There are hundreds of books written on management and leadership. Management books have been written for decades. But, it is only in more recent years that there have been books for software engineering managers written.
While software engineering managers deal with the same challenges that managers in other fields do, they also deal with their unique challenges. Software engineering managers need to know the differences between managing, being a mentor, and being a tech lead.
They often need to liaison and communicate with non-technical people and explain complex, technical problems in simple terms. They need to solve and plan for complex technical issues and projects.
Being a software engineering manager is a niche field, and general management books often fail to address some problems you may face.
Top 3 Books for Software Engineering Managers
These books were written to fill the gap that general management books failed to fill.
Here are, the top 3 books for software engineering managers:
- An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management
- Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager: How to Be the Leader Your Development Team Needs
- The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change
An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management
This book is the most “engineer-y” of these three books. The hardcover is a beautifully bound book that makes an excellent reference.
It is written by Will Larson, who has an impressive resume. The book is broken up into significant topic chapters and then smaller sections of each idea covered in that topic.
The book is written in a very digestible way and is easy to reference when you are looking for insight on a particular topic.
This book is the most technical on the list. It will help you develop a way of thinking about engineering in your organization and the management style that will suit highly-productive and intelligent engineers.
Resources:
- 3 Ways to Feel Less Overwhelmed at Work
- 75 Journal Prompts for Career-Driven Women
- 13 Causes of Overwhelm
Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager: How to Be the Leader Your Development Team Needs
This thick reference book covers the management journey from when you first become a manager.
The way this book is written takes you through the emotional journey you will go on as you start your new role as a manager and through each struggle and new challenge you face.
It describes in detail why people expect certain things from an engineering manager and how non-technical people act when they are interested or nervous about one of your projects (and what to do about it!).
Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager is like a bible for anyone who finds themselves managing a software engineering team and covers a wide breadth of topics.
It explains hiring, running one-on-ones, managing your time and calendar, workplace politics, performance reviews, productivity, and more. The book is a very well-rounded resource.
The Manager’s Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change
The Manager’s Path is written more like a novel than a reference book, although it still has plenty of good advice for software engineering managers.
The former CTO of Rent the Runway writes it. This book reads from the perspective of her reflecting on her time and her journey to becoming the CTO of a hyper-growth startup and the challenges that came from that position.
This book is the best book to read if you are most interested in how to set up your career to become a CTO or even just a software engineering manager.
It has many good tips for early career and how to best set yourself up for promotions or new opportunities. T
here is also a lot of helpful advice for how to get people to perform at their highest level and what the people you manage or mentor are looking for from you.
She also talks about how most people never really have a good manager, at least as a software engineer, and what you can do to change that and what you need to be a strong manager to your direct reports.
Other Management Books
Since it would be hard to keep this list to just these three, here are some other general management books that are great if you are looking for more resources:
A Final Note
While many general management books are written, few touch on the unique challenges and difficulties a software engineering manager faces. These are the top 3 books for software engineering managers that will give you guidance and direction for your role.