Impactful Mentorships: How Did They Shape Your Journey?

Discover diverse career growth stories and coding journeys in "Mentors & Mentorships" on The Daily Byte. Get inspired! 💻🌟

Discuss the most impactful mentorship you received in your career and how it influenced your growth as a developer.

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Comments

[Joe Mainwaring]

I don't have a singular mentorship that was uniquely more impactful than others, but three mentorship opportunities come to mind that shaped my career:

Engineering Manager Mentor

In 2015, I was in my second year at HighGround as a mid-level full-stack engineer, and pivoted from the web engineering team to the Hybrid-mobile team (Ionic Framework, Angular 1.x). It was a fairly small team (4 team members total) and I quickly found myself positioned as the understudy to the Mobile Architect (team lead). Unknown to me at the time, he was grooming me to succeed him in the role. This came to light in 2016 when I disclosed that I was considering applying for a new job; a time he himself was working on a smooth transition out of the company. That news was accompanied by a pay incentive to stay, and I went on to lead that team and the product strategy for the mobile app through the company's exit (acquisition) in 2018.

Lessons Learned:

• Manage Expectations
• People Management
• Product Management

Sr. Management Mentor

During the lockdown phase of 2020, I burned out in a team-lead role building the company's unified platform, going as far as submitting a two-week resignation notice before I had secured my next role. As destiny would have it, a role opened up the following day as the company's Director of Infrastructure announced he was leaving. In a 420 inspired moment of creative thinking, I reached out to my CTO and pitched the idea that I transition into the Director role instead of leaving. After a few days of discussing the option with the rest of the c-suite, I was offered the role. Now serving as the Director, I would report directly to the CTO, and over the course of two years, he imparted much wisdom.

Lessons Learned:

• Moving away from individual contributor responsibilities
• Managing multiple teams of different focus simultaneously
• Playing Politics, spending political capital
• Vendor negotiating for high-value contracts
• Building Departments from scratch (people, processes, etc)
• Authoring Policies

Technical Co-Founder Mentor

The manager who hired me at HighGround was also the company's technical co-founder. After the company was acquired in 2018, he quickly worked towards an exit as his working preference was to be with early-stage startups. In doing so, he crowned me his successor as the overall technical owner of the acquired product (web + mobile). We've stayed in touch since, and I have picked his brain many times in the last 12 months as I progress towards the next chapter of my career.

Lessons Learned:

• Technology is just a means to an end
• What kind of artifacts are useful at the pitch-deck stage of an idea
• Cut scope a lot
• Fake it til you make it
• Low code is the best code (aka leverage frameworks, don't recreate the wheel)

[Freddy Hidalgo-Monchez]

I see a pattern in tech where leadership positions are often not filled by people who actively seek them, but rather by opportunities.

What motivated you to switch roles when you took your first lead position? Where you looking for that type of role in another company? And how does it feel now after making that transition from technical to management?

Thanks for sharing your journey Joe!

[Joe Mainwaring]

What motivated you to switch roles when you took your first lead position?

There wasn't much of a motivation factor beyond the pay increase, I was already performing the majority of the responsibilities.

Where you looking for that type of role in another company?

Not specifically. Really was just interested in challenging work and appropriate compensation.

And how does it feel now after making that transition from technical to management?

It feels natural? I'm nearing 40 and have other things going on in my life like cancer treatment, so being out of the trenches has its advantages. Cruising altitude in a career is a real thing.

[Freddy Hidalgo-Monchez]

I've found myself in similar situations so it's inspiring to hear your story and how you navigated those decisions. Thanks for the reply, and here's wishing you good health and as much altitude cruising as possible :)

[nisarjohnysins]

Mentorships can indeed play a significant role in one's growth and development. They provide valuable guidance, support, and wisdom that can have a lasting impact on a person's journey Pod Vape Shop.Many individuals have experienced transformative mentorships that have influenced their career choices, personal growth, and overall outlook on life.

[Zain Shahid]

Certainly, mentorships play a pivotal role in an individual's growth and development. They offer valuable guidance, support, and wisdom, which can have a profound and enduring impact on one's journey, particularly within the domain of NTS NAT Test. Numerous individuals have undergone transformative mentorship experiences that have significantly influenced their career trajectories, personal development, and overall life perspective.