I’m a solo founder, Java dev, with 2 employees. On this 7th year bootstrapping, it’s been five years that we’ve met product-market fit and 2 years that we have excellent ARR on stable subscriptions, with a mix of large and small companies, in several industries, so I’m growing the company to 8 people, then 15 people next year.
I’ll have to lead that team. I’m not fancy of titles, I don’t want to decide to be CTO or PO or just CEO. For the moment I just would like to be a decent team lead, at least until I learn enough to delegate some management.
I have always wanted to be a TL, so I’m not willing to let an external manager own my team. But I have never been promoted to TL in previous companies, since I’m not a naturally gifted “people” person (former anger/frustration issues, difficulty not having anger when obviously the provider is using bait and switch, etc. - but I’m no way near Steve Ballmer’s flying chair). I’ll have to learn to be a manager outside the framework of a large company with established practices.
For the moment I’ve been lucky that I’ve met only growth and I could make everyone happy.
What books, courses or experiences would you recommend to learn how to become a proper manager over the next year? Setting objectives, KPIs, leading individuals, MBTI, setting values for the company, what topics should I learn (apart from Scrum, which we’re proficient at) and what is an efficient way to do it?
This is especially true given the following statements you made: "I have always wanted to be a TL, so I’m not willing to let an external manager own my team. But I have never been promoted to TL in previous companies, since I’m not a naturally gifted “people” person (former anger/frustration issues, difficulty not having anger when obviously the provider is using bait and switch, etc.)" The latter statement speaks for itself -- a people manager who isn't in control of their own emotions is a huge risk as far as growing a healthy team. But the former statement also suggests that you're going to have control issues and issues delegating to your team.
I would suggest looking for a mentor/coach/advisor who is an experienced people manager. They will help you understand what you don't know that you don't know about management right now, and hopefully be able to convince you that your strategy of being a CEO with 15 direct reports (my interpretation of your statement "I’m not willing to let an external manager own my team") is a mistake.
Consider growing the team to perhaps 5-7 people under your direct management, then hiring (or promoting from within the team) a tech lead / manager (someone with people management experience, but who is still hands-on).
* CTO Lunches: https://ctolunches.com/ A global and local group of engineering leaders. The email list has fantastic discussions and the lunches, if you can make one, are great for conversations with experienced leaders
* Rands Leadership Slack: https://randsinrepose.com/welcome-to-rands-leadership-slack/ over 20k engineering leaders across the world. In particular, they have an 'anonymous advice' channel that you can ask questions on.
* The Manager Tools Podcast: https://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts covers foundational things like how to do one to ones and was recommended by a manager I respect.
http://zoenolan.org/blog/2021/02/resources-for-new-managers/
congratulations to you and your team! One thing a developer becoming a teamlead needs to learn is letting go.
Changeing the mindest from a maker to a mentor.
Hope it helps!
Kind regards, Steviee