#9 | Sunday reads for EMs

My favourite reads of the week to make your Sunday a little more inspiring.

Aug 10, 2025

👋 Hey, it’s Stephane. This is a new series in which every Sunday I share with you my favourite reads of the week. To accelerate your growth see: 50 Notion Templates | The EM’s Field Guide | CodeCrafters | Get Hired as an EM | 1:1 Coaching

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Engineering Buy-in

tl;dr: The secret to getting project approval isn't just having a great idea, it's individually lobbying key stakeholders before the formal pitch meeting. Address their concerns privately, incorporate their feedback, and make them feel like co-owners of the project. This playbook will help you navigate organizational dynamics that most never learn.

You Have Too Many Metrics

tl;dr: Most metrics dashboards are just "adult pacifiers for managers with anxiety disorders". The golden rule: only track metrics that directly drive action when they're outside expected bounds. Key insight here is that 80% of company dashboards are useless - if you can't name the last time a metric made you change course, you're wasting everyone's time maintaining it.

How to be an empathetic manager (without becoming a therapist)

tl;dr: Empathetic managers often become emotional dumping grounds, which hurts both you and your team's performance. Listen thoughtfully, then redirect conversations toward actionable solutions rather than endless venting. The framework of acknowledging feelings while guiding toward agency is exactly what separates effective leaders from well-meaning but ineffective ones.

Imposter Syndrome

tl;dr: Management has the same problem as guitar playing.. there are so many effective styles that everyone feels inadequate compared to others. The fix isn't finding the "right" leadership approach but accepting that multiplicity is a feature, not a bug. Stop asking "Am I doing this like the best leaders?" and start asking "Is my approach helping my team succeed?"