The Simple Trick to Learn From the Leaders You Admire

Three simple ways to learn from the best leaders you know.

Welcome!

Hi this is John with this week’s Developing Skills - Skills for Developers looking to develop their careers.

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Tip of The Week: Learn From The Leaders You Admire

One of the best ways to level up as a software engineer is to become a leader.

No, that doesn’t mean becoming a manager. I’m talking about becoming a leader, taking the lead on a project, task or initiative that you are interested in.

Things like:

• Getting rid of that technical debt that’s annoying you.

• Automating a process you and your team hate doing.

• Introducing a new technology.

Because leadership is something you do, not a role you are appointed to. Which mean anyone can do it once they decide to.

So How Do You Learn To Be A Leader?

There are many ways, but there’s one simple trick that works well. Learn from the best leaders around you! Model their behaviour, because it’s working for them in the context you share.

Remember leadership is situational and they’re already figured out the right style, you can learn from them how they do it, in the environment you’re both in.

Look around at the organisation you work for, consider:

• Whose ideas are always adopted?

• Who do you admire and follow?

• Who do the people you need to convince listen to?

Then reach out to those people and ask them for help. Make it really simple for them to do so. Here's how.

1. Ask for Recommendations

Simply ask, that could look something like this:

"Hi, I love your leadership style. Do you recommend any books, podcasts, or newsletters that I should check out to improve my leadership skills?"

Or:

"Hi, I love how you get the management to buy into adopting Rust, I’d like to learn how to do that. Do you recommend any books, podcasts, or newsletters that I should check out to learn how?"

This is a low effort ask from them and it gives you some resources to check out. For the best results follow up by sharing what you learned, thanking them, and ask for more recommendations.

2. Volunteer for Projects

If you're looking to get some hands-on experience and to learn by doing, you could use:

"I'm working on my leadership skills and would love to take on some tasks or projects where I can develop further. Do you have any tasks or projects I can do for you?"

3. Ask To Tag Along To Observe Them in Action

Sometimes it helps to see what good looks like before we try to do it ourselves, In that case you could ask to tag along and see how they do it. Try asking something like this:

"I'm keen to improve my leadership skills and I really admire how you influence in meetings. Are there any additional meetings I could sit in on and observe you leading in person?"

Wrapping Up

These small asks help you learn directly from the leaders you admire without being a burden making it easy for them to help you grow!

If you follow through on all of this, keeping them informed of your progress, you’ll be earning their trust making them more likely to offer help, including mentoring or coaching.

Two Ways I Can Help You Level Up As A Software Engineer:

1. I write another newsletter, Coding Challenges that helps you become a better software engineer through coding challenges that build real applications.

2. I run a YouTube channel sharing advice on software engineering.