Leading Through the Craft, Not the Chair

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For years, I’ve been collecting intel — patterns, insights, and signals from the field. Some came from books, some from the mission, and the rest from scars earned on the battlefield of engineering leadership.

Until now, most of that stayed in my head. That changes today.

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📌 The Intel: Don’t Lose the Signal

Camille Fournier, in The Manager’s Path, put it best. She identifies the friction point immediately:

“In my experience, most of the challenge of engineering management is in the intersection of ‘engineering’ and ‘management.’”

But she doesn’t stop there. She defines exactly what the job is — and what it isn’t:

“What engineering managers do, though, is not pure people management. We are managing groups of technical people, and most of us come into the role from a position of hands-on expertise. I wouldn’t recommend trying to do it any other way! Hands-on expertise is what gives you credibility and what helps you make decisions and lead your team effectively.”

These aren’t just words on a page. They describe exactly how we survived and evolved our DevOps & SRE setup.

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🧭 The Protocol: How We Operate

At Team DevOps & SRE @ Kissflow, we don’t do “blurry” lines. We have a clear separation of engagement:

🚀 Techno-Functional Leadership (The Craft)
🚀 People Leadership (The Shield)

In our system, influence is earned through competence, not your job title. Look at how our heavy hitters operate:

⚡ Noordeen is our Tony Stark.
He leads with speed, systems thinking, and pure innovation. He sees the future and builds it before you finish your coffee.

⚡ Aravindhan is our Daredevil.
He leads with discipline, situational sharpness, and calm execution. He hears the heartbeat of the system and acts with precise judgment.

And my role?
My zone is People Leadership. My job isn’t to spoon-feed answers. My job is to create the kind of confusion that forces clarity.

🎯 Setting the target (Expectations)

🏛️ Holding the line (Culture & Boundaries)

⚖️ Keeping the score (Accountability)

We operate without overlap. They lead the tech; I guard the lane.

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🔄 The Iterative D3O Loop

Techno-functional leadership isn’t a static painting on the wall. It’s a living loop:

Design → Develop → Deploy → Operate → Learn → Repeat

We call this Iterative D3O{Design → Develop → Deploy → Operate}. It prevents leaders from becoming bureaucrats.

• Leadership happens during the work, not in the meeting about the work.

• The loop keeps you connected to reality.

• Every cycle sharpens your technical intuition.

• If you aren’t in the loop, you aren’t leading. You’re just spectating. 👀

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🛡️ The Guardrails

To keep the model intact and avoid drifting into “manager mode”:

⚙️ Stay close to the work. Monitor progress, not just status reports.
🧭 Guide through clarity. Pressure breaks pipes; clarity clears clogs.
🛠️ Lead by judgment. Your authority means nothing if your tech stack is crumbling.
🛡️ Compete, Collaborate & Accommodate. Iron sharpens iron.

Technical relevance isn’t optional. It is the signal the rest of the team follows.

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🎯 The “Why”

Here’s the hard truth: In too many organizations, when a strong engineer gets promoted, the system strips them of their weapon. It pushes them toward spreadsheets, presentations and away from the craft.

Eventually, the silence sets in. They start asking:

• “Why am I not effective anymore?”

• “Why do I feel disconnected from my own team?”

They lose their identity. They become “Management.”

I’m writing this to stop the drift. This post is designed to create discomfort. I want you to pause and look at the gap between how you lead and how you should lead.

• Don’t let the role consume the craft.

• Don’t let the title kill the competence.

• Don’t let the scaling destroy the identity.

This isn’t just a definition — it’s a protection spell.

We wrote it down so you never forget the core truth: Leadership grows stronger when the craft remains alive.

Stay fast. Stay grounded. Stay ready. ⚡🛠️