How to be a leader as a young professional?

Question

Hi HN, I am currently pretty young and inexperienced (early twenties) and work in software engineering. Soon, I will be taking on a leadership position within my firm. I will be in charge of overseeing a couple high priority projects, as well as managing several interns + junior team members.I am looking for tips/guidance on how to be an effective team leader, especially with people that are around my age. If you have seen good managerial practices/skills, or have recommendations for resources where I could learn them, I would be very appreciative to hear!Thank you for your help :)

zwayhowder · Accepted Answer

A lot of leadership is nuance and context. What works well in one company/situation may not work well in another.
Personally I've let Radical Candor by Kim Scott & the blog/books of Michael Lopp ( https://randsinrepose.com/ ) be my main inspiration for leadership.
I don't always get it right, but my team is consistently the highest scorers on workplace engagement in our org (which says as much about the other teams as it does about mine) and also has the highest attendance onsite of any team. I'll take both of those as indications that I'm doing something right.

mathgladiator · Answer

I found Jocko's book ( https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1... ) great.The biggest (and most difficult) aspect is learning to listen with both your ears and eyes. Learn body language as it is the truth.

onos · Answer

I like the book &ldquo;first break all the rules.&rdquo; It gives triage advice for new managers &mdash; what to get right first, what to do after that&rsquo;s been done etc.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First,_Break_All_the_Rules

yuppie_scum · Answer

Go get the Harvard Business School box set on leadership.

How to be a leader as a young professional?

I found Jocko's book ( https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1... ) great.
The biggest (and most difficult) aspect is learning to listen with both your ears and eyes. Learn body language as it is the truth.

I like the book “first break all the rules.” It gives triage advice for new managers — what to get right first, what to do after that’s been done etc.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First,_Break_All_the_Rules

Go get the Harvard Business School box set on leadership.