Become the leader your engineers need

New to Engineering Management? You can do better than "fake it till you make it"

We all started our professional journey as a "Maker" – a designer, programmer or tester. Our ability to make things is what brought us so far.

We all love the feeling of getting things done.

This is why when we go from a "Maker" into a "Manager" role, we so often fall back to our comfort zone. We're neglecting managerial responsibilities working to complete yet another task instead. It's the power of old habits.

But let's face it – you were NOT being promoted to a managerial position to increase your own productivity. Your job as a manager is to amplify your teammates.

Scaling your software becomes increasingly easier, but what about scaling your engineering team?

You were never taught the subtle art of building a team or leading people. As if this isn't enough, these unique individuals (hence "snowflakes") in your team tend to be incredibly smart, analytical, opinionated and ambitious. You know, engineers.

Leading Snowflakes offers you proven tools and practices for improving your management skills that you can implement – starting today.

Ready to buy? Jump straight to the packages

The New Engineering Manager's Handbook — tools & techniques for programmers who want to lead

When I first became a manager, I was hungry to learn as much as I could. If this book had existed back then, I would have bought 3 copies.
- Eli Goodman, former Director of Engineering at Etsy

This isn't another 350-page book you'll agonize yourself over not reading. It's short, concise and pragmatic. You're busy, I get that.

What's in the ebook?

Each lesson starts with the motivation behind the tools and techniques you're about to get to know,
followed by a list of tasks you can use to track your progress.

Lesson One

Switch between Manager and Maker modes

Lesson Two

"Code Review" Your Management Decisions

Lesson Three

Confront and challenge your teammates

Lesson Four

Teach how to get things done

Lesson Five

Delegate tasks without losing quality or visibility

Lesson Six

Build trust with other teams in the organization

Lesson Seven

Optimize for business learning

Lesson Eight

Use Inbound Recruiting to attract better talent

Lesson Nine

Build a scalable team

Free Sample Chapter: "Code Review" Your Management Decisions

Receiving continuous feedback is the fastest way to systematically improve over time. Learn how to apply concepts such as Code Review to practice your management skills.

"Leading Snowflakes" is chockful of great and actionable advice. Even reading the first two chapters has given me lots to think about on how to improve my own behavior and management. This book is a goldmine!

— Mathias Meyer CEO at Travis CI

10 Video Interviews to boost your learning

Over 7 hours of video interviews with great leaders, working for some of the best companies in the world.

Kris Gale
VP Engineering at Yammer

We developed a pretty good culture of encouraging people who had sort of de-facto leadership within the company taking on formal management roles.

Elias Torres
VP Engineering at HubSpot

The team needed me to do something else, which is to provide the vision and mentorship. My role changed to being an advisor.

Michael Lopp (aka Rands) - Director at Palantir

Michael Lopp (rands)
Director at Palantir

We as engineers are control-freaks – we have to own every input, every output and every scenario that could happen with it. That doesn't work well with people.

Eli Goodman
Former Director of Engineering at Etsy

As a manager, I have two primary job functions: ask questions and make people think. That's it.

Alexander Grosse
VP Engineering at SoundCloud

You shouldn't optimize your organization to prevent mistakes; you should rather optimize how you react to mistakes.

Eli Chen
Engineering Manager at Twitter

If you have people that are independent, smart, communicative and capable of working together, then engineering management is really minimal. It's almost as if as the goal is to engineer your way out of the job.

Ben Kamens
Lead Dev at Khan Academy

As a good manager you should always be uncomfortable that you're pushing yourself to do things that aren't natural for you.

Boaz Sedan
Engineering Manager at Netflix

When you reach the point where you realize that it's better to explain rather than do the task yourself, that's roughly when you're ready for a management position.

Edmond Lau
Former Engineering Lead at Quora

When you understand how your work fits into the business, there is higher likelihood that you're building the right thing.

Jade Rubick
Engineering Manager at New Relic

If you're running, you want to run at a pace you can keep running forever.

I am often in awe as I keep finding Leading Snowflakes addresses the exact challenges I face as a new manager. Reading this book lets me know I'm not alone and provides great perspective and tools to overcome these issues. Leading Snowflakes has definitely made me a better team leader!

— Ohad Laufer Engineering Manager at HP Software

Great book that every engineering manager should read! In his own fluent and "Cut to chase" style , Oren Ellenbogen brings the challenges and dilemmas of the technical management world, addressing almost every aspect of it.

— Shaked Simchi Group Leader at Outbrain

3 ways to suit your needs…

Which package is best for you?

THE BASIC EDITION
- The book in PDF, ePub, and Mobi formats
- The audio book
- Track your progress online
BUY NOW | $39
THE COMPLETE EDITION
- The book in PDF, ePub, and Mobi formats
- The audio book
- Track your progress online
- 6 Video Interviews with my key takeaways
BUY NOW | $99
THE STRATEGY EDITION
- The book in PDF, ePub, and Mobi formats
- The audio book
- Track your progress online
- 10 Video Interviews with my key takeaways
- Free, 30-minute consultation call with Oren
BUY NOW | $249

Purchase the full package Team license for $999
Share with up to 10 members of your team.

Everything's immediately available for download & covered with a full 30-day money back guarantee! No Questions asked.

THE STRATEGY EDITION

Everything you need to kick your leadership skills up a notch.

THE BASIC EDITION

(Audio, PDF, ePub and mobi)

All 10 Interviews

(7 hours, video & audio formats)

30-minute consultation

(Ask me anything)

Online Tasks Tracking

(Track your progress)

BUY NOW | $249

Want to share with your team?

All these resources can be useful not only for you; they can also help your entire engineering management team to become more engaged and effective. Since you care about copyright as much as I do, I have a team license that allows you to share it with up to 10 members of your team. No, there isn't any DRM involved, just trust.

Purchase a team license for $999

Share with up to 10 members of your team.

THE COMPLETE EDITION

If you want a smaller package, we’ve got the book and some of the videos and resources for you.

THE BASIC EDITION

(Audio, PDF, ePub and mobi)

6 Video Interviews

(4 hours, video & audio formats)

Online Tasks Tracking

(Track your progress)

BUY NOW | $99

THE BASIC EDITION

The budget option (but still great!)

I want to make sure the book alone doesn’t get undervalued. It really is where I spent the most time and effort. The interviews are very useful, but let's not overlook the book itself. You will be referring back to the tools and practices in this book for years to come.

So, if a budget is an issue, I highly recommend getting the book by itself. You won't regret it.

BUY NOW | $39

Questions?

Which package should I buy?

That mostly depends on your budget. Obviously The Strategy Edition is the best, but the book by itself is packed with practices and ideas that will completely change your the way you lead.

Who is this book for?

The book is written primarily for Engineering Managers, but aspiring managers and Director/VP of Engineering will value from it just as well.

Note about .ePub & .Mobi formats:

For better viewing of the graphics and illustrations, consider using the PDF version of this eBook. The .ePub and .Mobi formats provide limited control over graphics and typography. I've made every effort to ensure they are readable and useful for quick reference.

What if I hate it?

Well, hate is a strong word... but if you hate the book, I'll gladly refund you the money. Just reply to your purchase receipt email within 30 days and I will issue a refund, no questions asked.

Where can I learn more about you?

This one is easy, here.

Oren’s book made an immediate impact on me from the very first chapter. The book contains a ton of pragmatic advice and tips, reading through the pages it often made me realise: “Aha! That is a very clever approach, I can totally practice it at work!"

— Fred Wu Team Lead at Locomote

I recommend Leading Snowflakes to anybody who's learning to lead a software team.

— Brandon Ballinger Software Engineer (ex-Google, Sift Science, healthcare.gov)

I'm sure Oren is getting plenty of praise for this book already - but it's worth repeating: it's awesome. Really. Awesome. Oren nailed it in simple terms that make sense with clear examples that I can follow. Really appreciate his effort to write this book.

— Joe Cincotta Managing Director at Pixolüt

About the author

As managers, our job is not to solely own risks, quality and mentorship, but rather to design a process that will distribute them.

Hey, My name is Oren Ellenbogen, a Software Engineer with a unique passion for people and culture. Some of you may know me as the guy behind Software Lead Weekly and Manager README.

I'm currently working as the VP Engineering at Forter. Before that, I've worked for big companies such as Mercury (acquired by HP) and small startups such as Delver (acquired by Sears), Cleeqa and Commerce Sciences (acquired by Taboola). I had the privilege working with amazing people, serving in different roles such as Technical Lead, Engineering Manager and Director of Engineering.

As much as I enjoy building tools and products, I find myself most fascinated with "Company DNA" - which companies in the world change the way we build software? How do they approach it? How are they hiring people? Which process do they apply? How do they measure themselves?

I enjoy writing and lecturing about these subjects, hoping to provide practical and pragmatic tips people could apply.

P.S. I’d love to meet you on Twitter.

Sharing my lessons learned:

Curator of SoftwareLeadWeekly - a free weekly email, for busy people who care about people, culture and leadership.
Writing a blog about engineering, culture, leadership, management and startups:
Lecturing about:
- Engineering your culture: How to keep your engineers happy (at Reversim Summit 2014)
- The Leadership Role @ the Agile era (at Outbrain, Google and ILTechTalks)
- 12 Leadership Hacks To Build Great Teams (at Conduit, Outbrain and ILTechTalks)
- Lessons Learned Implementing Scrum (at Agile Practitioners IL)
Helping out on Quora:

So, are you ready to buy the book now?

Jump to the packages!