Web Directions Year round learning for product, design and engineering professionals

The 2,000 year-old engineering manager

A large part of our roles as engineering leaders is how we relate to the people we work with. For many managers, this brings in anxiety and stress – What will people think of me? How do I keep myself and my team focused on the important tasks? How do I know if we’re making progress toward our goals? How can I view challenges from another perspective to help guide the team?

In 2021 I found that many answers to these questions have come by practising easy-to-follow Stoic exercises and using Stoicism to help shape how I approach my work. In this presentation, I’ll share what those exercises are, how I’ve applied them to my work as an Engineering Manager, and how I’ve subtly applied them to how others work with me.

David Lewis

David Lewis has been a web developer since the late 90s. The last seven years have focused on engineering leadership. Currently, at Compono, he leads the teams developing the company’s central platform. He’s passionate about fostering teams that people love to be part of.

In his copious spare time, he coordinates SydCSS, one of Sydney’s most popular tech meetups, regularly attracting over 100 people to each event.