I help new engineering managers find their feet, because I remember how hard the start is.
You already know the work. I help with the part nobody teaches: leading the people who do it.
35+ years leading and coaching engineering teams and their managers. Forty people have recommended me on LinkedIn.
Sponsoring a new manager? Let's talk about how to set them up for success.
How I got here
I was promoted into managing the team I had been part of for many years. I knew the work inside out, but I was surprised by how little support or mentoring came with the job, and by how much responsibility, and blame, landed on my shoulders.
I have also worked for some truly awful managers, the kind who deal in blame and self-protection, and I have seen the damage bad leadership does to good people. I vowed never to be that kind of manager.
My biggest early mistake was believing that I had to solve everybody's problems and fix everybody's code. It took me a while to realise that I had changed paths. My job was no longer to be the best engineer in the room. It was to help the people in it do their best work.
Over more than 35 years I have led engineering teams, and coached & mentored leaders (and aspiring leaders) in waste management technology, medical information systems, finance, and commercial and industrial settings. The technology changed each time. The human problems did not: the awkward one-to-one, the delegation that goes wrong, the team that is busy but going nowhere, the quiet doubt that you are not cut out for this.
I started coaching by accident. I interviewed for a role and nearly got it, but it went to an internal candidate. The company had been impressed by what they learned about me during the process, and asked whether I would share some of my experience with their new manager. It grew from there.
Now I do for others what I wish someone had done for me: I sit alongside you, listen, ask questions, and help you find answers that fit you, rather than a borrowed playbook. Forty people have recommended me on LinkedIn, and you can read what they say.
What I believe
- People are not resources. They are the reason the work gets done, and they deserve to be led that way.
- Management is learned in context. No book or course replaces working through your real situations, with someone who will be honest with you.
- Culture is designed in daily choices: how you run a one-to-one, how you respond to bad news, who you let speak.
- Process should reduce friction, not add ceremony.
How I coach
I listen first, then ask questions that help you reach your own conclusions rather than telling you what to do. People I have coached describe it as guidance rather than instruction, and that is deliberate: the habits you find for yourself are the ones you keep.
Background
I am Ken Pemberton. I have led engineering teams for over 35 years, and coached & mentored leaders (and aspiring leaders). I am a committed advocate of agile, coaching and mentoring, and building inclusive, high-performing teams. I also run pembi.net, and I write about leadership and engineering, which you can read in my field notes. I have worked with people in waste management technology, medical information systems, finance, and commercial and industrial settings. Forty people have recommended me on LinkedIn: you can read the recommendations or connect with me on LinkedIn.
Let's talk
If you are a new manager, or you are sponsoring one, I would be glad to hear from you.