The Engineering Manager's Survival Guide (3rd Edition)

I've been an engineer and engineering leader for over 15 years, across startups and companies with 70,000 employees. I've hired, fired, laid off, promoted, and been laid off myself. And what I couldn't find, at any point in that career, was a single resource that covered all of it, not just the frameworks and the Agile ceremonies, but the real stuff. The conversation with the employee who's been at the company for 20 years and isn't going to make it. The reorg you didn't see coming. The moment you realize your boss isn't going to help you.This book started as a reference guide for myself, something I could hand to a new manager on my team and say "start here." It's grown into something I'm genuinely proud of, tested across more than fifteen teams at companies like Salesforce, Oscar Health, and Warner Music Group, refined edition by edition based on what actually works in the real world.What you'll find inside:The hard conversations nobody prepares you for: how to deliver feedback that sticks, run 360s that actually change behavior, and manage the employee who refuses to hear itHow to build a team worth building: hiring, onboarding, and the culture work that determines whether people stay and thrive or leave and take their knowledge with themHonest career development: SMART goals, career ladders, promotion packets, and how to tell someone the truth about where they standPlanning that survives contact with the business: from daily standups to long-range roadmaps, capacity planning, and the gap between strategy and what actually shipsPerformance management without the illusions: coaching underperformers, navigating PIPs, handling layoffs, and doing right by people even when the outcome is hardThe org chart is the least of it: reorgs, toxic leadership, executive communication, and the politics that live in every company whether anyone admits it or notAI is already on your team: how to lead engineers using it well, what it changes about your job, and what it doesn'tThis third edition is fully updated for the current state of the industry, including new material on AI in engineering and management, a new generation of engineers, and the my latest thinking on what it takes to build and sustain high-functioning teams.Whether you're a first-time manager still finding your footing or an experienced leader looking to sharpen your practice, this guide will meet you where you are, and give you the frameworks, templates, and honest perspective to lead with confidence.This is the playbook they don't hand you on day one. Read more