Articles by Lara Hogan
Advice for a New ExecutiveLara wrote up the advice she received from Etsy's CTO / CEO, Chad Dickerson, on how to perform well as a VP of Engineering, which covers 9 sections: • Find/create a peer support group • Partner absurdly closely with product and make sure you understand priorities and the head of product understands tradeoffs • Focus on delivery of the roadmap and everything else will follow • Ask your executive peers regularly what you can do to make their jobs easier – particularly the CEO • Take a stand when you need to • Always have a story • Read widely – offline! – about management and leadership • Realize the impact your mood and demeanor has on people • Develop the right relationship with members of your company’s board
What does sponsorship look like?Lara defines sponsorship as "being on the hook to help get someone promoted." She covers these steps to do that: • When do we raise up names? • Examples of sponsorship • Be a better mentor by listening more • Explore why this might feel icky to you
- Is Managing Up a Bad Thing?
Lara polled her community on Twitter, and collated the results across: • Is managing up a bad thing? • What do execs think about managing up?
- Managering in Terrible Times
Lara covers two areas of crisis leadership. The first is how to create a supportive and safe environment, which breaks out into: • Formal support • Informal support • Support in 1:1s She then cover how to respond to individual needs, which includes: • Be patient with decreased productivity • If your report is directly affected
- Resilient Management
Lara covers: 1. Meet Your Team 2. Grow Your Teammates 3. Set Clear Expectations 4. Communicate Effectively 5. Build Resiliency
- When Your Manager Isn't Supporting You, Build a Voltron
When your manager doesn't give you enough feedback or support, Lara advises you to think about our resources that can help you: • Build a diverse mentor crew • Do your homework • Find a coach • Tailor your work with your manager
Meetup Architecture PrinciplesA VP of engineering describes Meetup's process of identifying their architecture principles: build for change, build for understanding, and build Meetup.
- Onsite Interview Loop Template
A Meetup VP of Engineering shares a template to help hiring managers identify and assess signals for a hiring decision.
- Advice for a New Executive
Lara wrote up the advice she received from Etsy's CTO / CEO, Chad Dickerson, on how to perform well as a VP of Engineering, which covers 9 sections: • Find/create a peer support group • Partner absurdly closely with product and make sure you understand priorities and the head of product understands tradeoffs • Focus on delivery of the roadmap and everything else will follow • Ask your executive peers regularly what you can do to make their jobs easier – particularly the CEO • Take a stand when you need to • Always have a story • Read widely – offline! – about management and leadership • Realize the impact your mood and demeanor has on people • Develop the right relationship with members of your company’s board
- Engineering Ladders at Meetup
Meetup recently updated their engineering career ladder to better align with the company's values and management approach. The ladder now has two paths: Makers who focus on software development and Managers who focus on team management. The new ladder levels match the company's new performance rubric and use language that reinforces Meetup's focus on setting clear expectations, making courageous decisions, and providing actionable feedback. While some roles on the new ladder do not yet have full descriptions, the updated ladder is meant to evolve as the company grows.
- Questions for Our First 1:1
Lara provides with sections and question for what to cover in your first 1:1 with a new direct report. She covers topics such as Grumpiness, Feedback & Recognition, and Goals and Support.
- Feedback Equation
Lara provides a clear framework to structure specific and actionable feedback: provide an observation of a behavior, explain how it impacted you, and then ask questions and make requests.
- What does sponsorship look like?
Lara defines sponsorship as "being on the hook to help get someone promoted." She covers these steps to do that: • When do we raise up names? • Examples of sponsorship • Be a better mentor by listening more • Explore why this might feel icky to you
Delegation is an art, not a scienceLara Hogan provides a simple, three-part template for delegating to a teammate and walks through an example scenario.
- Questions for Our First 1:1
Lara provides with sections and question for what to cover in your first 1:1 with a new direct report. She covers topics such as Grumpiness, Feedback & Recognition, and Goals and Support.
- Work at Different Management Levels
Lara describes how her work as a manager has changed at different levels over the years at Etsy. As a new manager, she focused on coaching and developing her team of individual contributors. As she managed more managers, she had to learn how to set strategy and vision, navigate reorgs, and give her teams autonomy. Now as a group manager, she relies on communication with her managers and facilitating space for them to succeed. The most rewarding part is seeing people grow into their roles and excel. The hardest part is that growth is painful, like a caterpillar in its cocoon before emerging as a butterfly.