How Maria went from Senior Developer to Engineering Manager in 6 months
Transitioning from a Senior Developer to an Engineering Manager is a huge leap, and many developers feel unsure about how to make the move.
Maria was a Senior Developer known for her technical skills. But when she considered leadership, she felt unsure. Could she lead as well as she coded?
After joining my Leadership Accelerator program, Maria’s journey was filled with challenges and breakthroughs. Here’s how she transformed over 12 weeks and ended up landing two Engineering Manager roles within six months.
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Week 1: Laying the Foundations of Leadership
Maria initially saw leadership as an extension of her technical work. In our first session, I explained that leadership is about influence and vision, not just decision-making.
Key Exercise: Write a personal vision for what kind of leader you want to be.
Result: Maria started thinking beyond her role as a developer, gaining clarity on her leadership goals.
Week 2: Developing Emotional Intelligence
Leadership requires more than just technical skills, it’s about managing people. In Week 2, Maria focused on building self-awareness and emotional intelligence to handle team dynamics.
Key Exercise: Reflect on past team frustrations and identify how empathy could have improved the outcome.
Result: Maria developed a deeper understanding of her communication style and its impact on team dynamics.
Week 3: Mastering Communication
Effective leadership requires clear, impactful communication. We worked on simplifying technical decisions and aligning them with business goals.
Key Exercise: Present a complex technical decision to non-technical stakeholders.
Result: Maria became more confident in communicating with executives and leading her team through complex discussions.
Week 4: Shifting to Strategic Thinking
Maria moved from focusing solely on immediate tasks to seeing the bigger picture—vision and strategy. We mapped out a 6-month roadmap for a hypothetical team, aligning it with company goals.
Key Exercise: Build a strategic roadmap for a team that aligns with business objectives.
Result: Maria’s mindset shifted from tactical to strategic leadership.
Building Confidence Through Mock Interviews
Maria’s biggest hurdle was leadership interviews. We conducted multiple mock system design and leadership interviews to help her gain confidence.
Key Insight: Initially, Maria focused too much on technical details, but with practice, she developed a leadership-oriented approach.
Week 7: Empowering the Team
Delegation was tough for Maria, she was used to being hands-on. To help her transition, I had her delegate a project and focus on supporting her team’s growth.
Key Exercise: Delegate a project to a team member and track how it builds trust.
Result: Maria learned how to empower her team while stepping into a more strategic role.
Week 11: Conflict Resolution
Maria still felt uneasy about conflict resolution. We practiced mediation techniques, helping her find common ground and propose solutions.
Key Exercise: Mediate a conflict scenario, finding common ground and proposing solutions.
Result: Maria gained confidence in navigating difficult team dynamics.
The Final Push: Landing Two Engineering Manager Roles
After completing the 12-week program, Maria went into her interviews with newfound confidence. Within six months, she landed two Engineering Manager offers and had the luxury of choosing the best fit.
Maria’s story shows that leadership isn’t just about getting a title, it’s about growing into someone who can inspire and drive a team forward. The Leadership Accelerator program helps you make that transformation too.
Want to grow into a confident leader? Join my Leadership Accelerator program and start your journey today!
Useful links
👨💻 Become a better Software Engineer with CodeCrafters (use my partner link to get 40% off and build your own Redis, Git, Kafka and more from scratch).
🎯 Book a mock interview with me (System design or Behavioural & Leadership) to smash your next real interview!
👋 Let’s connect on LinkedIn!