# Lessons on Tech Leadership: Autonomy, Collective Decision-Making, and Shared Goals

DevFeed: [Lessons on Tech Leadership: Autonomy, Collective Decision-Making, and Shared Goals](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/things-i-have-learned-about-tech-leadership-19176.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://medium.com/bbc-product-technology/things-i-have-learned-about-tech-leadership-5efcf94065ca?source=rss----ccd524e1760a---4>)

Author: Polly McEldowney

Published: 2024-02-21T12:15:40Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [BBC](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/bbc.md>)

Topics: [Tech Lead](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/tech-lead.md>), [engineering-culture](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/engineering-culture.md>), [Software Engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software-engineering.md>)

Tags: [decision-making](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/decision-making.md>), [leadership](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/leadership.md>), [management](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/management.md>), [management-and-leadership](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/management-and-leadership.md>), [software-engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-engineering.md>), [team](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/team.md>), [tech-lead](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tech-lead.md>), [tech-leadership](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tech-leadership.md>), [technology](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/technology.md>)

## AI overview

A BBC Sounds Software Engineering Team Lead reflects on tech leadership, arguing that leaders should support autonomy instead of micromanaging, involve the team in decisions, and build shared goals collaboratively.

## Source excerpt

I have now been a Software Engineering Team Lead on the BBC Sounds mobile apps team for 4 years. So what have I learned from this once-daunting, now-familiar role? Leadership does not mean telling people what to do.Mother Goose is holding back here and letting the baby gosling stride confidently ahead Before working at the BBC, I thought a tech lead's job was to think of some work to do and command others to do it. It was quite a damaging misconception, because it stopped me considering moving up from a software engineer into management. I don't like telling people what to do. This is because I also don't like being told what to do. As the youngest of four siblings, I have perhaps been overexposed to being bossed around. If someone ever talks to me in the imperative, I have an immediate, instinctive visceral response which vastly reduces the likelihood of my compliance with the request. I suspect I am not unique in this. So I never wanted to be That Guy, who makes other people feel like that. But the excellent news is -- it turns out you don't need to be! The great thing is, grown up people are entirely capable of managing their own workloads. Assigning people specific tasks can often feel like micromanagement to them. If it is clear what tasks need to be done, people will prioritise the tasks into their own work streams and pick them up when they have capacity to do so. Collective decision making is good Another thing I used to think leaders had to do, was go and make up bold, dazzling strategies all by themselves and then tell everyone about their vision. Dictatorially make a swathe of tickets and dump them onto the board, whilst loudly trumpeting about their own self-worth in some public channel. In real life this will get you a lot of side-eye of course. I vastly prefer the approach of talking through what needs to be done with the team and making sure everyone understands why it is important. We can work together to outline the high level goals and then discuss