From Mentor to Manager: How to Get Into Engineering Management | Asana’s Amanda Sopkin
Plus, why all engineers should understand the product, 5 non-verbal behaviors killing team health and 5 questions to assess CTOs.
This week, we sat down with Amanda Sopkin, Engineering Manager at Asana. Amanda shares her journey from software engineer to manager, discussing the pivotal moment she chose to pursue management over an individual contributor path. We cover the indicators of a successful manager, the red flags to watch for, and the importance of mentorship.
Amanda emphasizes the value of finding the right fit for team members, tailoring leadership styles, and developing a balanced team. Tune in for insights on managing senior versus junior engineers, promoting team members, and balancing professional growth and personal fulfillment.
“If you've been at a company for a long time, you kind of gradually accumulate more knowledge in particular areas. Suddenly you're the only person who knows about these systems, and then you get involved in hiring, and then you decide that you want to run this particular kind of meeting or be responsible for this other thing, and then it can be kind of difficult to hand those off.
On my team, we try to rotate different areas of technical expertise. Someone might be responsible for answering questions about one thing one quarter, and then the next quarter this other person's going to take that over so that we're not building too many single points of failure.”
Episode Highlights:
00:49 Amanda’s Path to Engineering Management
04:58 How to tailor your leadership style to your team
06:40 Unlocking the potential of your team
13:25 Keeping track of your team members individual needs
17:43 Management career goals
20:31 What Amanda is passionate about within engineering
The Download
The Download is engineering leadership content we’re reading, watching, and attending that we think you might find valuable.
1. Why all engineers should understand the product
Being a product-minded engineer is one of the most assured ways to guarantee your success in an engineering org, and
‘s article “Product Thinking” outlines two of the easiest ways to get started:Dogfooding: Use your company’s products, and figure out what’s most important for your users
Go outside of your team’s scope to think about the whole system, and how your domain impacts the rest of the product.
2. 5 revealing questions for startup CEOs to assess their CTOs.
How do you know if your CTO’s vision is aligned with business goals?
offers five questions to evaluate a CTO's performance and overall business alignment. Whether you’re a founder looking to evalute your CTO’s performance, or you’re a CTO looking to self-evaluate, this list is a great place to start:How aligned is the CTO with your business goals?
Can your CTO bridge the gap between technical and non-technical teams?
What technology stack is your business built on, and why?
What is engineering working on right now?
How do you measure the engineering department’s performance?
The Essential Guide to Software Engineering Intelligence (SEI) Platforms (Sponsor)
Whether Software Engineering Intelligence is a new concept or you’re actively evaluating solutions, LinearB’s new Essential Guide to SEI Platforms is perfect for any engineering organization looking to drive continuous improvement.
SEI Platforms help drive operational excellence and business impact, and LinearB’s three-part guide highlights what SEI has to offer, how to adopt it, and how to determine what exactly you’re looking for in a platform. Download your free copy 👇
3. 5 non-verbal behaviors killing team health
Someone’s body language can say a lot about how they’re feeling during meetings, and being able to mitigate your own and your teammates is a sign of a great leader.
’s post discusses five non-verbal behaviors that can harm team morale and productivity, offering insights on how to avoid exhibiting these behaviors and effectively manage them in others.4. Career Journey 3: Assembling & Nurturing Engineering Teams
Last year, our series on the career journey of an engineering leader offered invaluable insights ranging from interviews to the management career path, building a team, and more.
If you missed it, we highly recommend you watch this episode with
of on assembling and nurturing engineering teams.