Successful Leadership in Engineering: Lessons Learned with Madelyn Carson
Leadership in tech is challenging, regardless of whether you're a novice or an expert in the industry. Today, we have Madelyn Carson, seasoned Engineering Director at Metalab, who will be sharing insights from her journey into engineering leadership. The aim? To lend a helping hand to those navigating their leadership responsibilities in this rapidly changing tech climate.
Who is Madelyn Carson?
A west coast Canadian-born woman, Madelyn is a testament to the prowess of authentic Canadian niceness and creativity. With a background in Electrical Engineering, she made her mark in a predominantly male industry, disproving the ingrained misconception of gender imbalance in tech. Over the past 15 years, Madelyn's tech journey spans from university internship programming to her current role as an Engineering Director at Metalab. Passionate about sharing her experiences as a woman in tech, Madelyn hopes that her insights inspire other women in the industry to do the same.
Engineering Leadership at Metalab
Madelyn's leadership journey has predominantly taken place at Metalab where she rose through the ranks starting as a developer, to becoming an engineering lead, and now the engineering director. In her valuable four-year tenure as director, she has worked with and mentored professionals worldwide.
Metalab, a digital product accelerator, transforms founders' ideas into functional high-quality applications within a span of a few months. With a diverse international crew comprising research, product, and engineering teams, they have launched highly acclaimed products into the market like Slack, Notarize, and Calvin Klein's e-commerce redesign.
Tackling Leadership in Challenging Times
The unprecedented global events stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the great resignation wave, polarizing world politics, and looming global recession have necessitated a shift in management tactics. More than ever, leaders need to balance technical output with empathy, care, and kindness towards their teams who are navigating their professional and personal lives in a discordant world.
Building A Successful Leadership Foundation
Trust is at the center of successful leadership and a necessary foundation for fostering healthy professional relationships. Combining trust with other leadership practices can help create a highly functioning team. Here are a few lessons learned from Madelyn's leadership journey:
- Get to know your team beyond their skills. Understanding your team members as individuals aids in serving them better.
- Listen, take action, follow up. Listening involves helping your team members find solutions and not jumping in to solve all problems yourself.
- Be kind, not nice. Having open and honest conversations even when they're difficult ensures effective leadership.
- Help when needed. Use your leadership position to give the necessary support when required.
- Own your mistakes. Admitting to your mistakes is a sign of growth, and fostering a culture of learning from mistakes results in higher quality output and professional development.
Healthy and authentic coaching follows when a strong foundation of trust is combined with direct communication. Addressing issues as they arise instead of ignoring them decreases the likelihood of projects falling behind or team members quitting.
Leadership Success Litmus Test
A litmus test can help you take stock of your leadership progress. It covers various aspects such as revealing risks or mistakes early, providing regular feedback, empowering others, ensuring high-quality work delivery and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Learning from Mistakes in Leadership
Madelyn recounts her own leadership journey by highlighting the importance of having a strong support network, recognizing the value of her work, being direct with feedback, and balancing between differentity various aspects of work. Everyone's leadership journey is riddled with challenges to overcome, and hers was no exception.
In closing, businesses and industries have significant roles to play in fostering excellent leadership. By sharing our experiences and lessons in leadership, we can develop better leaders who will contribute positively to the tech industry's transformative future tradition.