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How technical do technical leaders have to be? Are you worried that you’re too hands-on, or not hands-on enough? Are you exhausting yourself trying to keep up with every technical detail in your domain?

“Clare’s combination of coaching, leadership, advocacy, technical depth, pedagogic skill is very rare.” David Heath, Head of Engineering Enablement, UK Government Digital Service

Sometimes individual contributors are promoted to leadership positions and worry that they won’t be as hands-on as they used to be. Sometimes they worry that they no longer have time to stay up to date with modern technology and / or the state of their team’s code base(s). Sometimes it’s the other way around: Somebody who has never been hands-on in the technical realm is given a leadership position, and worries they’re “not technical enough”.

Whatever your position, this workshop will help you to overcome your worries and figure out the best attitude and approach for you and your circumstances.

Takeaways

• How to embrace the difference between individual contributor and technical leader
• How to take a step back from “knowing all the things”
• How to make the most of the knowledge and experience of your team
• How to identify when technical knowledge matters, and when it doesn’t
• How to identify the things you need to know

Gamifying

There is also a gamified version of this workshop, “Technical Leaders for Humanity – the helpful card game”, which uses a game format based on the game Cards Against Humanity (but with all questionable content removed). Participants make snap decisions that earn them points as well as laughs, and then have an opportunity to explore those decisions in more detail.

Host this hugely popular workshop at your organisation

This workshop is always over-subscribed wherever it’s hosted. It keys into worries that are common at all levels of technical leadership, and offers practical takeaways. You can help your technical leadership by bringing this in-house!

“Lots of tech people can talk about technical topics, not many can generate rapport in a small group.” Emily Bache, founder of Samman Technical Coaching.

How to sign up?

Fill in the contact form and indicate that you’re interested in the “How to handle the technical” workshop. We’ll take it from there.

How will it work?

• This workshop can last anything between 90 minutes and half a day (up to 3.5 hours). The greater the length, the more we can really get into the problems and the practical advice.
• The maximum number of participants is 40 people.
• This workshop can be run either in-person or online.
  • If online, participants need access to enough breakout rooms for the entire cohort to be split into pairs.
• The cost is as follows:
  • 90 mins: £2,000
  • Half day: £4,000
  • I’m based in Manchester, UK. If travel outside of Manchester is required, travel and two nights’ accommodation will be added to the cost.

Who is the facilitator?

“Clare is experienced, insightful and a joy to work with” Diana Montalion, Systems Architect and author.

Clare Sudbery is an independent coach who has worked in software engineering since the mid 90s. She specialises in helping those in technical leadership, and teaching eXtreme Programming (XP) practices such as TDD, refactoring, pairing, continuous integration.

In 2009, Clare sharpened her teaching skills via a brief stint as a high school maths teacher… but quickly returned to software, gaining new energy via leadership and XP. Clare taught the Coding Black Females’ Return to Tech programme, runs various online trainings for O’Reilly, and co-ran Made Tech’s academy. She has a passion for helping under-represented groups to flourish in tech.

Clare hosted Season One of the acclaimed Making Tech Better podcast, and is in high demand to present workshops and talks at a wide variety of international conferences and events. She blogs at Queen of Questions.

How to sign up?

Fill in the contact form and indicate that you’re interested in the “How to handle the technical” workshop.

“Clare is genuinely nerdy, positive, kind, and focused on the greater good.” Amy Newton, Founder of Manchester Tech Festival.

Not ready yet?

Book some leadership coaching, or sign up for the newsletter, get regular tips on handling the challenges of technical leadership, and keep an eye out for more info.