Tech lead squad: what's on tap this week (9/16)
Tags: career, leadership
Published: 2019-09-15 19:12:34

---
title: Tech lead squad: what's on tap this week (9/16)
published: true
description: A preview of what I'm talking about this week on my tech lead podcast and email list. This week we're going to be talking about the mysterious thing called influence. 
tags: career, leadership
---
Hey tech leads,

I've never claimed to be the final, definitive source of how to be a great tech lead. I believe I've had some solid, proven initial thoughts, but I continue to evolve, just like you. We're on this journey together.

Over the past year, I've hammered on the Four Core capabilities that will not only give you more certainty, clarity, and confidence as a tech lead but also ensure that you're actually able to follow through in your leadership. (The Four Core is my model for effective tech leads.)

This week, I'm going back (again) to first principles. 

## Leadership == influence

John Maxwell says, roughly, that leadership is followership and followership comes from influence. **So this week we're going to talk about influence.** We're going to get detailed.

What is influence in the context of being a tech lead? Why is influence necessary? How do you operationalize something so squishy in your day to day work? How does it work with the Four Core and how is it independent of it? 

On **Monday** (9/16), I'm going go into a little deeper discussion about influence and why it's so important. We'll also talk about some of the  some well known personalities to think about how they wield influence. Remember the format: I record the podcasts (usually on the weekend) to talk through the topic, and then I hit publish on a more polished version the next day. What happened → [Newsletter](https://michaelrice.substack.com/p/what-is-influence-as-a-tech-lead) ● [Podcast](https://anchor.fm/techleadcoaching/episodes/No--54---Influence-as-a-tech-lead---new-week--new-topic-e5d4lp)

On **Wednesday** (9/18), we're going to explore a proven model of influence that has nothing to do with Four Core. I'm going to try to really adapt the model to being a tech lead and point out how it works for those tech leaders that have clearly never read my book or know of the Four Core! What happened → [Newsletter](https://michaelrice.substack.com/p/george-crushes-your-tech-lead-influence) ● [Podcast](https://anchor.fm/techleadcoaching/episodes/No--55---Six-proven-influence-techniques--applied-to-the-tech-lead-role-e5e3aj)

On **Friday** (9/20), I'll pull the intro topic together and integrate the model I introduce on Wednesday with the Four Core so you can really operationalize this thing called influence. What happened → [Newsletter](https://michaelrice.substack.com/p/you-yes-you-can-influence-no-56) ● [Podcast](https://anchor.fm/techleadcoaching/episodes/No--56---Practical-tech-lead-influence---lets-wrap-it-up-e5f66e)

It's going to be a great week.

---
## Join the Tech Lead Squad

You can always follow me here on dev.to - I try to post some tidbits and useful stuff from time to time.

But I think my best work is on Substack, which is a paid list (only $7/month), but I often publish a few free letters each month so make sure you sign up for at least the free issues. 

[Sign up here!](https://michaelrice.substack.com)