Advice for New Principal Tech ICs (I.e., Notes to Myself)
6 months ago
- #engineering
- #leadership
- #career-growth
- Principal engineers/scientists have different flavors, such as deep diving in one space, horizontal influence, technical trailblazing, clarifying complexity, or aligning multiple orgs.
- Core responsibilities shift from hands-on coding to technical vision, design feedback, sponsorship, and providing business/product/technical context.
- Principals act as part-time PMs for technology, engaging in product, design, engineering, science, QA, hiring, finance, and culture.
- Effective communication, influence, and connecting the right people are crucial for large-scope projects involving multiple teams.
- Being right is not enough; principals must convince others to act, build momentum, and secure sponsorship for ideas.
- Principals teach the org to value overlooked aspects, often facing resistance but driving long-term impact.
- Focus on work that won’t happen without you, leveraging your unique strengths and interests.
- Connecting dots between teams and identifying suitable individuals for tasks is a high-value activity.
- Coaching and mentoring others is essential for scaling impact and grooming future leaders.
- Transition from doing work to enabling others, creating opportunities for growth and ownership.
- Create space for others in meetings, encouraging participation and ensuring inclusivity.
- Principals don’t always need to demonstrate value; silence can be effective if the team is on track.
- Guard time against becoming a 'go-to' person for everything; prioritize high-impact work.
- Leverage organizational privilege for high-ROI interventions with relatively low effort.
- Articulate the 'why' behind decisions to prevent blind parroting and improve team understanding.
- Stay connected with teams through design reviews, demos, and casual interactions to maintain org pulse.
- Balance big-picture thinking with pragmatic local solutions, consulting working-level experts.
- Decline low-quality feedback requests; focus on meaningful interactions.
- Engage with interns and mentors to create lasting impact beyond the internship.
- Remove yourself from the critical path to empower the org and avoid dependency.
- Build a peer network to combat the loneliness of the principal role.
- Prioritize personal growth, learning, and well-being to sustain long-term effectiveness.
- Continuously learn to stay relevant in a fast-moving industry.