Abstract

The life of a software developer is great, right? You love it. You’re good at it. So good, in fact, that now they’ve gone and made you a manager, or some sort of leader.

Suddenly, the challenges are very different. You need people skills, “soft skills,” organizational skills, and a whole different kind of time management skills. Being a great software developer didn’t prepare you for any of that.

With about 16 years managing software developers and software development projects, I can tell you that I’ve seen a lot of things. Made a lot of mistakes. Felt the crush of a few very bad decisions. And felt the joy of success.

In this talk, I’ll share some of those experiences and offer some advice. If you have just been promoted to a leadership position, or are considering accepting such a role, this talk might provide you with some insight into what to expect.

Slides are here on the site (see link below), but you can drill down to see more notes about each on Trello