6 reasons why the senior leadership doesn't take you seriously

The article argues that first-line managers sit between individual contributors and middle management, so senior leadership may still read them as part of the dev team. To be respected in higher circles, the author says he had to change several behaviors in how he speaks, frames problems, and gives feedback.

Reading notes

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• Finesse is the ability to get the outcome you want in gray areas by noticing what is unsaid and handling delicate situations with good judgment.
• The author says his blunt message about a Brazilian customer issue sounded demoralizing, and that the way information is presented matters a lot.
• Insecure vibes come from showing too much concern about whether something will work out, and the author links this to joking about age differences and holding back his opinion.
• When delivering bad news, negative words, too many details, and long prefaces make the situation feel more dramatic than it needs to be.
• Managers need to be explicit with junior team members about expectations for reviews, on-call work, documentation, and design work.
• The article recommends sharing the bigger goal, signaling what matters, using analogies, explaining your thinking, being more specific, and reinforcing that the team owns the project.
• Using accurate language helps build trust, while overconfidence or too many caveats can make senior leaders rely on you less.
• The author says one of his coworkers told him he was very sure about everything, even when he was wrong, and he has tried to adjust that.
• Giving feedback to a senior leader is an inversion of normal workplace power, so the article recommends diplomatic, curiosity-driven language and examples.
• The author says he raised a product idea with the VP of Product through Slack and a meeting, and that it worked better than his earlier complaint to the CEO.