The Engineering Executive's Primer: Impactful Technical Leadership

by Will Larson

As an engineering manager, you almost always have someone in your company to turn to for a peer on another team, your manager, or even the head of engineering. But who do you turn to if you're the head of engineering? Engineering executives have a challenging learning curve, and many folks excitedly start their first executive role only to leave frustrated within the first 18 months. In this book, author Will Larson shows you ways to obtain your first executive job and quickly ramp up to meet the challenges you may not have encountered in non-executive measuring engineering for both engineers and the CEO, company-scoped headcount planning, communicating successfully across a growing organization, and figuring out what people actually mean when they keep asking for a "technology strategy." This book explains how

Genres: Leadership, Management, Technology, Business, Engineering, Nonfiction, Software

360 pages, Paperback

Published March 12, 2024

Reviews

[Sebastian Gebski · Rating 5 out of 5]

He did it again. Will Larson has written yet another book for senior technical leaders (in this case: engineering executives) that doubtlessly deserves a hearty recommendation.

What's so special about this book?
1. it has a terrible title :) that perfectly nails what it is about, but also is not memorable at all.
2. it's very few books on this narrow, particular topic - being a tech executive; yes, there are multiple (good) books on being software engineering managers, but not being the top dog.
3. I am a former CTO & I am (with 2 my friends: Wojtek & Tomek) running a regular networking group for senior tech leaders (CTO Morning Coffee) - so I can personally confirm that the choice of topics for the chapters is top-notch.
4. It's not easy to find a "weak" chapter ... my least fav. ones were about hiring and onboarding - maybe just because I've over-exploited the topic (LOL) in the past, and I didn't find any particularly refreshing thoughts here. Oh yeah, the "Cultural Survey Data" chapter felt a bit shallow too.
5. My favorite chapters (measured with the number of bookmarks & notes) were 5, 8 & 12 - organization values (!), developing leadership styles & building personal and org. prestige (who would have guessed?!)

This is NOT an inspirational leadership book aimed to get you hyped. Some can even say it's boring because it's all about the everyday work (of an executive) - stuff that has to be done, stuff that is not described in any course or taught an any uni. Don't fool yourself - the majority of that has to be learning on your own while doing things (& observing others). But it's good that now you have this book, so you can at least double-check your own ideas & methods.

Well-deserved 5 stars.

[Bugzmanov · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a bit hard to rate this book fairly. On one hand this is very rare content: straightforward description of what CTOs do. It's very precise and covers pretty much every aspect of the job. No hype, no pump-up, no "radical candor" BS. Straight description.

On the other hand it kinda-sorta-maybe lacks deep insights. I think the most insightful is chapter 3 - about Engineering Strategy and (maybe) chapter 4. Everything else is plain and milquetoast.
Sometimes you can get a glimpse that Will might have more to say on topic (for instance the chapter about demotions), but decided to stay clean and dry and that resulted in him saying "demotions exist. sometimes it's a good choice" and that's pretty much it.

I understand that this is authors choice of a style ("dry and clean") but when being compared with big "big-bad-tech" books ("Super Pumped", "Bad blood", "the Fund"), it feels very ... idealistic and unrealistic. Office politics, power games, none of this things being mentioned even once.

Of all Will's books I liked "Elegant Puzzle" the most. There are tons of books about middle-up management, but Elegant Puzzle was full of insights, new spins and angles to the bitten up topics, I keep writing extensive notes after every chapter.
"Stuff engineer" and this one feels the opposite: these are very lonely books in their category and I appreciate Will taking the effort in writing them, but after finishing them up I keep questioning "Did I actually learn anything new?"

[Mindaugas Mozūras · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most valuable way to become an effective Engineering executive is doing the work.

A must-read for senior engineering leaders. I found myself nodding along quite often, as what Larson described matched some of the problems I had to address and ponder during my years in engineering leadership. The only obviously missing topic I'd add to the list of chapters is something deeper about org design.

Two caveats to keep in mind before picking up this book: it's not a universal success recipe, and the chapters sometimes feel disjointed (I'm looking at you, cultural survey chapter), as in other Larson books.

[Scott Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encoding software is a highly technical task, but effective leadership is often anything but technical. Combining the two thus can be supremely difficult, but this pair of skills is necessary to fill roles like Chief Information Officer (CIO) or Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Unfortunately, advice is hard to come by in the literature since only a few extended books in this space. To better fill these gaps, Will Larson, known for his deep looks at engineering business practices, offers this guide.

As the title suggests, this book’s intended audience is for aspiring engineering executives. It seeks to mentor the next generation of technical leaders. It does that fairly well by providing many actionable pointers and lessons from others’ experiences. Getting this information at the beginning of one’s new station can prevent impactful mistakes.

I’m a researcher, not an executive, and don’t aspire to such a business role. Therefore, this book doesn’t apply directly to my life situation. I don’t feel able to critique its contents adequately. Nonetheless, I appreciate that many of those I communicate with regularly do fit into this camp. Understanding their professional situations is in my best interest. Larson certainly helped me dive deeper into the problems that they seek to solve regularly with their work.

[Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent resource for anyone in Engineering Management.

“Rigid adherence to any prioritization model, even one that's conceptually correct like mine that put the company and team first, will often lead to the right list of priorities but a team that's got too little energy to make forward progress.
It's not only reasonable to violate perfectly correct priorities to energize yourself and your team, but modestly violating priorities to energize your team in pursuit of a broader goal is an open leadership secret. Leadership is getting to the correct place quickly; it's not necessarily about walking in the straightest line. Gleefully skipping down a haphazard path is often faster than purposefully trudging down the safest path.
There are, of course, rules to breaking the rules. The most important being that your energizing work needs to avoid creating problems for other teams.”

[Stephen Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some notes on Engineering Executive’s Primer by Will Larson.
—
Will Larson's third book feels like a blending of his first two — it dials in on the specific role and responsibilities that we saw in Staff Engineer, while bringing more the team and organization focus of The Elegant Puzzle. However, while I found the the book interesting and niche, it didn’t fill me with same excitement around the role’s challenges as the other two books. In a sense, it lacks tension — which, sure, might not be something you expect from a “primer” — and that puts it more in the realm of a reference book than his previous forays.

The book, though, is concise and helpful, and it rises to the right altitude for a book on executive responsibilities. The executive’s role is to further the business — and so we get more high-level discussion on navigating conflict, reporting to the CEO, interview and onboarding systems, building executive partnerships, and other topics that seem like they could be written for any executive, not just engineering ones.

I did feel a little let down by this fact, even if it’s obvious. There’s a subtext throughout that the technical problems are no longer your biggest problems. And in fact, a failure mode for executives is in going too low with their strategic narratives rather than identifying and supporting the engineers who can drive initiatives forward and and helping promote them.

The section where Larson is able to connect these two levels of thinking are the most effective. The chapter on writing a strategy, for example, was compelling: it provided examples, a miniature framework (provide a diagnosis, then policies, then actions), and illustrated a particular artifact / effort that is unique to the engineering executive.

I also enjoyed Larson’s occasional personal asides. When discussing “snacking” as an executive, for example, he shares his doomed effort to start a book club at Stripe (“it was not the right time to start a book club”). A minor anecdote about finding time — or not — to fill his cup with hobbies or family time or professional success was also compelling, and shined a light onto some of the hardest, unspoken aspects of being an executive — the roles’ demand on your life.

And maybe that part of the primer doesn’t actually fit into a book. It’s too specific to your own life, and the demands of the specific company, at that specific time. Sometimes it will be easy, sometimes hard; sometimes you’ll be prepared by your previous experiences, sometimes not. Sometimes it’s fun and you’re jiving with your team, sometimes things change.

How to make such a demanding and dynamic job work for you — that’s the book I was hoping to read. And while we get glimpses of that in the Primer, my impression is that at the executive level, if you are looking for external reinforcement to motivate you, it’s probably not the right role.

—
Favorite Quotes:
On bad strategies: The reason most written strategies don’t apply is that they’re actually visions of how things could ideally work, rather than accurate descriptions of how things work today. This means they don’t help you plot a course through today’s challenges to the desired outcome.

On leadership strategies: To be a dynamic executive, you must develop all three styles [leading with policy, leading from consensus, leading with conviction], the ability to apply the right one to a given circumstance, and the self-awareness to recognize when you’re leaning too heavily on the style you find most comfortable.

On building prestige, rather than brand: Prestige is an ambient, positive familiarity. This doesn’t require an organizational program or a strict content calendar; rather, it depends on building awareness of a small amount of noteworthy accomplishments. The most effective approach I’ve seen is doing a small amount of writing or public speaking, and then ensuring that work is discoverable.

[Rafał Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve had a hard time with this one. On the one hand, I feel too early in my career to fully appreciate it; on the other, it’s dry and overly practical. It’s a tutorial filled with advices, principles, and frameworks, but sometimes it lacks a human touch or a strong point of view.

Despite this, it’s incredibly dense with knowledge. Ideas like “durable improvements depend on building systems” and “You Only Learn When You Reflect” really stuck with me. The chapter on engineering strategy inspired me to think about the importance of direction and clear communication. The section on the first 90 days was good: setting expectations, handling urgent problems, and learning how decisions are made.

Yet, the second half dragged a bit. It felt repetitive, and while some of the advice was helpful, it was also obvious at times. The hiring and onboarding chapters had their moments, but overall, it could’ve been tighter.

If you’re an individual contributor, you might find better books, but this one offers a solid look into the complex world of leadership. It gave me a new perspective on areas I usually overlook, like cultural surveys and performance reviews. It’s a challenging read, but one I hope to grow into with time.

[Vaidas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels like reviewing previous Will Larson's book - "An elegant puzzle". While this one addresses a different audience - targeted towards engineering executives and not middle managers - the overall feel is similar. It feels like a cookbook with templates that were distilled from the authors experience. It's great that he is sharing this as it is extremely valuable (not only for executives, but also for folks working directly with them), but it gives a strange feeling. A feeling that you need to somehow abstract all this to make sense - you need to distill all the advice into a coherent theory of what a great engineering organisation (and by extension it's leader) is.
In that respect I found the Executive Engineering by Jack Danger Canty a much better book. It also contained more new ideas to me.

P.S.
Where the cookbook pattern works really great is in chapters about first 90 days and writing engineering strategy. Very practical advice on vague topics that will be extremely helpful.

[Artur Skowroński · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is actually the first book by Will Larson that I really, really liked. His earlier works tended to go in circles and were quite repetitive. Additionally, they really touched on topics that are quite frequently discussed (though to be fair - The Elegant Puzzle, which I never actually finished, was a strong inspiration for similar publications).

The Engineering Executive's Primer, however, is very well done - it covers a wide range of topics, though somewhat superficially (but not too superficially), and because of that, it doesn’t feel tiring and manages to hold your attention. Moreover, the content itself is quite unique.

For someone who is at the very beginning of the 'Executive' path (Head of Department at a consulting firm), I found a lot of interesting tips, advice, and 'mindsets' that, frankly, no one ever told me when I first stepped into this role. So 5/5 - whether someone wants to understand what such a role entails or as a Bootcamp.

[Augustinas · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh, Engineering Executive's Primer book contains few good concepts/ideas, but they are few and well apart. Will synthesizes obvious things and presents them in a "decent" manner, but Will is not a Camille Fournier caliber writer, so if the form is lacking, compensate with deep insights, which are few to none. I understand that there is the benefit for entry-level managers to receive information well processed and packaged as actionable advice (not helping understand underlying concepts, causes or patterns, etc.), but the book is for executives - so the approach from previous Will's books (Elegant Puzzle, Staff Engineer) looks like a bad fit for the audience.
Oh, and if you are thinking about the Audible audiobook (which I did), the narrator is a robot/AI—very lacking delivery. I would not have bought the audiobook if I knew about robot voice - such a bad performance.

[George Nikolaropoulos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book shines in its structured approach, offering clear frameworks (like the diagnosis-policies-actions model for strategy) and real-world insights that bridge technical and leadership demands.

It’s not a hype-filled motivational read, which is refreshing; instead, it dives into the nitty-gritty of executive life with a focus on execution over inspiration. Highlights include the chapters on strategy and organizational values, which feel both actionable and thought-provoking. That said, it’s not flawless—some sections feel like polished rehashes of Larson’s blog, and the depth of insight occasionally plateaus, leaving you wanting more breakthroughs rather than just descriptions. Still, for anyone stepping into or navigating an engineering leadership role, it’s a valuable companion. Four stars for its utility and clarity, though it doesn’t quite redefine the genre.

[Scott Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reference text for VP level engineering mgmt
While not particularly 'engaging', this book covers a wide breadth of management areas from an executive level. It provides solid advice, and states that there is no 'one size fits all' but that its advice should be adapted for specific situations. I particularly appreciated the section on creating an engineering strategy - it was realistic and provided solid advice. This section made the purchase worthwhile for me. The many many other aspects of executive engineering management that Will Larson addresses were also good (some better than others of course), though many of them are commonly covered in many other leadership and management books. Overall I recommended this as a reference for high level engineering managers.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is pretty dry, but I liked both because it’s very personally relevant and because he shares candidly and gives practical grounded advice and insight into lots of issues and topics in executive careers that no one else writes and talks about.

A fair amount is more relevant to larger corporations than my current stage, but Larson is open about that, too, with things sorta like “if you have less than 100 people in your startup, all this process is not going to be worth the effort to maintain and enforce it — do this instead…” or “when your organization gets to about 150 engineers, you’re going to start feeling this pain…”

[Guru · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book covers some interesting topics very specific to Software Engineering Executives such as hiring, managing conflict, executive onboarding, defining standards for the team, etc. Bringing out these topics in the open itself is commendable as hardly anyone even acknowledges these problems at the executive level. Most of the chapters are like blogposts, much like the posts on the author's own long-lived blog, and one may find the "solutions" range from cliched to insightful, but they are rarely prescriptive or preachy. The book leaves you with a number of useful ideas and resources.

[Luca Grulla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book serves as an excellent “manual” for new technology executives.

I commend the author’s efforts to explain how different approaches are suitable for managing varying scales of teams. Managing 20 people is distinct from managing hundreds.

However, the book can be dense at times, even becoming overwhelming. It’s not a book meant to be read cover to cover, but rather a convenient reference guide to learn and clarify specific situations that executives may encounter.

[Mariusz Wisniewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, with lots of practical application advice

Easy to read, with the upside of being practical. If you even need to explore more, it offers many links to other sources, either backing up the story in the book or taking it further.
I can recommend it to anyone who wants to steer their career into the executive path and people working with executives, as it builds a deeper understanding of the role and makes it easier to “speak their language.”

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to figure out if climbing up the ladder is the direction I'd like to pursue. The book covers it all and clearly outlined for me as it is, i.e. everything that can happen will, the role will be never dull, and in the all you will grow into it. However, to get into higher echelons, you need to want it. It's a long-term journey off the EM/IC pendulum, and on it Will Larson did a great job to prep you. It's not a roadmap, neither checklist, just a great primer. Definitely worth reading.

[Asier Marqués · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo he leído en Early Access y me ha parecido muy buen libro con contenido más allá de lo que se suele encontrar para engineering management. Hay pocos recursos pensados para Head o CTO con contenido útil y desde luego, este lo es.
Para personas que tengan ya experiencia en dirección o rol de VP de ingeniería quizás no descubra nada nuevo, pero puede servir para validar aproximaciones.

[Adam Witzel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would benefit from having a thesis and meaningful editing. It lacks strong examples and regularly skips the ‘why’ behind recommendations. I think it could serve well as a checklist of what to consider in these roles and could therefore be cut down substantially. Two stars because this is the second time I’ve been burned by one of Will’s books that’s just a repackaged collection of blog posts (inline links to his blogs are scattered throughout for further reading).

[Roman Safronov · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Engineering Executive's Primer is a well-structured and practical guide for navigating the multifaceted role of an engineering organization leader. Its clear layout makes it an excellent reference for specific challenges and aspects of the leadership journey.

Having read it twice, I find myself returning to it often, a testament to its enduring relevance and utility.

[Balakrishna Chadalawada · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book. You will learn much but on the other hand, the expectation is not to expect anything from the book. This is a very high level book written on personal experiences and clearly, there is much wisdom here which can be used.

[Milton Soong · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best source for how to be a sr leader of engineering.

Covers all practical aspects of being a technology leader. Not a tactical book, but more about strategy and having the right frame of mind.

[Eugene ghaiklor Obrezkov · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really interesting to read about software engineering work from the perspective of executive. Since I’m planning on making it there myself, it was a nice read.

However, at some chapters I was daydreaming, honestly. I think it is because some of the work the executive does is boring for me 😅

[Serhii Povísenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Will improved his writing a lot. I read the elegant puzzle two years ago and to me it was more like a collage of blog posts. That book feels more seamless and coherent. A lot of useful information.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

The spots that aren’t relevant to me today dragged and that’s to be expected.

I like this book quite a bit more than his previous one.

I’ll likely come back to this one in a few years and find it even better.

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on engineering management that I’ve read. His previous EM book was much more watered down, but with this one, I feel that for actually learned something. Definitely a fantastic book to read if you’re an EM, and you want to empathise more with the work that your VP is doing

[Avraam Mavridis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it follows the same kinda patterns like his previous books with a bullet points written style it’s probably the most useful and interesting book that he wrote.

[Scott Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very high quality. Very good practical solid reference.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would serve very well as a refresher when starting an executive role, but pretty dry otherwise. I’d suggest going with the written version over the audiobook as well.

[Andrei Catinean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been an outstanding read. Will Larson addresses every critical aspect of effective engineering executive leadership. While many of the ideas have appeared in his blog, the book skillfully distills and organizes them into a cohesive guide. Will expertly covers essential topics like creating organisational values, how to write a good engineering strategy, how to run effective engineering meetings, and many more.

His insights are practical, well-organized, and highly applicable to both new and experienced engineering leaders. It's a must-read for anyone navigating the complexities of engineering management.

I can see myself referring back to it often in the future.