Those of you who have moved from a software engineer/developer role to a leadership position, what advice do you have for junior staff who want to follow a similar career path?

Many of the answers are focused on the technical skills.
I just dropped a post about on my LinkedIn page speaking about Inclusive Leadership.

I will paste here for everybody:

✅ 1️⃣ Commitment: Staying the course is an uphill battle, but inclusive leaders embrace it. Inclusive leaders unwavering commitment not only sets the course but also energizes others to unlock their true potential.

✅ 2️⃣ Courage: It’s about the bravery to confront the imperfections, to challenge the comfortable norms that breed homogeneity. 
Inclusive leaders are unafraid to acknowledge their flaws, turning vulnerability into a strength.

✅ 3️⃣ Cognizance of BIAS: Recognizing BIAS is like identifying the Achilles' heel of leadership. Inclusive leaders strive to recognize their own BIASes, ensuring these unseen forces don't cloud their judgment and hinder fair decision-making.

✅ 4️⃣ Curiosity: A leader's mind must be an ever-expanding horizon.
Inclusive leaders embody a sense of 'stay hungry, stay foolish,' as Steve Jobs famously advised. This mindset drives their curiosity to constantly expand their knowledge, embracing a wide array of ideas and experiences, thereby enhancing their decision-making prowess.

✅ 5️⃣ Cultural Intelligence: This is about understanding and appreciating the rich tapestry of human culture. 
Inclusive leaders are adept at navigating this tapestry, adapting without losing the essence of their own cultural identity.

✅ 6️⃣ Collaboration: It's about harnessing the collective wisdom of a diverse group. 
Inclusive leaders foster environments where voices are not just heard, but valued, creating a symphony of ideas where the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.

- Develop Soft Skills
- Broaden Your Technical Understanding
- Understand the Business
- Build Relationships
- Learn to Delegate
- Develop Decision-Making Skills
- Be Adaptable
- Foster a Positive Team Culture
- Seek Feedback and Mentorship
- Be Patient and Persistent

To grow into leadership positions, I’d say software engineers/developers should prioritize three key points:

1.     Continuously develop technical skills and seek growth opportunities

2.     Focus on the business value and solving consumer needs

3.     Learn to communicate effectively and tailor your approach to different personalities

Learn how to communicate well, learn how to write, how to present, you'll be needing these skills. Think about the customer, how the business can profit from solving their needs for them. Learn about personalities. You'll be dealing will a lot of them and one technique doesn't work for everyone, you'll need to learn to tailor your approach as needed.

This was really great advice that I got from a mentor a while back: you have to start focusing on the business value. Traditionally, as engineers, we’re interested in solving really cool technical problems, and we don’t pay as much attention to whether our code or algorithms are really doing something for consumers. If you want to transition to a leadership role or even a senior developer role, you need to think about how your work can solve business issues.

My previous background at a start-up helped me change my mindset and think more about the consumers using the final product instead of just focusing on the code. You’ve got to learn to have empathy toward customers and their experience so you can solve their problems.