Hired for craft
Fired, quietly, for a lack of interpersonal skill. Promoted, when it happens, for business and leadership.
The problem
The engineering leadership gap
“Engineers get hired for their engineering skills, they get fired for their lack of interpersonal skills, and they get promoted for their business and leadership skills.” — Russell & Yao, 1996
The gap is the distance between technical mastery and the interpersonal, business, and leadership skills a technology organization actually needs. Engineers are immersed in problem solving and scientific method. They are rarely given formal training in communication, mentoring, or the commercial implications of a design. Then they are asked to lead.
That is not a personality flaw. It is a curriculum problem. Without training and mentorship, people are left to bridge the distance alone — and talented engineers leave for places that will teach them, or stay and struggle in the player-coach seat.
Where it shows up
The silent IC
Superb technically. Mute with finance, marketing, and the client. The value of the work never makes it across the table.
The player-coach trap
Promoted, still coding until midnight, still finishing the critical path. The team never gets the reps.
The pipeline myth
Hoping the next manager appears. They will not. You elevate, train, mentor — or you hire panic.
The path, named
01 · The work
Engineer
You are learning to be trusted with real systems. Craft is the whole game — and that is correct, for now.
02 · The problem
Senior Engineer
You are the person who can be given a fuzzy problem. The trap is becoming the team's finishing machine.
03 · The team’s technical bet
Tech Lead
You are accountable for the technical outcome of a group. Authority is thin. Influence is the job.
04 · The people and the output
Engineering Manager
The identity shift. Your output is now other people's output. Most careers either transform here or quietly fail.
05 · The system of teams
Director
You no longer lead a team. You lead leaders. The work is coherence, capacity, and culture across groups.
06 · The function
VP of Engineering
You own a function in a company, not a craft in a corner. Politics, capital, and narrative become first-class tools.
07 · The company
CTO / Technology Executive
Technology is now a way the company competes. You hold craft, capital, and credibility in the same hand.