Books and newsletters for engineering leaders (managers, directors)

I’m sometimes asked by team members about books recommendations. So I’ve wrote here my recommendations. Books and newsletters are classified by management levels for which they match the most.

Resources here are only about leadership, management, business and related topics. Engineering knowledge is extremely critical for engineering leaders but it’s a topic for another article.

The number in brackets (4.7) is the book rating on Amazon.

Engineering Manager (EM)

Basic recommendation:

• management: The Manager’s Path (4.6), Radical Candor (4.5), Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager (4.6) and blog theengineeringmanager.com
• product: The Lean Startup (4.5) and INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love (4.6)
• broad expertise: newsletters Software Lead Weekly and The Pragmatic Engineer

Extra:

• Software Engineering at Google (4.6)
• High Output Management (4.6)

Senior Engineering Manager (SEM)

Basic recommendation:

• management: An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management (4.5), The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4.7) and Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track (4.5)
• coaching: The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever (4.5)
• finance: How Finance Works: The HBR Guide to Thinking Smart About the Numbers (4.7)
• product: newsletter Lenny’s Newsletter and The Mom Test (4.7)
• broad mngr & leader expertise: Irrational Exuberance, Scarlet Ink and Level Up by Ethan Evans

Extra:

• No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention (4.6) or other Netflix books
• Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google (4.6)
• The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business (4.7)
• The Coaching Manual (4.5)
• EMPOWERED: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products (4.6)
• newsletter The Beautiful Mess

Engineering Director+ (ED+)

Basic recommendation:

• system thinking: Thinking in Systems: International Bestseller (4.6)
• management and leadership: Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building (4.6), The Engineering Executive’s Primer (4.7), Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon (4.6) and newsletter Joshua Burgin’s Substack
• strategy: Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters (4.6). There is a newer book from the author: The Crux (4.6), but I didn’t read it
• coaching: The HeART of Laser-Focused Coaching (4.7)
• broad business expertise: Commoncog, Smart Bear, First Round Review and Paul Graham Essays

Extra:

• Amp It Up (4.5) or some other CEO books
• Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps (4.4). Short version: DORA report (2023)
• newsletter Lessons
• industry news The Information
• hardware newsletter Semianalysis

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