LeadDev on YouTube · Open on YouTube
Technical leadership: reviews, mentoring, incidents and influence · Expert · Lesson 87 of 98 · 44 min video, then about 5 hours of practice
Mentoring other engineers
After this you can set up a mentoring relationship with clear goals, teach through questions rather than answers, and know when to step back.
Why it matters
Mentoring is how your knowledge multiplies. Good mentoring is mostly asking questions that help someone find the answer, giving them work slightly beyond their current level with support, and being honest about what you see. Agree goals at the start, meet regularly, and check whether they are actually growing. Pair programming and reviewing their design docs teach more than advice. Trap: taking the keyboard. Every time you solve it for them, they learn that you solve it.
How to use this resource
A LeadDev talk on mentoring junior engineers specifically.