)
  • Elements of a Clear Message (141)
  • Second Position (145)
  • Summary (147)

• Chapter 12: Conflicts and Their Technicalities (149)

  • A Certain Story (149)
  • A Simple Example (150)
  • Structure (152)
  • Sample Questions (152)
  • Algorithm (153)
  • Where Else? (155)
  • Summary (155)

• Chapter 13: The Leader as a Coach (157)

  • Why Don’t People Like Being Advised? (157)
  • Coaching (158)
  • The Power of Questions (159)
  • Types and Power of Questions (160)
  • Intent (161)
  • Concretization (161)
  • Conducting Conversations (163)
  • The Problem Model (167)
  • Questioning Practice (171)
  • Summary (171)

• Chapter 14: Effective Meetings (173)

  • Fundamentals of Effective Meetings (173)
  • Why Is This Not Enough? (175)
  • Structures and Their Applications (176)
  • Gamestorming (181)
  • Meeting Frameworks (181)
  • Meeting Schemes (182)
  • Summary (183)

• Chapter 15: Questions and Answers (185)