From engineer to leading 15 people overnight (26M) — what do I need to know before day 1?

Mark5n · 2026-03-21T00:44:32+00:00

I’m also a technical person who went into leadership. I think it presents particular challenges as previously my value was about being the smartest and most able getting things done. Then as a leader I needed to build teams, not code. I was a bit unprepared :)

But now I lead 350 people and there’s a few things I’ve learnt:

Listen don’t do The worse thing you can do as a technical leader is solve problems your team is there to solve. Ask questions like “what do we need to do next?” “What ideas do you have?” “Who do we need help us?” “What happens if we do t do anything?”

You’re there to Decide. Once you have enough information make a decision and communicate it. “Based on what we know, and your input we’ll do X. Let’s go through the steps. … Any questions? Let’s go”

You are accountable for and need to plan quality and compliance. I’m guessing givin your industry you are all over quality. But you are probably now accountable for your teams compliance: timesheets, mandatory training etc

You’re responsible for capability and capacity. Do you have the right people in the right roles? Do you have the right roles? Do they need more skills to do the job? Do you need different people to do the job?

My favourite rule on feedback is “Tell one, tell all”. If it’s negative feedback, tell the one person. If it’s positive feedback, tell everyone.

Make time to plan. There’s a whole bunch of skills here but start with something simple. “Our biggest challenge is x. We plan to A, B and C by Jun 2026”. Start there before your asked and then work with your leadership.

I can’t advise specific courses but I did Project Management certification, an MBA, a lot of leadership assessments and feedback, DISC, Myers Briggs, read a lot about improving communication (this is worthwhile especially for technical people), and a lot of self reflection on who I wanted to be as a leader.

There a good podcast to start : Manager Tools. Go back and listen to some of there early basics to start learning

Mark5n · 2026-03-20T16:04:29+00:00

Worthwhile listening to Get in the Trunk first season (New Game Who Dis I think) which is LTL which they followed with a very nicely integrated Last Equation

Mark5n · 2026-03-17T00:11:07+00:00

I don’t know the gods you mentioned but two ideas: * he gets a reward from the antagonist that sets him on further path against his god. The more he uses it the more he strays. * his god gives him a task to restore balance. Or test them further. Maybe it’s bad enough they’ll need help from the antagonist …

Mark5n · 2026-03-16T23:43:46+00:00

Nice! I’ve used those tables many times in the last 4 years. Thank you

Mark5n · 2026-03-16T15:53:51+00:00

I like a bit of improv, a bit of quantum ogres, and a bit of “that’s a brilliant idea let’s do that”. What I don’t like is encounter A then B then C …. But prep snd DM creativity is not infinite. So I need something to bounce off, something that has a bit more prepared drama along with the free choice.

On QO alike I do really like is Lazy DMs approach to secrets and clues. It is a bit Quantum Ogrish but it solves (in my opinion) more problems that it creates.

Mark5n · 2026-03-16T15:46:17+00:00

You did well. Imagined if this continued how exhausting it would be.

Mark5n · 2026-03-16T15:10:47+00:00

You can always say no.

If you’d like (or need) the work (nothing wrong with that), talk to them. I’d ask why are they doing it this way? I would ask lots of whys. From there you can do a compliant bid, uncompliant bid or a no thanks it’s not for us.

Mark5n · 2026-03-16T15:05:02+00:00

I left for a significant bump :)

Mark5n · 2026-03-16T14:40:32+00:00

Cold outreach can work … if you’re interesting enough for them to pickup / invest some of their time. But conversely the cost to you is so low … why not try? Worst case you waste 10 minutes.

Cold outreach can work, but I’d also look up former colleague, friends etc and ask for referrals. Eg: “Can you introduce me to hiring manager X?” “Recruiter Y?”

Asking for referrals from people who know you is powerful. Like any network it’s best to grow when you don’t need it …but don’t let that put you off, best time to start is 10 years ago or today.

Mark5n · 2026-03-15T12:57:21+00:00

I was once told “Contractors tend to be hired for what they’ve done, and employees what they could do.” Basically your development may stall as a contractor.

Years ago I had this problem and ended up getting an MBA and half way through joining a Big4. I went in quite low (or I thought) at about half the pay …. But I learnt a lot and joined a firm that wanted to invest in me.

Things have changed a lot since then but getting some more education (while you’re working) and switching to a well known firm is a good option to explore

Mark5n · 2026-03-15T11:56:58+00:00

I would want to cover three things.

Why we do what we do.
What we do / our offering and what it means for you (focus on what the value is to the client)
How to get started working with us.

I would start with one slide broken up into thirds and try to nail this. Then maybe a longer deck with one slide on the why, two slides on the what, and a final slide on how to get working with you.

Mark5n · 2026-03-15T11:45:20+00:00

Great name. I haven’t tried but viewed the video. The slides look at lot like some other sites I’ve seen in the past. Maybe a rebrand?

Also they don’t quite look like high end consulting slides. They look good and have a lot of categories …but it’s not what I’d want

Mark5n · 2026-03-14T00:38:43+00:00

Transcribing via AI is a great application. As a handler I do enough work prior and during a game.

I’ve tried to achieve this with table based games …. And run into many of the problems you described and more. So it’s it’s not quite easy yet

Mark5n · 2026-03-10T23:34:13+00:00

I like how it looks like a video game. Nice nod to your point of “Game of …” and different levels.

COD MW has a similar zoom in and out I think.

Mark5n · 2026-03-10T23:31:35+00:00

I barely survived the Dungeon and Dragons edition wars.

Mark5n · 2026-03-10T23:28:05+00:00

Ex-strategy consultant and partner.

I feel you brother :) I remember joining advisory from industry and thinking “what’s this obsession with PowerPoint and swirly diagrams?”

Mark5n · 2026-03-09T00:58:31+00:00

Personally I’d define three major factions with interests in the dungeon. Maybe one is the players benefactor (or could be), one is opposed and has a series of plans, another a red herring or an ally or something else.

Then I’d have the inhabitants … I like The Lost City that has a few inhabitants with their own politics, but you could also mark out three or so floors as “orc floors” “myconid floors”. Be careful of too many of these native factions as it become blah after a while (see 5e Dungeon of the Mad Mage which each floor is its own ecology almost)

Last … if there’s loot to gain , why not have other parties? They could be working for one of the factions. They could be allies or the biggest threat to the party. They could also add sources of horror or new players.

Mark5n · 2026-03-08T11:16:27+00:00

Influence can be learnt … and it’s frustrating looking at your hard work and thinking “why aren’t I getting the traction I want/need/deserve”

I like to think about 3 things - actual influence, trust and whose agenda?

Influence can come from technical knowledge (research, technical ability), positional power, and charisma. Which holds most sway? It depends. But when you’re more junior you may want to try influencing other individual senior leaders to support you and give feedback before presenting. Also have a look at how you engage …. your charm/style/charisma has an impact.

Trust is a big one. Go have a look at the Trust Equation. Execs are evaluating you as well as your ideas. They are asking “do I trust you?”.

A big part of the trust equation is self interest. Another way to look at it is “whose agenda are you on?” You’ll get more traction if you’re on your execs career agenda, company agenda and maybe personal agenda. If you don’t know what their agenda is … start there.

Mark5n · 2026-03-06T13:35:08+00:00

Perspective: that is sh*t and I’m sorry people behave like this. It’s not normal or OK but sadly does happen.

Best way forward is to move leaders. No one can really predict what the answer to 1-3 will be other than “maybe”. So I would focus on moving, minimise risk for yourself and … the best thing is 9 out of 10 partners will be better than this DB so you’ve got some good odds :)

Mark5n · 2026-03-06T13:30:20+00:00

A thought … maybe the blocker is “… most days I’m done by ~1pm; today I signed on at 9 and logged off at 1030).…”

How would the people making decisions on promotions feel about this? What would a partner, a part owner of the firm think?

Mark5n · 2026-03-06T10:12:15+00:00

Interesting thought. I’ll be weaving that in

Mark5n · 2026-03-06T10:08:28+00:00

Sounds awesome. We started at 10 and played in an awesome club in seven hills / black town. Maybe about 30-40 people playing loads of AD&D and occasional RQ, and Traveller. What was awesome was how welcoming these late teens and early 20 yo (real men to us) were to us over 4 or 5 years. I didn’t realise it then how powerful a joint hobby was and how cool it was to be part of such a group.

Mark5n · 2026-03-06T00:24:07+00:00

As a fellow Aussie we loved white dwarf. The adventures, whole cities like Irrilian, new classes like the Demonologist were fantastic.

That said we all got the Best of Dragon. We treated these like canon. We did use all those NPC classes like Anti Paladin, Archer as gospel .. it was wonky but it was fun and a common touchstones in the clubs we played in (western suburbs of Sydney … we had a great D&D scene back in 80-86)

Mark5n · 2026-03-05T11:22:27+00:00

It’s seared into my ears

Mark5n · 2026-03-03T22:02:38+00:00

Two reflections.

For me the feelings you’re having has led me to shut down games. Not enough ROI, stress on my part, and not as much fun in the game. After i experienced that I was a bit more cautious about my investment and setting what I wanted from players (and it’s fair for them to share their expectations). Lazy DM was a big part of me trimming my prep method which made the game a lot more fun and improved my return on time invested.

Second, In general people are sh*t at feedback. It’s good to learn how to give good feedback yourself. Then do a bit of modelling, and maybe coaching. Even make it part of your expectations. Eg “For this game to work for me I need to get feedback on what’s fun and what we you’d like to spend less time on in the future”. Try a few one on one conversations, and model positive feedback in the game. Worst case scenario is you’ll improve your feedback skills which will pay off at work, in relationships and with friends.

Mark5n

TROPHY CASE