Climbing the Ladder vs. Effective Impact: Knowing Your Fit in Tech Leadership

In Episode 3 of our series with **Eric Reiners**, we dive into the nuanced world of **engineering leadership** and explore how **managers can meaningfully contribute to code quality**, even if they’re not actively coding. This episode is a treasure trove for tech leads, team managers, and aspiring leaders who want to support development teams more effectively—whether they’re hands-on with code or not.

Eric and I explore practical strategies to build trust, offer valuable technical insight, and avoid micromanagement, while also tapping into cognitive science for better collaboration.

🔍 **What you'll learn in this episode:**
- Ways non-coding managers can still influence technical quality
- How synchronous code reviews create insights and reduce bugs
- Why curiosity and good questions beat criticism in tech leadership
- The neuroscience behind describing code—and how it triggers creative breakthroughs

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⏱️ **Chapters:**
1. 00:00 – Intro & episode preview
2. 00:31 – Impactful leadership without writing code
3. 01:08 – Caring leadership + technical acumen
4. 01:39 – Spotting BS and staying credible as a manager
5. 02:10 – Prototyping to lead without shipping code
6. 02:40 – Curiosity vs. judgment in technical discussions
7. 03:10 – Asking good questions without overstepping
8. 03:44 – Coaching with questions to trigger insight
9. 04:14 – When devs solve their own problems mid-explanation
10. 04:44 – Synchronous code reviews & bug revelations
11. 05:16 – Flow state, ego reduction & novel insight
12. 05:46 – Activating new brain pathways through verbalizing
13. 06:18 – Visualizing, articulating & seeing new angles
14. 06:50 – Language centers + tech reflection = creativity
15. 07:20 – Outro & Episode 4 preview: Developer Wellness

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