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Looking for Tech Lead resources (books, sites, etc.)

Valentin Baca on September 20, 2018

First, to be clear, this is not about becoming a Manager. My career path is trending toward becoming a Technical Leader. In essence, this is simil...

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Patrick Nelson • Sep 20 '18

SE Radio did an interview a couple years ago with a Patrick Kua, a Tech Lead from ThoughtWorks. I thought it was a good discussion. He also wrote a book on the subject.

se-radio.net/2016/08/se-radio-epis...
leanpub.com/talking-with-tech-leads

Hope this helps!

Corey Cleary • Sep 21 '18

Seconding this, Patrick Kua has some great insights and reading his book was really helpful for me when I first became a Tech Lead.

He also has some good smaller posts on the topic (also on the ThoughtWorks blog):
5 Tips for Being an Effective Tech Lead
Three Common Mistakes of the First Time Tech Lead

Valentin Baca • Sep 20 '18

This looks spot on. Thanks!

Tiago Romero Garcia • Sep 21 '18

I always suggest this book "The Servant" about servant leadership: smile.amazon.com/Servant-Simple-St...

This is about being a leader instead of being a boss, and it's not specifically about being a tech lead but more about soft-skills which are useful anywhere else in your life. For me it was a life changer.

James Wrubel • Sep 22 '18

What a great recommendation! It was one of the reasons I decided to create softstuff.tools . So many people end up moving into management and don't get a chance to learn about servant leadership.

Mike Veerman • Sep 21 '18

Hi Valentin,

As someone who has made a career out of technical leadership, I can't help but warn you: a big part of that job will be management. ;-)

That means most of those management books will be useful to you as well. If you haven't read the classic "The Mythical Man-month" yet: that's a great place to start.

I didn't know "On Writing Well" and it's on my to-read list now. Thanks!