Blog for Engineering Managers

Blog for Engineering Managers

Your rants are "honestly" hurting you

Complaining does not mean being transparent.

Aug 05, 2025
∙ Paid
12
2
1
Share

👋 Hey, it’s Stephane. I share lessons, and stories from my journey to help you lead with confidence as an Engineering Manager. To accelerate your growth see: 50 Notion Templates | The EM’s Field Guide | CodeCrafters | Get Hired as an EM | 1:1 Coaching

Paid subscribers get 50 Notion Templates, The EM’s Field Guide, and access to the complete archive. Subscribe now.

Your team doesn’t need to hear your spicy takes on every leadership decision.

You might think you're being open. They think you're being unhinged.

That "honest rant" you just had in the team meeting might’ve been your real thoughts but your team might perceive it as: “Leadership is lost, and my manager is spiralling”.

And now your engineers are stuck wondering if the work they’re doing even matters.

You don’t have to like it - you still have to support it

You are not going to like every decision, but you need to know when and how to challenge a decision and when to get behind it anyway.

And no, that doesn't make you a corporate shi…

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Stephane Moreau
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture