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The Engineering Manager's Booklist

Introduction

Engineering Management is a pivotal role, but seldomly formally taught. Reading is an effective way of learning from others. You can take bits and pieces of what has worked for other managers and use that information to adjust your management style. This booklist is for people who are or aspire to manage/lead team(s) of software engineers. This includes, but isn't limited to, Team Leads, Tech Leads, Managers, Directors, VPs of Engineering and CTOs. Pull requests are welcome.

👨🏾‍💻 About Me

Hello, thanks for reading! A little about me, I have been an engineering manager at Fortune 100 companies and startups. This list represents the books that I have found valuable in my career. If you want to see what I'm reading checkout my list on GoodRead's list. Use the above buttons if you want to hear about my ramblings on engineering leadership.

Getting Started

First book

If you are going to read one book off of this list, I highly recommend the following:

The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier 📘 🎧

Best of the List

There are a ton of great books on this list, but if you want to start out reading the top books, I would recommend the following:

The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier 📘 🎧
Managing Humans by Michael Lopp 📘 🎧
Managing the Unmanageable by Mickey W. Mantle and Ron Lichty 📘
The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo 📘 🎧
An Elegant Puzzle - Systems of Engineering Management by Will Larson 📘 🎧

Book selection

The books or subjects aren't in any particular order so feel free to dive into the topics that you want to learn more about.

Reading advice

Personally, I prefer audiobooks. They allow me to listen to books while I'm cooking in the kitchen, cleaning up my room, taking a walk around my neighborhood, commuting, etc. Usually, I listen to them at 1.5x to 2x the speed depending on how fast the person narrates the book.

Feedback

If you have any feedback feel free to fill out this super quick survey. I would love to hear from you!

Culture

It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson 📘 🎧
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz 📘 🎧
Good to Great by Jim Collins 📘 🎧
How Google Works by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle 📘 🎧
Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson 📘 🎧
Slack by Tom DeMarco 📘
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni 📘 🎧
Brotopia by Emily Chang 📘 🎧

Change Management

Change or Die by Alan Deutschman 📘 🎧
Switch by Dan Heath, Chip Heath, Charles Kahlenberg 📘 🎧
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Change Management by John P. Kotter, W. Chan Kim, Renée A. Mauborgne 📘 🎧

Agile Methodologies

Scrum by Jeff Sutherland and JJ Sutherland 📘 🎧
Essential Scrum by Kenneth S. Rubin 📘
Agile Retrospectives by Esther Derby, Diana Larsen, and Ken Schwaber 📘

Communication

Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg PhD 📘 🎧
Presence by Amy Cutty 📘 🎧
Humble Inquiry by Edgar H. Schein 📘 🎧

Public Speaking

Demystifying Public Speaking by Lara Hogan 📘
Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun 📘 🎧

Onboarding

First 90 Days by Harvard Business Review Press 📘 🎧

Interviewing

The Software Engineering Manager Interview Guide by Vidal Graupera 📘