Organizations do not have a leadership shortage because they lack smart engineers. They have a shortage because they do not grow leaders on purpose. Grow is the letter that turns ELBTG from a personal self-help loop into an institutional one.
This chapter is for the engineer who now has people, and for the executive who needs a bench. You will learn how to run 1:1s that are not status theater, how to give feedback that can be used on Monday, and how to notice leadership potential before the title exists.
The mentoring workbook that accompanies this book lives here in spirit: development is a practice with reps, not a speech. If you cannot name who you are growing, you are not growing anyone.
Lessons
- People do not grow from being impressed by you. They grow from being coached by you.
- High potentials need stretch and air cover, not just praise.
- A leadership pipeline is a designed system, not a hope.
Questions
- Who on your team will be ready for your job, and by when?
- What feedback are you withholding because it would be awkward?
- Where does your company accidentally punish people for leading without a title?
Two names
- Write two names: someone you will develop toward leadership, and someone you will develop toward deeper craft.
- For each, write a six-month stretch assignment.
- Book the conversation this week. Do not wait for review season.