This Month in React

Ankita Kulkarni is an engineer manager and educator with more than 10 years of experience as a software engineer, now teaching developers about the transition into management.

When Ankita became a manager, she had to find mentors to help her learn the subtle intricacies of being a successful manager. Now, she’s taking what she learned and teaching developers about what that transition looks like, and how to decide if that’s how you’d like to further your career.

- @kulkarniankita9: https://twitter.com/kulkarniankita9
- @vcarl_: https://twitter.com/vcarl_
- @reactiflux: https://twitter.com/reactiflux

Links referenced:

1. Engineering manager's mind map: https://bit.ly/3J7HzVC
2. Developer to Leader Program Waitlist: https://bit.ly/3Lb1Zj5
3. KulkarniAnkita.com: https://bit.ly/3ZyDYak

Topics discussed:

[00:00:17] Being laid off as a bittersweet opportunity
[00:01:32] Building databases at IBM and doing freelance web dev on the side
[00:03:31] New appreciation for coworkers after freelancing
[00:06:56] Getting her first management opportunity
[00:08:15] Leadership vs management
[00:11:28] Intrinsic motivation and finding a team that supports your goals
[00:14:03] Developer to Leader program
[00:15:50] How do you recognize a good leader?
[00:17:42] Teams as a group of individuals
[00:20:33] Psychological safety in software teams
[00:23:01] Having empathy as a leader
[00:27:25] Serving those you lead
[00:29:06] Spotting burnout as a leader
[00:30:27] Setting the tone on a team
[00:32:27] Proactively setting team norms
[00:34:49] Prioritizing your own growth as a leader
[00:36:42] The value of informal chats
[00:39:48] Soft skills in your career
[00:40:50] How to get a taste of the management track

Show Notes

Ankita Kulkarni is an engineer manager and educator with more than 10 years of experience as a software engineer, now teaching developers about the transition into management.

When Ankita became a manager, she had to find mentors to help her learn the subtle intricacies of being a successful manager. Now, she’s taking what she learned and teaching developers about what that transition looks like, and how to decide if that’s how you’d like to further your career.


Links referenced:


Topics discussed:

  • [00:00:17] Being laid off as a bittersweet opportunity
  • [00:01:32] Building databases at IBM and doing freelance web dev on the side
  • [00:03:31] New appreciation for coworkers after freelancing
  • [00:06:56] Getting her first management opportunity
  • [00:08:15] Leadership vs management
  • [00:11:28] Intrinsic motivation and finding a team that supports your goals
  • [00:14:03] Developer to Leader program
  • [00:15:50] How do you recognize a good leader?
  • [00:17:42] Teams as a group of individuals
  • [00:20:33] Psychological safety in software teams
  • [00:23:01] Having empathy as a leader
  • [00:27:25] Serving those you lead
  • [00:29:06] Spotting burnout as a leader
  • [00:30:27] Setting the tone on a team
  • [00:32:27] Proactively setting team norms
  • [00:34:49] Prioritizing your own growth as a leader
  • [00:36:42] The value of informal chats
  • [00:39:48] Soft skills in your career
  • [00:40:50] How to get a taste of the management track

  • (00:00) - Recording
  • (00:17) - Being laid off as a bittersweet opportunity
  • (01:32) - Building databases at IBM and doing freelance web dev on the side
  • (03:31) - New appreciation for coworkers after freelancing
  • (06:56) - Getting her first management opportunity
  • (08:15) - Leadership vs management
  • (11:28) - Intrinsic motivation and finding a team that supports your goals
  • (14:03) - Developer to Leader program
  • (15:50) - How do you recognize a good leader?
  • (17:42) - Teams as a group of individuals
  • (20:33) - Psychological safety in software teams
  • (23:01) - Having empathy as a leader
  • (27:25) - Serving those you lead
  • (29:06) - Spotting burnout as a leader
  • (30:27) - Setting the tone on a team
  • (32:27) - Proactively setting team norms
  • (34:49) - Prioritizing your own growth as a leader
  • (36:42) - The value of informal chats
  • (39:48) - Soft skills in your career
  • (40:50) - How to get a taste of the management track
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Creators and Guests

Host
Mark Erikson
An engineer maintaining Redux and Redux Toolkit, working at Replay.io to make smarter AI chat bots and debuggers using time travel.
Producer
Carl Vitullo
Solopreneur just vibing, posts are probably bullshit. Community lead at Reactiflux, the largest chat community of React professionals.

What is This Month in React?

How busy professionals stay on top of the React ecosystem. We give you a 1 hour recap of the latest news and nuance in React's development and ecosystem, upcoming conferences, and open source releases. New episodes the first week of every month, with live recordings on the last Wednesday of every month in the Reactiflux stage.

Hosted Mark Erikson (Redux maintainer), Carl Vitullo (startup veteran), and Mo Khazali (head of mobile at Theodo). See something for us? Post to #tech-reads-and-news