Transitioning from independent contributor to a leadership role is not only a major career milestone, it also requires a whole new set of skills.
This applies especially to engineers. Usually, individually contributing engineers flex their technical prowess to accomplish their achievements. But moving into leadership requires engineers to hone their interpersonal expertise. According to a survey of more than 15,000 managers, the top 10 critical competencies for a manager involve people skills — including relationship-building, emotional intelligence, communication and empathy.
SVP of Engineering Brian Huddleston started at One Drop, a digital health management platform and glucose meter, within a few months of its founding and emphasizes the importance of nurturing and valuing the team.
“With the help of a bunch of supremely talented engineers, we built the best product in our category,” said Huddleston.
What is One Drop?
Building a great product and creating a healthy, productive team aren’t exactly the same exercises, but Huddleston was able to pull together some similarities between these two ideas using his particular point of view as an engineer. Built In NYC gathered a few of his insights to help engineers moving into leadership positions.
Tell me about how you got your start at One Drop.
I started at One Drop a few months after it was founded. We needed some expertise on the server side and to put together a plan to grow the engineering team. I’m a career startup guy, and those were two areas of expertise for me, so the fit was a good one.
Leading a team is ultimately an exercise in problem-solving.”
What surprised you most about moving into a leadership role?
The biggest surprise was the level of talent we were able to pull into the team. There are a lot of engineers out there who are really jazzed about the idea of using their accumulated knowledge and experience to actually make the world a better place. It was inspiring.
What advice do you have for engineers looking to move into a leadership role?
Do what you’re good at. Solve problems. Leading a team is ultimately an exercise in problem-solving. Coming up with cogent, workable solutions to problems facing the team will get you noticed and appreciated. Once you’re there, value your people. They are more important than any intermediate issue or architectural patterns.
