Changes in engineering management craft, career growth and all hands demos for inspiration and context w/ Lindsey Simon #252

The Engineering Leadership Podcast explores the evolution of management and career growth strategies, featuring Lindsey Simon, VP of Engineering at Vercel. Simon discusses the importance of live all-hands demos for fostering context, accountability, and inspiration within teams. She advocates for managers to develop a point of view and deeply understand a company's mission before joining, rather than relying solely on general management skills. Drawing from her experience, Simon shares how a customer support engineer's code contribution to her open-source project inspired her to join Vercel, emphasizing the value of "voting with your wallet" in career decisions by working for companies whose products you actively use and believe in. The conversation also touches on the necessity for modern managers to maintain AI competency and empathy for both technical and non-technical users.