The Real Learning Curve of Engineering Management

Tom Pethtel, VP of Engineering at Flock Safety, breaks down the real learning curve of moving from builder to manager, and how to keep your technical edge while scaling your impact through people.

You will hear how Tom’s path from rural Ohio to leading high stakes engineering teams shaped his approach to leadership, hiring, and staying close to the customer.

Key Takeaways

• ​ Promotions usually come from doing your current job well, plus stepping into the work above you that is not getting done
• ​ Great leaders do not fully detach from the craft, they stay close enough to the work to make good calls and keep context
• ​ Put yourself where the real learning is happening, watch customers, go to the failure point, get proximity to the source of truth
• ​ Hiring is not only pedigree, it is fundamentals plus grit, the willingness to solve what looks hard because it is “just software”
• ​ As you scale to teams of teams, your job becomes time allocation, jump on the biggest business fire while still making rounds everywhere

Timestamped Highlights

00:32 What Flock Safety actually builds, from AI enabled devices to Drone as a First Responder

02:04 Dropping out of Georgia Tech, switching disciplines, and choosing software for speed and impact

03:30 A life threatening detour, learning you owe 18,000 dollars, and teaching yourself to build an iPhone app to survive

06:33 Why Tom values grit and non traditional backgrounds in hiring, and the “it is just software” mindset

08:46 Proximity and learning, go to the problem, plus the lessons he borrows from Toyota Production System

09:55 A practical story of chasing expertise, from Kodak to Nokia, and hiring the right leader by going where the knowledge lives

14:27 The truth about becoming a manager, you rarely feel ready, you take the seat and learn fast

19:18 Leading teams of teams, you cannot be everywhere, so you go where the biggest fire is, without neglecting the rest

22:08 The promotion playbook, stop only doing your job, start solving the next job

A line worth stealing

“Do your job really well, plus go do the work above you that is not getting done, that’s how you rise.”

Pro Tips for engineers stepping into leadership

• ​ Stay technical enough to keep your judgment sharp, even if it is only five or ten percent of your week
• ​ If you want to grow, chase proximity, sit with the customer, sit with the failure, sit with the best people in the space
• ​ Measure your impact as leverage, if a team of ten is producing ten times, your role is not less valuable, it is multiplied
• ​ When you lead multiple disciplines, rotate your attention intentionally, do not camp on one fire for a full year

Call to Action

If this episode helped you rethink leadership, share it with one builder who is about to step into management. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube, and follow Amir on LinkedIn for more conversations with operators building real teams in the real world.