In this newsletter I will talk about the most important skills to master when becoming a senior in your team, or when getting the official Tech Lead role.

If you want to step confidently into your new Tech Lead role but don’t know where to begin, this might help you. I’ve successfully led tech teams for over 15 years and learned (often the hard way) exactly what works.

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If I started again today, here’s what I would do:

Step #1: Build Your Core Relationships and Soft Skills

• Establish Meaningful Relationships

– Hold regular one-on-ones to understand your team’s motivations, challenges, and goals.
– Show genuine interest in people’s lives outside of work—this fosters trust and mutual respect.
– Give senior or outspoken colleagues a platform to share ideas; it diffuses tension and earns buy-in.

• Master Time Management and Delegation

– Use time blocking to carve out uninterrupted focus time for coding, reviews, or planning.
– Delegate tasks whenever possible to empower your team and free yourself for higher-level priorities.
– Practice saying “no” when requests don’t align with key goals—always explain why.

• Lay the Groundwork for Effective Leadership

– Embrace a mindset shift: instead of being the only “doer,” be the multiplier who enables others.
– Give quick wins to team members so they build confidence and sharpen skills.
– Begin scaling back heavy coding responsibilities to focus on team and project leadership.

Step #2: Own the Technical Landscape

• Understand Your System Architecture

– Learn how your product’s various components connect: data flow, libraries, and deployment processes.
– Shadow key team members working on different parts to see bottlenecks and gain deeper insights.
– Document this knowledge in simple diagrams—flowcharts and sequence diagrams can save huge time.

• Manage Technical Debt Strategically

– Recognize that “tech debt” often arises from pressing deadlines; sometimes it’s intentional.
– Keep track of these compromises and plan explicit payback time in your roadmap.
– Communicate the impact of tech debt to stakeholders by linking it to business risks and usability.

• Document and Prepare for Turnover

– People come and go; create onboarding materials and architecture overviews to ease transitions.
– Maintain up-to-date docs on libraries, processes, and system flows.
– Reduce reliance on any single “indispensable” expert—spread the knowledge across the team.

Step #3: Align With the Bigger Picture and Plan Your First Six Months

• Understand Your Company’s Goals

– Know who the customers are, how the company makes revenue, and what metrics matter most (e.g., KPIs or growth statistics).
– Shadow sales, marketing, or customer support to see real-world impact—and pain points—of your solutions.
– Use this knowledge to prioritize tasks that directly serve the company’s main objectives.

• Structure Your Path (Months 1 - 3)

– Month 1: Observe intensively, build trust, and confirm expectations with your own manager. Avoid major decisions until you understand the landscape.
– Month 2: Start small changes. Delegate coding tasks, fix smaller annoyances, and rally support.
– Month 3: Tackle more complex initiatives: consider refactors, planning processes, or strategic upgrades.

• Deliver, Improve, and Lead Strategically (Months 4 - 6 and Beyond)

– Align team projects with broader company OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).
– Write a plan for preventing and resolving technical debt.
– Keep refining your leadership: gather feedback, adapt your strategies, and continue learning.

That’s it!

Focus on these three steps first to save yourself the countless hours of guesswork I struggled through. By building relationships and soft skills, gaining full ownership of your technical domain, and aligning to the bigger business picture, you’ll set yourself (and your team) up for real success as a new Tech Lead.

You can watch this in a bit longer video form, where I go in details on each point.