Who should I follow to learn about Engineering management?

If you want to learn **engineering management seriously**, I’d follow a small number of people deeply rather than 50 “leadership influencers.” ### My top 7 1. **Camille Fournier** - **Start here.** Best for understanding the *career progression* from engineer → tech lead → manager → director → VP. Her book *The Manager’s Path* is probably the best single starting point. [Engineering Manager Hub: Land, Level Up, and Lead at Tech Companies in 2026](https://resumegeni.com/blog/engineering-manager?utm_source=chatgpt.com) 2. **Will Larson** - **Best for systems thinking.** Follow him for org design, engineering strategy, team structures, manager effectiveness, Staff+ engineers, and how engineering organizations actually scale. His writing is particularly strong if you're already senior. [CTO / VP blogs · Engreads](https://engreads.com/role/cto-vp?utm_source=chatgpt.com) [Will Larson / Irrational Exuberance](https://lethain.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) 3. **Lara Hogan** - **Best for the human side of management.** Excellent on 1:1s, feedback, difficult conversations, managing up, sponsorship, team dynamics, and resilience. Her material is very practical. [Lara Hogan - LeadDev](https://leaddev.com/community/lara-hogan?utm_source=chatgpt.com) [Lara Hogan's management resources](https://larahogan.me/management/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) 4. **Charity Majors** - **Best for developing your management philosophy.** She's unusually candid about engineering culture, technical leadership, the engineer/manager transition, career development, and what good engineering organizations look like. [Charity Majors - LeadDev](https://leaddev.com/community/charity-majors?utm_source=chatgpt.com) [Charity Majors' writing](https://charity.wtf/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) 5. **Michael Lopp (Rands)** - **Best for the day-to-day craft.** Great perspective on managing humans, leadership situations, meetings, conflict, hiring, and the weird situations that managers inevitably encounter. [Leadership & Management blogs · Engreads](https://engreads.com/topic/leadership-and-management?utm_source=chatgpt.com) [Rands in Repose](https://randsinrepose.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) 6. **Gergely Orosz** - **Best for understanding the industry.** His *Pragmatic Engineer* writing is particularly useful for connecting engineering management to compensation, organizational structures, hiring, developer productivity, and what's happening inside major tech companies. 7. **Julie Zhuo** - **Best for learning to manage people.** Although she's from design rather than engineering, *The Making of a Manager* is excellent for fundamentals like feedback, motivation, delegation, and becoming a manager. ### If I were starting from scratch I'd do this in roughly this order: **Camille Fournier → Lara Hogan → Will Larson → Charity Majors → Michael Lopp → Gergely Orosz** And I'd pair the people with these books: - **The Manager's Path** - Camille Fournier - **Resilient Management** - Lara Hogan - **An Elegant Puzzle** - Will Larson - **Staff Engineer** - Will Larson - **Managing Humans** - Michael Lopp - **The Making of a Manager** - Julie Zhuo - **High Output Management** - Andy Grove The interesting thing is that these cover different layers: **people → teams → technical leadership → organizational design → executive leadership**. That's much more useful than consuming generic “10 habits of great leaders” content. If you tell me **where you are right now** (e.g. senior engineer, tech lead, new EM, EM managing 5–10 people, director), I can give you a **much more targeted 3-month engineering-management learning path**.

**Follow these voices for engineering management insights:** Start with _Camille Fournier_ (author of _The Manager’s Path_), _Charity Majors_ (Honeycomb.io CTO), and _The Pragmatic Engineer_ blog. Add active engineering directors, staff engineers, and CTOs at mid-stage companies who share org design and leadership lessons. These figures provide practical, structural, and evidence-based perspectives on managing engineering teams.[20 Must-Follow Engineering Thought Leaders | StandIn | StandIn](https://www.standin.co/blog/must-follow-engineering-thought-leaders)[The Top Engineering Voices to Follow in 2025 - Jellyfish](https://jellyfish.co/blog/the-top-engineering-voices-to-follow-in-2025/) ## 📌 Key People & Archetypes to Follow Category| Example Voices| Why They Matter ---|---|--- **Pragmatic writers**| _The Pragmatic Engineer_| Long-form, evidence-based insights into how large engineering orgs operate. **Staff/Principal Engineers**| Current ICs at scale| Offer rare perspectives on technical leadership without leaving the IC track. **Engineering Directors**| Mid-level leaders at major firms| Share org design, span of control, and structural reasoning. **CTOs at mid-stage companies**| Leaders of 50–500 engineer orgs| Provide directly applicable lessons for most managers. **Engineering-effectiveness researchers**| DevEx & productivity researchers| Quantitative framing of engineering productivity, increasingly essential. **Communication specialists**| Writers on feedback & managing up| Help managers improve clarity and influence.[20 Must-Follow Engineering Thought Leaders | StandIn | StandIn](https://www.standin.co/blog/must-follow-engineering-thought-leaders) ## 🌟 Notable Individuals * **Camille Fournier** – Author of _The Manager’s Path_ and editor of _97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know_. Offers pragmatic advice on scaling teams.[The Top Engineering Voices to Follow in 2025 - Jellyfish](https://jellyfish.co/blog/the-top-engineering-voices-to-follow-in-2025/) * **Charity Majors** – Co-founder & CTO of Honeycomb.io, writes extensively on observability and resilient team culture.[The Top Engineering Voices to Follow in 2025 - Jellyfish](https://jellyfish.co/blog/the-top-engineering-voices-to-follow-in-2025/) * **Bryan Cantrill** – CTO of Oxide Computer Company, known for sharp insights on systems design and leadership.[The Top Engineering Voices to Follow in 2025 - Jellyfish](https://jellyfish.co/blog/the-top-engineering-voices-to-follow-in-2025/) * **Andy Baio & Anil Dash** – While not strictly engineering managers, they bridge tech, culture, and leadership, useful for broader context.[The Top Engineering Voices to Follow in 2025 - Jellyfish](https://jellyfish.co/blog/the-top-engineering-voices-to-follow-in-2025/) ## ⚠️ Risks & Considerations * **Beware of “coaches” with little recent IC experience** – Their advice can be generic compared to active staff engineers. * **Filter aggressively for evidence** – Productivity and compensation writers vary in rigor; prioritize those with sourced data. * **Avoid echo chambers** – Following only FAANG voices can skew perspective; mid-stage company leaders often provide more relatable lessons.[20 Must-Follow Engineering Thought Leaders | StandIn | StandIn](https://www.standin.co/blog/must-follow-engineering-thought-leaders) ## ✅ Actionable Next Steps 1. **Start with Camille Fournier and Charity Majors** for foundational management lessons. 2. **Subscribe to The Pragmatic Engineer** for structural org insights. 3. **Add at least one engineering director and one staff engineer** from your network or LinkedIn who actively write about leadership. 4. **Balance perspectives** by including researchers (DevEx, productivity) and communication specialists. Would you like me to curate a **shortlist of active LinkedIn/Twitter accounts** you can follow right now, so you don’t have to hunt them down individually?

**Top Newsletter Authors and Writers** * **Gergely Orosz (@GergelyOrosz):** Author of _The Pragmatic Engineer_ , the most widely read tech newsletter. Essential for understanding how engineering organizations scale, team structures, compensation, and management culture. [20 Best Engineering Management Blogs to Follow in 2026 - FeedSpot](https://bloggers.feedspot.com/engineering_management_blogs/#:~:text=Table_title%3A%20Engineering%20Management%20Bloggers%20Table_content%3A%20%7C%20Blogger,%7C%20Contributor%20%7C%20jellyfish.co%20%7C%20%7C%20%7C) * **Camille Fournier (@skamille):** Author of _The Manager’s Path_ - widely considered the foundational textbook for tech managers - and the _Elided Branches_ blog. Her work focuses on the mechanics of growing from an individual contributor to a senior executive. [The Big List of Engineering Management Resources - March 2022](https://practicallyleading.dev/the-big-list-of-engineering-management-resources-march-2022#:~:text=*%20Getting%20Things%20Done%20by%20David%20Allen.,Ask%20a%20Leader.%20*%20Here%20To%20Help.) * **Lara Hogan (@lara_hogan):** Leadership coach and author of _Resilient Management_. Her content focuses on human-centric management, feedback frameworks, handling team burnout, and cultivating psychological safety. [20 Best Engineering Management Blogs to Follow in 2026 - FeedSpot](https://bloggers.feedspot.com/engineering_management_blogs/#:~:text=Twitter%20301.5K%20Domain%20Authority%2054%20Get%20Email,Get%20Email%20Contact.%20*%205.%20Elided%20Branches.) * **Will Larson (@Lrz):** Author of _An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management_ and _Staff Engineer_. He approaches engineering management through a systems-thinking lens, offering concrete frameworks for metrics, organizational design, and technical strategy. **Podcasts and Platforms** * **The Engineering Manager:** A blog and resource hub by James Stanier providing hands-on tutorials, tactical advice for new managers, and deep dives into the art and science of leadership. [20 Best Engineering Management Blogs to Follow in 2026 - FeedSpot](https://bloggers.feedspot.com/engineering_management_blogs/#:~:text=Subscribe%20in%20one%20place%20on%20FeedSpot%20Reader.,resources%20on%20the%20subject%20of%20engineering%20management.) * **Software Lead Weekly:** A curated weekly newsletter by Oren Ellenbogen delivering the best leadership, management, and culture articles from across the web. [The Big List of Engineering Management Resources - March 2022](https://practicallyleading.dev/the-big-list-of-engineering-management-resources-march-2022#:~:text=Newsletters%20*%20The%20Pragmatic%20Engineer%20by%20Gergely,*%20Practically%20Leading%20Newsletter%20by%20Shawn%20Axsom.) * **LeadDev:** A community platform dedicated exclusively to engineering leadership, featuring conference talks, case studies, and articles from engineering leaders at global companies. **Core Reading Material** * _High Output Management_ by Andrew Grove - The foundational operational playbook that shaped modern tech management. [The Big List of Engineering Management Resources - March 2022](https://practicallyleading.dev/the-big-list-of-engineering-management-resources-march-2022#:~:text=*%20Thinking%20in%20Systems%20by%20Donella%20Meadows.,Path%20by%20Camille%20Fournier.%20*%20Manager%20Tools.) * _Team Topologies_ by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais - A modern guide on structuring software architecture and teams for cognitive load management and rapid delivery. [The Big List of Engineering Management Resources - March 2022](https://practicallyleading.dev/the-big-list-of-engineering-management-resources-march-2022#:~:text=*%20Team%20Topologies%20by%20Matthew%20Skelton%20and,*%20Getting%20Things%20Done%20by%20David%20Allen.)

To master engineering management (EM), you want to learn from practitioners who write about real organizational design, scaling teams, handling difficult conversations, and bridging the gap between code and business value. Here are the top thought leaders, newsletters, and resources to follow: * * * ** _Will Larson_ (Author & CTO)** - Known for his books _An Elegant Puzzle_ , _Staff Engineer_ , and _The Engineering Executive's Primer_ , Will writes the deeply analytical blog [Irrational Exuberance](https://lethain.com/). Follow him on [Will Larson's X/Twitter Profile](https://x.com/Lethain) or LinkedIn for tactical mental models on organizational architecture and engineering strategy. * * * **_Gergely Orosz_ (The Pragmatic Engineer)** - Former engineering manager at Uber and Skype, Gergely writes [The Pragmatic Engineer Newsletter](https://www.pragmaticengineer.com/), which is widely considered the top publication for software engineering and management dynamics in tech. Follow [Gergely Orosz's X/Twitter Profile](https://x.com/GergelyOrosz) for sharp industry commentary and management best practices. * * * **_Lara Hogan_ (Management Coach)** - Lara focuses heavily on the human side of engineering leadership - coaching, navigating change, giving feedback, and running effective performance reviews. Check out her practical insights via [Lara Hogan's Website](https://larahogan.me/) and her biweekly newsletter. * * * **_Camille Fournier_ (Author of _The Manager’s Path_)** - Her book is practically the textbook manual for anyone transitioning from a senior engineer to an engineering manager, director, and VP. She frequently shares no-nonsense advice on tech leadership and organizational dynamics. * * * **_Oren Ellenbogen_ (Software Lead Weekly)** - Oren curates [Software Lead Weekly](https://softwareleadweekly.com/), a weekly newsletter featuring the absolute best external articles, management psychology tips, and leadership soft skills from across the web. [The Pragmatic Engineer Newsletter](https://www.pragmaticengineer.com/)[Irrational Exuberance](https://lethain.com/)[Will Larson (@Lethain) / X](https://x.com/Lethain)[Best Newsletters for Engineering Managers in 2026](https://thesovereigntechnologist.com/topics/best-newsletters-for-engineering-managers)[Gergely Orosz (@GergelyOrosz) / X](https://x.com/GergelyOrosz) Are you looking to focus more on the **human/people-management side** (like Lara Hogan), or the **organizational/scaling side** (like Will Larson)? Let me know and I can tailor a specific reading or book list for you.