episodes/end-each-week-with-something

[utterances-bot]

Runtime Rundown

https://runtimerundown.com/episodes/end-each-week-with-something

[SheaBelsky]

The idea of "personal capital", and the ability to influence big decisions, is a very interesting concept comparing a startup to a big company. At my startup, I have a lot of personal capital due to my tenure and title (CTO) but I am careful about leveraging it. I take it as a responsibility to develop the personal capital of my other engineers, improving their confidence to make new decisions and leverage their own personal capital (at my company and in future organizations.) I don't always need to be the biggest person in the room or the "be all end all" of decision making. I thrive when my engineers feel safe enough to share a new idea or proposal to solve a problem, and it's my job to help them develop that experience and intuition.

Wasn't sure whether to post this comment in this episode or the last one, this one talked a bit more about the idea so I put it here!

[helloitsjoe]

That's a great insight Shea! It seems to me (at least in healthy organizations) that as you become more tenured / more senior, the less you feel the need to be the loudest voice in the room, and you can use your authority judiciously.

I take it as a responsibility to develop the personal capital of my other engineers, improving their confidence to make new decisions and leverage their own personal capital (at my company and in future organizations.)

It sounds like you're running a fantastic organization. You're probably also building up reputational capital by developing your engineers so thoughtfully. Thanks for the comment!

[Cooperbuilt]

Great to hear from you @SheaBelsky! As Joe mentioned it sounds like you are doing everything right. Of course I wouldn't expect anything less from you. One thing that's interesting to me with your particular situation is when you're the most senior engineer where do you look for your personal development?

[SheaBelsky]

@Cooperbuilt I worked with a career coach for the last year and a half (Aaron Bieber, I can't recommend him enough, I got connected with him because you and Ryan posted about him on LinkedIn: https://aaronbieber.coach/). Our relationship was not about skill development but leadership development: How could I gain confidence in my decision making and people management skills? Between us, coaching was not about working through hard skill technical challenges and much more about looking at what was on the horizon as a people leader.

To be honest, I consume most of my tech knowledge and trends through podcasts (like yours!), Reddit, and other blogs. I don't have as much time as I'd like to actually put it into practice.