For many of us in software engineering, the journey starts with a love of building things—writing clean code, solving complex problems, and watching a vision come to life, one commit at a time. But as we grow, something interesting happens: leadership opportunities begin to emerge. Whether through a formal promotion or simply by default (“Hey, you’re the most senior person here… you lead!”), the landscape changes. Balancing leadership and technical contributions becomes essential as you find yourself spending more time in meetings, guiding team members, and thinking strategically.
Here’s the dilemma: How do you remain a credible technical contributor while effectively leading a team? How do you balance the nitty-gritty joys of coding with the higher-level responsibilities of leadership? It’s a tension I’ve wrestled with, and one I know many engineers face as they transition into leadership.
Let’s explore how we can find that balance—without burning out, losing credibility, or letting the team down. I’ll share some actionable strategies, personal reflections, and hopefully leave you with a few thoughts – because, as with most things in leadership, there are no perfect answers—only trade-offs.
My Story: From Developer Lead to Mentor
In my own experience, I’ve had the opportunity to take on a developer lead role for a team of several engineers. At first, I was balancing many hats—mentoring a couple of junior developers, training two interns who eventually joined our team full-time, and still tackling technically challenging tasks myself.
To be effective, I had to step back and look at the bigger picture. I learned quickly that my role wasn’t just about solving problems on my own—it was about enabling my team to solve problems for themselves. I spent a good portion of my time mentoring and training others, guiding them through their coding issues, and breaking down concepts like Spring REST, Spring Integration, and Spring Batch on a whiteboard.
Here’s the kicker: I could have done all the development on my team myself—probably faster and more efficiently. But I chose not to. Instead, I focused on nurturing the team and empowering them to grow. My goal was (and still is) to have my team replace me—to train and develop them to reach a level where they surpass my skills. I’m always watching for the next team lead, the person who can step into my role, because I believe that when someone else takes over what I’m doing, something even more interesting will open up for me to tackle.
In fact, it did open up an opportunity for me to grow as a developer. I was given a more technically challenging project with higher-impact tasks that required more advanced problem-solving, like putting together a Jenkins pipeline leveraging Ansible, Kubernetes, OpenShift, and Artifactory for each team and each code base in our entire division. I worked with multiple team leads to introduce these changes, and I trained developers and their managers on how our deployments would become more efficient as a result.
Balancing the act of coding, mentoring, and managing relationships between my team, my manager, and project stakeholders wasn’t easy. It took careful prioritization, communication, and a shift in mindset. But in the end, the rewards were worth it—not just for me, but for the team as a whole.
The Allure (and Cost) of Staying Hands-On
When I first dipped my toes into leadership, I thought I could do it all: be a top-notch coder and an inspiring team leader. After all, I reasoned, I had earned credibility by being a strong individual contributor. Wouldn’t stepping away from the code erode that credibility?
What I didn’t realize was that this approach—trying to do everything—wasn’t just unrealistic. It was unsustainable.
Here’s the thing: If you try to keep your hands deep in every code review, every bug fix, and every design decision, you’re robbing your team of opportunities to grow. You’re signaling that you don’t trust them to handle things on their own. Worse, you’re spreading yourself so thin that you can’t give anything your full focus—not your technical contributions, and certainly not your leadership.
That was a humbling realization for me: true leadership means letting go of some of the things you love so your team can shine.
Why Technical Credibility Still Matters
So, if you’re not supposed to do all the technical work, does that mean you should hang up your coding hat for good? Not at all.
Technical credibility still matters. Teams trust leaders who “get it”—leaders who understand the challenges, the trade-offs, and the realities of the work. It’s hard to inspire confidence if your feedback feels disconnected from the technical ground truth.
But here’s the trick: credibility doesn’t mean being the best coder on the team. It doesn’t mean doing the hardest tasks or pulling late nights to prove you’re still a “real engineer.” Instead, it’s about:
- Staying informed. Understand the tools, technologies, and patterns your team uses. You don’t need to write every line of code, but you do need to understand the decisions your team is grappling with.
- Choosing your moments. Pick a few impactful areas to contribute technically—whether that’s tackling a complex problem, mentoring through a tricky design, or prototyping a new idea. Show that you can still do the work, but don’t hog the spotlight.
- Asking the right questions. Sometimes, leadership is about guiding the technical direction by asking thoughtful questions rather than having all the answers.
In short, your technical credibility comes not from being the hero, but from showing that you still care about the craft and can offer meaningful contributions when needed.
Strategies for Finding the Balance
Alright, so how do we actually balance technical contributions with leadership responsibilities? Here are a few strategies I’ve found useful—and that I’ve seen others use effectively.
1. Define Your Leadership Style Early
Take some time to define what leadership means to you. Are you a coach? A visionary? A servant leader? For me, leadership has always been about empowerment—clearing roadblocks, mentoring, and creating an environment where people can do their best work.
2. Timebox Your Technical Work
Technical contributions can be addictive. To avoid getting lost in the weeds, timebox your involvement. Set aside specific windows for technical work, and outside of those windows, trust your team to deliver.
3. Lean Into Technical Mentorship
Instead of solving the hardest problems yourself, use your expertise to level up the team. Mentor team members through challenges, walk them through design decisions, and model how to approach tricky problems.
4. Focus on Outcomes, Not Output
Shift your mindset from “doing the work” to enabling the work. Ask: How can I help my team move faster and smarter? How can I create a culture of learning and ownership?
Wrapping Up: Your Role as a Multiplier
In the end, balancing leadership and technical contributions is about embracing a new mindset. As an individual contributor, your impact is measured by what you produce. As a leader, your impact is measured by what you enable others to produce.
Think of yourself as a multiplier: Someone who amplifies the capabilities of the entire team. Yes, this requires stepping back from some of the hands-on work you love. But it also opens the door to a different kind of fulfillment—one where you get to watch others grow, succeed, and build amazing things.
The transition isn’t easy. There will be days when you miss the clarity of pure technical work. But there will also be days when you see a team member tackle a challenge they couldn’t have handled six months ago, and you’ll realize: This is leadership. This is impact.
Food for Thought
- How do you define technical credibility? Where do you draw the line between staying hands-on and stepping back?
- What’s one small change you could make this week to better balance your leadership responsibilities with your technical passions?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. What has worked for you as you’ve grown into leadership? Where have you struggled? Drop a comment below, and let’s keep the conversation going. Because together, we can redefine what it means to lead as engineers—and leave our teams better, stronger, and more capable than we found them.