Leveling Up as a Tech Lead

Preface

Early in my career, I realized I wanted to become a tech lead, although at the time, my understanding of the role was limited. What motivated me most was the impact we could have as a team rather than my individual contributions.

While the engineers around me were diving deep into the latest technologies and tackling more complex technical challenges, I found myself questioning the value of the work we were doing. I was more drawn to solving team-related problems and taking the initiative to move things forward. I wanted to have more influence on how the team operated, so when the scrum master left, I saw an opportunity and stepped into that role. While others were focused on building new features, I constantly found myself documenting the existing ones, improving communication, and streamlining our processes.

To make it happen, I moved to another country and joined Thoughtworks: a company that supported my growth into the tech lead role. I started working with my tech lead at the time to develop the necessary skills, and I said yes to every training opportunity that came my way. When I learned that the team’s tech lead was leaving, I asked to take over. They said yes.

Once I realized that the type of impact I wanted could happen only in the tech lead role, I began focusing on the skills I believed were necessary for the position. I worked hard to sharpen my technical abilities, thinking that to lead a technical team, I needed to be the most technical person on the team. ...