Career: Becoming A Tech Lead

Learn what it really takes to step into a Tech Lead role.

About This Course

The Tech Lead role is one of the most common next steps for senior engineers, but it's also one of the least well-defined. What you actually do as a Tech Lead varies wildly depending on the company, the team, and the maturity of the organization. This course is designed to prepare you for that transition, or to sharpen your approach if you're already in the role. You'll start by understanding what a Tech Lead actually is, how it differs from a Senior Engineer or Engineering Manager, and what shape the role is likely to take in your specific context. From there, you'll learn how to shift from individual output to outcomes, how to build influence and trust without formal authority, and how to drive alignment across engineers and stakeholders. The course also covers the technical side of leadership: setting direction, managing trade-offs, and making smart calls on technical debt. You'll learn how to give effective feedback, onboard new engineers, and raise the bar for your team without micromanaging. Finally, there's a full section on owning delivery, including how to unblock teams, handle pressure and deadlines, and avoid falling into the trap of becoming a project manager. By the end, you'll have a clear picture of whether the Tech Lead path is right for you and how to thrive in it.

Course Curriculum

3h 29m 9 sections

Welcome

01:20 Free preview

What will you learn in this course?

01:35 Free preview

Who this course is for and prerequisites

01:10 Free preview

Teaching style

00:52 Free preview

The Tech Lead role explained

09:46

Tech Lead vs Senior Engineer vs Engineering Manager

06:26

How the role varies by company size and maturity

08:23

Exercise: My Likely Tech Lead Shape

07:22

From individual output to outcomes

12:33

Ownership without authority

11:55

Exercise: My Personal Mindset Gaps

05:28

Building influence and trust

11:59

Driving alignment across engineers and stakeholders

12:29

Exercise: My Influence Map

05:50

Setting direction and enabling decisions

15:14

Managing trade-offs and technical debt

07:48

Exercise: Technical Direction Planner

06:53

Feedback, onboarding, and raising standards

12:15

Supporting engineers and knowing when to escalate

10:32

Exercise: My Tech Lead People Toolkit

07:31

Owning delivery without becoming a project manager

09:01

Unblocking teams effectively

06:20

Handling pressure, deadlines, and trade-offs

04:36

Exercise: Delivery Responsibility Checklist

06:35

Who thrives and who struggles as a Tech Lead

10:45

Tech Lead as a stepping stone

03:58

Exercise: My Tech Lead Decision

06:50

Conclusion

02:53

Course Details

Level Career

Duration

Rating

$99.99

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Meet Your Instructor

Ryan Murphy

Ryan Murphy

Ryan Murphy is an experienced Engineering Manager at Yelp, content creator, writer and speaker. He currently leads the teams responsible for all the infrastructure behind reliable and safe purchasing. His career has typically seen him either working on trading platforms at large financial institutions or implementing scalable infrastructure behind advertising.
Ryan’s goal is to level-up the next generation of software engineering leadership, where there is currently little on offer for training and learning those new skills.

View all courses by Ryan Murphy

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