The Manager's Path
Managing people is difficult wherever you work. But in the tech industry, where management is also a technical discipline, the learning curve can be brutal—especially when there are few tools, texts, and frameworks to help you. In this practical guide, author Camille Fournier (tech lead turned CTO) takes you through each stage in the journey from engineer to technical manager. From mentoring interns to working with senior staff, you’ll get actionable advice for approaching various obstacles in your path. This book is ideal whether you’re a new manager, a mentor, or a more experienced leader looking for fresh advice. Pick up this book and learn how to become a better manager and leader in your organization. • Begin by exploring what you expect from a manager • Understand what it takes to be a good mentor, and a good tech lead • Learn how to manage individual members while remaining focused on the entire team • Understand how to manage yourself and avoid common pitfalls that challenge many leaders • Manage multiple teams and learn how to manage managers • Learn how to build and bootstrap a unifying culture in teams
Stats for nerds
89recommend
134mentions
107people
2017–2026years
85% recommend10% neutral5% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Database Design for Mere Mortals. The first afternoon I spent reading and puzzling through that book was worth an entire semester of computer science classes on the topic — and caused me to fall in love with relational databases.
With special mentions to K&R as well as The Manager’s Path.
- I left it open-ended because it would somewhat depend on the junior developer's previous knowledge and their focus (do they have a CS degree? what topics do they want to go deep on in their career?)
But here are some titles:
* Kleppmann, Designing Data-Intensive Applications
* Nand2Tetris. Computers from first principles, often fills in a lot of gaps. Possibly preceded by Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software if they need even more grounding.
* SICP if I think they'd be ready for it
* Crafting Interpreters
* If they're working with Python I'd give them Fluent Python by Luciano Ramalho. For whatever other language(s) pick a book that allows them to go from intermediate to advanced in that language and really understand it inside out.
* Ousterhout, A Philosophy of Software Design
* Data and Reality
* The Staff Engineer’s Path by Tanya Reilly to demystify the upper IC track. Or The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier.
- As a related aside, the best practical book on progressing through management ranks as an engineer that I've found is The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier. Highly recommended.
- I'm thinking both information on being a tech lead and mentorship, but I'm more interested in mentorship specifically.
I've already come across The Manager's Path by Fournier which is pretty good. Any other tips greatly appreciated.
- I'm a bit late to respond here but in case you're checking replies: Camille Fournier's book The Manager's Path is enjoyable to read and covers exactly this
- There are a number of decent books.
"Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager", "The Manager's Path", "Becoming a Technical Leader", "An Elegant Puzzle", "Resilient Management".
But your best bet is either finding an experienced manager who's willing to coach you, or working with a management coach.
(There's a number of folks blogging as well. Gergely Orosz, Laura Hogan, Camille Fournier,...)
