Engineering Manager · Team Lead

Engineering Manager Coaching for the Week You Are In

The underperformer you keep not addressing. The PM who wants twelve things. The delivery miss your director noticed. Engineering manager problems rarely need another framework; they need a specific answer before Tuesday's 1:1.

Coaching here is mentoring-first. I have been in your seat, and I have watched the same situations play out across 3,400+ unique sessions, so the first thing you get is a concrete move with the reasoning attached. Question-led coaching joins in once the urgent stuff settles and the goal becomes your own judgment, at your own scale.

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Rated 9.17/10 on average across 300+ reviews.

Coach, mentor, or course?

A course hands you frameworks and leaves you alone with them. A coach asks questions until you find your own answer, which works beautifully when the problem is clarity and painfully when the problem is a performance conversation scheduled for Thursday. A mentor has run your seat and tells you what tends to work, then helps you adapt it to your team.

Most EMs at 12 to 24 months in the seat need the mentor's answer first and the coach's questions second, which is exactly the order the work runs here. The full comparison, with prices and a 3-question test: mentoring vs coaching. Wondering if the lead role is even for you: team lead vs tech lead vs EM.

What we work on

Real situations, not curriculum. These are the ones EMs bring most, each with a guide you can start on today.

The full situation-by-situation breakdown, with the FAQ: engineering manager coaching & mentoring

What it costs, and who pays

Public pricing: 430 EUR per session, 361 EUR per session for ELC members, or 2,580 EUR per quarter (6 sessions over 3 months). You only pay for a session you rate 7 out of 10 or higher.

The rate stays the same whether you pay or the company does, and the ask is easier than most EMs expect: one avoided mis-hire or one delivery quarter saved covers it. The numbers and the email template: get your company to pay and what an EM coach costs.

Why this coach

Grew engineering at Mews from 8 to 80 teams on the way to a $2bn+ valuation, which means a lot of first-time managers hired, promoted, and coached through their first hard year. Led engineering at Manta before IBM acquired it. 4+ years in the Bay Area at Databricks. 3,400+ unique sessions with engineering leaders in 17+ countries since.

Direct. Mentoring first. No esoteric loops. The full story.

Frequently asked

Coaching, mentoring, or a course: what is the difference for an EM?+

A course gives you frameworks nobody sanity-checks against your team. A coach asks questions until you find your own answer. A mentor has run your seat and hands you the move. The work here is mentoring-first with coaching layered in as trust builds, because a first-time EM usually needs answers before they need mirrors.

My company might pay. How do I ask?+

With an ROI case, in writing. The email template and the math your manager can approve are in the company-pays guide linked below. Same session rate whether you pay or the company does.

What does engineering manager coaching cost?+

Public pricing: 430 EUR per session, 361 EUR per session for ELC members, or 2,580 EUR per quarter (6 sessions over 3 months). You only pay for a session you rate 7 out of 10 or higher.

How fast does it show in the team?+

The 2-year self-taught curve compresses to 6 months when someone external sanity-checks the specific calls. The first visible change is usually the conversation you have been postponing, held within two sessions.