Team Management Secrets: with tb.lx’s Engineering Leads
Managers are key players in the job market — what kind of impact do they really have?
In today’s job market, managers can make or break an employee’s experience. Research shows that one of the main reasons why employees leave companies, is because they are looking for a better relationship with their manager. But what are professionals actively looking for from a potential manager, in their next role? While there is no universal answer to this question, there are still several strategies to adopt and create a management style that will resonate with multi-generational and multi-functional teams.
At tb.lx, we try to take a people-centric approach to management, where we empower our tblxers to be autonomous and proactive, to become topic experts and leaders, regardless of their seniority level. We achieve this by avoiding micro-management and giving our tblxers a seat at the table to share their opinions, challenges, and expertise, on what we are doing, to ensure we are pushing for the best results every day.
These values and expectations are instilled in our teams from every level of management, starting with our Engineering Leads, who oversee the day-to-day technical delivery of the projects that our tblxers are working on. But we do not drill down on a specific leadership style or tactics for our Engineering Leads — we empower them to find their own leadership style, and to build up their teams, in a way that resonates with them.
To find out how our Engineering Leads are achieving this in different ways, we sat down with two of them, Carolina Morais and Anthony Oliveira, to learn more about their experience — read on for more!
Reflecting on team leadership with Carolina Morais
Carolina has 8+ years of experience in software development and started her journey with tb.lx as a Backend Engineer. She has been an Engineering Lead of ours for the last one and a half years and has a background in working with program languages like Angular, Java, C#, React.Js, JavaScript, and more. How does she seek to effectively lead teams and what has she learned on the way that makes her the leader she is? Dive in and find out!
- How did your journey as a leader begin? What was your experience like as you adapted to a shift in responsibilities, and how has this defined your leadership style, since?
CM: Although I have only officially been in a leadership position for about 1.5 years, I believe my journey started before this. From the early stages of my professional experience, I often tended to occupy a decision-maker role, leading topics, guiding team members, and supporting them. Which I believe is something very natural for me.
Over time, I not only believed this, but also, others around me starting noticing it, too. So when the chance arose within the company, I was offered the opportunity and embraced the challenge of being an Engineering Lead. Because of my experience in the team, even though I had a title change, I didn’t feel the need to adapt to a shift in responsibilities, as from my perspective it was not a change but rather an addition to what had been built up over the years. Now, in addition to managing the topics, I have the added challenge of promoting the growth, motivation, and stability of the team.
2. What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned from being a Team Lead? How has this lesson shaped your experience since and how do you think others can learn from this?
CM: Good feedback can have a HUGE impact on your growth and the growth of others! What do I mean by good feedback? It doesn’t necessarily mean positive feedback. While it is very important to provide positive feedback, it is even more important when you share constructive feedback, sharing where you saw certain behaviors or competencies used, how they affected you/others, and how they can be improved.
In the past, I have seen the consequences of not providing feedback. For some time, I avoided sharing “negative feedback”, either due to my lack of experience or the idea that the message could be poorly received by the other party. However, with this behavior I was seeing an increase in frustration on my part, I was not giving others the opportunity to understand how their behavior was impacting me, and how we could work together find a solution.
Since I changed my mindset and started giving more constructive feedback, I really see the benefits of it, which could either be because I see people growing from the input, or because my relationships with colleagues are more open.
3. How do you empower your team to be collaborative, use their challenger mindsets, and grow?
CM: I believe that involving the team in the decision-making process empowers team members and promotes collaboration, while also bringing responsibility and commitment.
In addition, for this to happen in a healthy way, it is important that all team members feel that they are in a safe space, where they can share opinions freely, without feeling judged or criticized.
Another very important thing is to promote growth through continuous feedback, evaluating strengths and weaknesses, and defining clear goals, which must be revisited from time to time and adjusted if necessary, as personal and professional needs can change.
4. What hard skills and soft skills do you find are the most helpful to you in your role? Were these part of a growth plan of yours, or have they always come naturally to you?
CM: In my opinion, one of the main skills a good leader must have is strong communication. At a team level, it is very important to have honest and transparent communication, which brings a closer connection between everyone and a healthy team environment. Additionally, by getting to know each other better, you, as a leader, can take advantage of your colleagues’ strengths and work to improve weaknesses where they exist.
That being said, and considering that it is a fundamental skill, it has been one of my focus areas over time and will certainly continue to be part of my growth plans.
Another skill that I believe to be very useful for any leader, and which has always been very natural for me, is the ability to make decisions. Several times you will be placed in situations that require a decision, and although sometimes you can involve other team members in the decision process, this is not always possible and when it is, there will not always be consensus, and in these cases you [the leader] will need to make the final decision.
Lastly, I will mention the skill that is probably the least natural for me, which is knowing how to delegate. It is impossible for a single person to reach everywhere, and even if you try and “succeed,” you will have given up on some important aspects, be it quality or work-life balance, which over time can have major negative impacts. So one of the things that will help is to take advantage of the qualities of each team member, delegating topic or task ownership to the person most aligned to an item, and as a result, the team will be more efficient, empowered, and motivated.
5. What advice would you give developers and more junior engineers, that wish to grow into a Lead role?
CM: The first piece of advice I would give them, is to have a clear vision of what it means to be in a leadership role. It is very important to understand whether your career expectations are aligned with the needs of the role.
Also, share this desire with your leaders/managers, as others around you can help you grow in this direction.
Additionally, it would be good to proactively start leading topics within and/or outside your team, and since communication is key and usually not worked on much in your day-to-day life as a developer, I would say start exploring ways to learn how to develop effective communication skills.
On being an Engineering Lead with Anthony Oliveira
Anthony has a career in software development and tech spanning 12+ in 2 different countries. He has worked as a Backend Software Engineer, Tech Lead, and CTO, and has experience working with diverse technologies, including but not limited to: Node.js, Typescript, Elixir, Erlang, Kubernetes, Docker, and more. How has his experience shaped his leadership journey and how he “walks the talk” as an Engineering Lead at tb.lx? Let’s find out together!
- How did your journey as a leader begin? What was your experience like as you adapted to a shift in responsibilities, and how has this defined your leadership style, since?
AO: My journey started by leading projects in an NGO, before taking on the leadership of engineering teams. After that, in my first job, after two years as a Backend Engineer, I had the opportunity to lead two teams. Although I was not the most senior member, I was always proactive and sought to take on new responsibilities. I knew the product and the company very well, so I naturally became a go-to person for my colleagues. Before taking on the role, I was already performing many of the duties expected from the position.
The most significant challenge was finding the ideal balance between leading my teams, and clearly understanding the expectations of my managers. During this transition period, I received little guidance, which forced me to define my own leadership style, very much defined by what I considered best for the team. This autonomy turned out to be beneficial, as I had space to explore, sometimes make mistakes, and adjust my priorities according to what I considered best in the moment.
2. What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned from being a Team Lead? How has this lesson shaped your experience since and how do you think others can learn from this?
AO: People centricity, for me, is the key element in establishing a good team culture. A people-centered approach is essential in building trust-led relationships, and this is a daily job that requires dedication and commitment. With more experience, I have learned that the social health of a team is as important as its technical health, and that usually a team that delivers value has a good culture.
3. How do you empower your team to be collaborative, use their challenger mindsets, and grow?
AO: I believe that building a team rooted in trust and transparency is the starting point. From there, there’s a safe environment where everyone feels comfortable to communicate openly and honestly, and that each opinion is valuable. I think it’s important to mention that being collaborative doesn’t always mean that a team achieves consensus. People are different and have different opinions, but from the moment we converge on a solution, it becomes a team commitment and everyone’s responsibility. Moreover, I always try to create opportunities for experimentation/testing, collaboration with other teams, and taking on responsibilities. It’s also important to understand that not everything will always go well, and that is always an opportunity to learn.
4. What hard skills and soft skills do you find are the most helpful to you in your role? Were these part of a growth plan of yours, or have they always come naturally to you?
AO: Effective communication, understanding the strengths of the team, and keep things simple. Throughout my career, I had the opportunity to work in companies with more limited resources, meaning there was little room for waste. So, I have always been adept at working smart, and these skills have been the most helpful throughout this journey.
To be honest, I never planned to be in leadership roles. I wanted to focus more on my technical side, but my career naturally took this direction, and personally, I have always enjoyed learning, and taking on new challenges. I had the chance to learn from my former leads and have always been observant, which allowed me to bring some things into my toolbox and also to see behaviors that I did not want to replicate.
5. What advice would you give developers and more junior engineers, that wish to grow into a Lead role?
AO: This question is complex for me to answer. I have never done anything specific in my career with a specific focus on Lead Roles, and I would say there is no correct path to the leadership, especially since the market currently sees this role in various ways. However, what I would say is that the initial focus should be on technical evolution, taking initiative and ownership, and exercising the ability to identify problems and propose solutions. Moreover, be an empathetic person, share credit, and appreciate diverse perspectives. The leads I have met and admire have always been respectful, approachable, and tried to promote a positive work environment.
When it all comes down to it, leading a team is a personal process
While there are an infinite number of ways to lead a team, or write and think about team leadership, let’s go back to the question we asked at the beginning of this article; what are candidates looking for from a potential manager in a new role? From our perspective, it boils down to one core idea; the importance of people and leading from a people-centric perspective.
From our perspective, people-centric leadership focuses on encouraging others to be their full, complete selves at work — strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities and all — and in the case of strong leaders, encouraging their teams to be transparently themselves at work. Doing so allows for constructive, tailored feedback that promotes growth and open communication, while also giving leaders space to assess who is on their team and what they have a passion or talent for, to see where there is room to continue evolving as a team.
Leaders should seek to create a strong work environment people want to be part of, requiring a vision and an understanding of who people are and what resonates with them. The exact recipe or unique way that this happens, always comes down to who the leader is and what they believe in.
These interviews were conducted by our Employer Branding, Internal Communications, and PR Specialist, Andrea, with our Engineering Leads, Carolina Morais and Anthony Oliveira. 🚛🌿
🚛🌿 If you’d like to know more about how we work at tb.lx, our company culture, work methodologies, tech stack, and products you can check our website and join our journey in creating the transportation solutions of tomorrow through our social media accounts: LinkedIn, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter/X, Facebook. 💻 🔋
