Dr. Garland Vance

I help Executives retain employees and increase engagement by developing their company's leaders in 6 months or less. | Author of Gettin' (un)Busy | Collector of Cool Hats

Who We Help

We work with growing companies in service, manufacturing, and banking sectors that have 500+ employees. Our ideal clients prioritize leadership development as a strategic investment and understand that strong leadership is the key to their company’s success. We typically partner with Heads of Talent Development, HR leaders, and CEOs who are committed to developing leaders at every level of their organization.

Problem We Solve

In today’s fast-paced business environment, companies often face leadership gaps that lead to team misalignment, high turnover, and stalled business growth. Developing in-house leadership programs can be time-consuming and overwhelming, especially when leaders are unprepared to tackle 95% of the challenges their companies face. We alleviate that burden by delivering a proven, comprehensive leadership development solution that addresses these challenges head-on.

Client Results

Increased Employee Morale and Engagement: Companies report higher morale, improved retention, and stronger team dynamics as leaders develop confidence and competence.

Accelerated Leadership Promotions: Talent pipelines are filled with capable leaders, leading to quicker promotions and better succession planning.

Boosted Productivity: Leaders who go through our program are better equipped to drive results, manage teams effectively, and improve overall organizational performance.

Strengthened Company Culture: By focusing on leadership traits such as Character, Competence, and Community, leaders create a more cohesive, productive culture across all levels of the organization.

Our Proprietary Framework

Our Unleashed Leadership framework focuses on seven critical leadership traits: Character, Competence, Capacity, Clarity, Community, Culture, and Consistency. We provide award-winning in-person leadership training, followed by virtual sessions to reinforce learning and help leaders apply their new skills. Our programs are highly customizable, allowing you to develop a strategy that builds leaders at every level.

If you’re ready to solve your company’s leadership challenges and build a more confident, capable team, we invite you to schedule a free strategy call. During this call, we’ll assess your current leadership development needs and explore how our framework can accelerate your company’s growth.

Book your free strategy call today:
https://calendly.com/garlandvance/strategy

Founder & CEO

AdVance Leadership helps high capacity influencers live and lead with greater purpose, productivity, and peace. 

We work with leaders, teams, and organizations to understand the effects of busyness on their lives and systematically drive it out so that they can accomplish their highest priorities.

We guide people to discover their life purpose and arrange their lives so that they carry out their purpose every day.

We help teams discover the unique characteristics and strengths of each individual and work out of their greatest contributions. 

We guide organizations to discover their highest priorities and to create the habits necessary to intentionally and systematically make progress on those priorities every single day.

The cost of NOT developing leaders is 
far greater than the cost of doing it.

When leaders fail to develop others, here’s what happens:
1. Bottlenecks. Every decision flows back to you.
2. Burnout. You work harder while your team stays stagnant.
3. Breakdown. Morale drops as people feel unseen and unchallenged.

But when you invest in others, you unlock 
capacity you didn’t know was there: in you and them. 

Nothing shapes a culture more than your commitment to develop other leaders.

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I help middle-to-senior managers get unleashed from the seven issues that cause every leadership challenge. | CEO, Top 20 Leadership Development Company | Collector of Cool Hats

Missy Lester

Happy birthday to the love of my life, Dorothy Vance. 

I met Dorothy when we were 18 year old college freshman. She quickly became one of my best friends. 

We hung out nearly every day of our four years at Carson-Newman University. But only as friends.
In my senior year, I asked her to set me up with another girl. She agreed to. 
Then one night, Dorothy told me that another guy had taken her out on a date. 
I became crazy jealous…and realized that I wanted Dorothy to be more than friends. We started dating a week later. 

That was 27 years ago. 

We’ve been married for 26 years
… worked together for 25 years
… been parents together for 21 years
… owned a business together for 9 years

And I’m still just as crazy about her. 
Happy birthday, my love. 
I’m so glad you were born.

Technical skills can open doors.

But only character keeps you in the room.

Every leader needs two types of character:

- Moral Character — Integrity, honesty, ethics. It’s about doing what’s right, even when it’s hard.
- Leadership Character — Humility, Courage, Ownership. It’s about using your influence to lead toward something greater.

One without the other isn't enough.

Leadership isn’t just about being effective.
It’s about being a good person, too.

My friend took a job that she believed
would change her life for the better.

She would be able to pay for her kids to go to college. 
She would have meaningful work.
She could retire nicely. 

She loved her job for a few months. 
Now, she’s ready to quit.

Do you know what caused her change of heart?

She got a new boss.

Her new boss is a narcissist who expects her to be on call 24/7. 
She’s exhausted all the time and never sees her kids.

She’s taking a new job soon. 
The benefits aren’t as good and it doesn’t pay as well. 
But she trusts her new leader.

A peaceful environment that nurtures a fulfilling life, or a toxic one filled with constant stress—choose wisely.

Arrogant leaders suck the life out of you.
Confident leaders add energy to you. 

The difference between the two?

Humility.

Humble leaders:
-Ask more questions.
-Own their mistakes without hesitation
-Encourage disagreement.
-Know they don't have all the answers

Arrogant leaders want to outshine you.

Humble leaders create space for you to shine.

I’ve been sleeping with one of my coworkers.

My wife knows about it.

Because my wife is that coworker.

Dorothy and I have been married for 25 years
and worked together for 21 of those.

We started AdVance Leadership in 2018. It’s become a Top 20 Leadership Development Company.

Hundreds of people have told us that they could never work with their spouse.

Here are 3 ways we’ve made it work:
1. We’re both have the same mission.
We’re passionate about developing leaders who love the people they lead and get great results.

2. We are curious about each other’s interests.
We aren’t fascinated in the same things. (She cares nothing about hats!) 
But we ask each other about those topics because we are interested in each other.

3. We build boundaries around work.
We take a date every Friday. 
We get away together quarterly. 
We agree that there will be ZERO talk of work or kids.

Leaders should care less.

At least some leaders should. 

If you're a leader with a big heart, 
you’ve likely wrestled with this tension: 
I care deeply about my team... 
but something still feels off.

You might be dealing with leadership kudzu—

an overgrown commitment to people who are 
draining your time, energy, and attention.

Here’s how to stop it:
1. Identify team members who consistently underperform, overdramatize, or ignore feedback.
2. Ask yourself: “Am I holding onto this person because I care… or because I’m afraid to act?”
3. Make a plan. One that aligns with both your Character and your Clarity.

Want more? I unpack the full strategy here: https://lnkd.in/eYP8ttGn

My friend, Jason, got promoted to manager 6 months ago.
He’s ready to quit. 

He’s been a top performer for years. 
Now he leads a team of 12. 

At first, he was excited.

Then, leadership hit hard.
- His inbox overflowed.
- Meetings drained his time.
- His team became disengaged.

He reached out to HR to get some help.

They told him that his company didn’t have any training opportunities for managers.  

Jason felt
…stuck
……frustrated
……….overwhelmed.

His team became discouraged. 

During our recent conversation, he discovered
95% of leadership challenges come down to just 7 core traits:

1. Character commands trust.
Leadership starts with who you are. If your team doesn’t trust you, they won’t follow you. Own your decisions. Speak the truth. Do what’s right—even when it’s hard.

2. Competence drives excellence.
What got you promoted won’t keep you effective. Leadership is a skillset, not a title. Invest in learning. Sharpen your abilities. Stay ahead of challenges.

3. Capacity fuels endurance.
Overloaded leaders create overwhelmed teams. If you’re running on empty, so is your team. Manage your time, protect your energy, and focus on what truly matters.

4. Clarity eliminates chaos.
Confusion is the enemy of execution. Your team doesn’t need more motivation—they need direction. Set clear priorities. Define success. Communicate with precision.

5. Community strengthens commitment.
People don’t work hard for companies. They work hard for leaders they trust. Build real relationships. Foster teamwork. Lead with empathy.

6. Culture shapes success.
Your team’s behaviors reflect your leadership. What you allow becomes the norm. Set high standards. Reinforce the right actions. Build a culture that wins.

7. Consistency builds confidence.
Unpredictable leadership creates uncertainty. If your team can’t count on you, they won’t commit fully. Show up the same way, every day. Stability fuels trust.

Decide which one you need to work on.
Your confidence will grow.
Your team will thank you.

“I have no idea what’s expected of me.”

That’s what a mid-level leader told me after three years in her role. 
Three. Years.

She wasn’t failing.
She wasn’t lazy.
She wasn’t disengaged.
She just didn’t know what success looked like in her role— and no one had ever told her.

And here’s the cost:
-She was hesitant to make decisions.
-She didn’t develop her team.
-She didn’t grow—because she didn’t know where to grow.

When leaders lack clarity, they shrink.
When leaders get clear, they expand.

The fix?
-Clear expectations.
-Clear feedback.
-Clear definitions of what good leadership looks like.

Three signs of a toxic culture: Shame. Blame. Fear.

These are common phrases you’ll hear in a toxic environment:

- What's wrong with YOU? (shame)
- You screwed up again (blame)
- Get this right. Or else... (fear)
- You're an idiot. (shame)
- It's not my fault. ________ did it. (blame)
- Don't make me fire you (fear)

My grandmother was a bully.

Her name was Mimi. She lived with my family for 12 years, and I hated her -- especially in the summers.

That's when she would plant a garden. Unfortunately, she was too old to DO the gardening.

Instead, she perched herself in a lawn chair like a queen on a throne and barked orders at my dad and me.

I didn't just hate Mimi. I despised gardening.

(She and I reconciled before she died.) 

But I still hate gardening.

She taught me an important lesson, though:
Gardeners don’t care for a “crop.” They tend individual plants. When individual plants flourish, then the whole crop is healthy.

The same is true in leadership.

You need a healthy team to accomplish big goals.

But the team is actually a collection of individuals in community with each other. The more each member flourishes, the healthier the team will be.

Trust dies when leaders stay silent.

My client was frustrated by lower performing team members.

He wanted to put them all on improvement plans. 

I challenged him to look in the mirror 
before you put them on an improvement plan, 

Have you consistently communicated with those "low performers."

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 
56% of employees don’t trust their leaders.

When leaders don’t proactively build trust, it quietly erodes.

Here’s how to prevent that:

1. Give trust first
  Don’t wait for people to “earn it.” 
  Extend trust and unlock higher performance.
   
2. Develop all three dimensions of trust
   – Relational: Show interest in people, not just output
   – Integrity: Model values even when it’s hard
   – Skill: Recognize and rely on your team’s strengths
   
3. Build trust proactively
  Hold regular one-on-ones. 
  Create space for conversations that go beyond results. 
  Make personal connection part of the plan—not an afterthought.
   

Don’t let silence breed distrust. 
Say something. Do something.
Trust needs tending.

If you have to choose between 
getting results 
or 
building relationships…

You’ve already lost.

This leadership tension is one 
of the most common—and costly:

Results vs. Relationships.

And too many leaders live in reaction:

- One boss obsessed over numbers, so you swing to “just take care of people.”
- One team was toxic, so you build a nice culture with zero accountability.

Neither works.

Great leaders don’t choose between results and relationships.

They integrate them.
- Use results to develop people.
- Use relationships to drive results.
- When in doubt, communicate with clarity and care.

Your people want to perform—
especially when they know you’re for them.

Don’t pit people and performance against each other.
Let them reinforce each other.

Early in my leadership journey, 
I failed the people I led. 

I had a big vision, 
but no one bought into it. 

I sent out an anonymous evaluation to understand why. 
I received some hard feedback. 

People said I was: 
Unapproachable - Easily frustrated - Too intense - Impatient 

They didn’t buy into the vision because 
they didn’t buy into me. 

They didn't value the vision because 
they didn't feel valued by me. 

I had to change the way I influenced them. 
I took 2 actions: 
1. Reflect. 
-I evaluated my beliefs and behaviors that would cause people to feel devalued. 
-I asked people to give me even more feedback. I thought about how I wanted to lead. 

2. Change actions. 
-Once I knew the negative effect I was having, 
I had to decided which behaviors needed to change.

Fear. Guilt. Frustration.

That’s what I felt over the last two months. 

Emergencies are inevitable.
At some point, you'll face a surprise that knocks the wind out of you and forces everything to slow down.

I’ve shared this before. But in December, our family faced an unexpected medical emergency—a week in the hospital, surgery, and a long recovery. It also meant canceling our much-anticipated Christmas trip to London.

I'm not writing this for sympathy. But because this will happen to you too. Maybe not the same challenge, but something that disrupts your plans and tests your leadership.
When it does, three emotions often show up:
- Fear (the quiet kind that exhausts you)
- Guilt (feeling like you're letting people down)
- Frustration (because life doesn't pause when you need it to)

In this week's newsletter, I share two lessons that helped us navigate this season—and can help you when your moment comes. 

I don’t know if you’re experiencing an emergency. 
But I know that you will. 

This post will help you. 
Read the full post: https://lnkd.in/eTvRaZF5

The right mentor can change 
the way you lead—

faster than any book 
or course ever will.

Most leaders try to grow by pushing harder.

But the fastest way to grow?

Find someone who’s already walked 
the path and ask them to show you how they did it.

Here’s a simple 3-step plan to find a mentor—
and start learning right away:

1. Clarify your growth goal. Is it Character? Competence? Capacity? Clarity? Community? Culture? Consistency?
2. Identify someone a few steps ahead of you in that one area.
3. Invite them to meet 3 times over the next 3 months. Keep the ask clear, short, and specific.

You don’t need a guru. 
You need a guide who’s a few miles ahead.

Which leadership trait are you working on right now—and who’s living it out in front of you? Reach out this week.

Looking for a mentor but not sure where to start?

This article will walk you through it: https://lnkd.in/eU8ptipu

Many believe leaders must always have
-the right answers,
-the right plan, and
-the right direction. 

But the best leaders empower their teams to find solutions.

Insecure leaders try to control everything—and 
end up burned out with disengaged teams.

Real leadership means knowing when to step back and trust your people.

Here’s how to reframe your leadership:

Double the amount of questions you ask.

When you’ve done that, 
double it again.

Your job isn’t to know everything—
it’s to create the environment where the best solutions can emerge.

Motivation doesn’t begin with words.
It starts with belief.

As a leader you hold a unique power—

the power to believe in people more 
than they believe in themselves.

This belief can be the catalyst for their transformation.

Three ways to build confidence.

For over a year, I carried a secret. And I think a lot of leaders feel weighed down by the same secret. 
   
I didn’t talk about this for over a year because I wasn’t sure how. 
And I was scared of how people would respond. But once I started talking about it, I realized that a lot of other people felt the same way. 
   
The secret I struggled with was how lonely I felt. 
   
Honestly, it didn’t make a lot of sense. I’m surrounded by people.
I spend my days with leaders I respect and care about.
   
Dorothy and I get to help people grow and lead better.
That part of the work is a gift.
   
But last year, something started to change in me.
   
I began to feel unseen. Not tired. Not burned out.
 
 Alone.
   
 I realized there wasn’t anyone—outside of Dorothy—who understood the weight I was carrying.
   
 The pressure. The responsibility. The quiet doubts.
   
 Over time, that loneliness did real damage.
 I didn’t lose my ability to think.
 I lost confidence in my thinking.
 I second-guessed decisions.
 Reread emails.
 Wondered if my work even mattered.
   
 That’s when I saw the real issue.
 This wasn’t a productivity problem.
 It wasn’t a skill problem.
 It was a isolation problem. 
   
 And it was a problem that was in my ability to change. 
 
 When leaders carry doubt alone for too long, it always spills over—into decisions, relationships, and results.

 I wrote about this honestly in today’s newsletter. (link in the comments)
   
 It’s personal. And it’s something I think many leaders quietly experience.
   
 If leadership has ever felt heavier than it should…
 You might want to read it.

 You’re not broken.
 And you’re not alone.
   
And if you’re struggling with this, too, send me a DM. I’d love to encourage you.

Unleashed Leadership, my newest book, is only 120 pages. That’s half the size of most nonfiction books.

It’s not that I didn’t have more to say. And it’s not because writing a longer book is harder. It’s the opposite.

Blaise Pascal once wrote, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.”

We chose to write a shorter book because of something our publisher told us: Most people stop reading nonfiction books at page 120.

Think about that. Authors spend months (sometimes years) writing 250+ pages, only for readers to tap out halfway through.

So, Dorothy and I chose to cut out huge sections of the book. Parts that we had worked on and loved but knew that they needed to get cut so we could get clearer. 

The same is true in leadership. You often have to say “no” to a million good ideas so you can say “yes” to the few that really matter.

Engineering with People Intelligence | Microsoft, Yahoo, SAP, Carnegie Mellon | The Engineering Career Coach

I transformed from a curious software engineer to a strategic leader, guiding massive teams at Microsoft, Yahoo, Walmart Labs, and startups. Along this journey, I generated over $2.3 billion in revenue. But it wasn't always smooth sailing.

My quest began with questions about management, innovation, and leadership, leading me to an unexpected discovery - emotional intelligence. It sparked a new realization; traditional corporate management training teaches frameworks, not leadership. That's why I created Taha's Method, a unique approach focused on leading yourself before others and applying management frameworks rooted in human principles.

And boy, did it work!

In 6 years, I led from 0 to 250+ team members. To date, I have coached over 600+ professionals, including those at Google, Netflix, Oracle, Microsoft, Meta, Intuit, Yahoo, and startups, helping them to secure management as well as IC roles (Principal+).

But why stop there?

In January 2022, I walked away from a 7-figure career to dedicate myself to enabling ambitious software engineers to reach their full potential. I developed a personalized 6-month 1:1 coaching program - and the impact has been phenomenal. (Check out the reviews from my clients below.)

Every day, I share insights on LinkedIn about effective leadership, emotional intelligence challenges, and career advancements. In doing so, I've created a vibrant community of learners and leaders.

For me, great leadership can make the world a better place. And I believe that everyone has the capacity to become a great leader.

So, are you ready to unlock your potential? 

Join me, and let's change the world one leader at a time.

Taha Hussain

At Microsoft, I once walked behind a VP into an outage meeting. Screens were red. Graphs were spiking. Engineers were locked in, hunched over their keyboards.

No one dared break focus.

Then the VP spoke.

“What’s the latest?”
5 mins later—“Any updates?”
5 mins after that—“Why is this taking so long?”

What should’ve been a 1-hour fix became a 5-hour disaster.

Here’s what I learned:

In a crisis, great leaders don’t add noise.

They remove it.

If you don’t understand the issue, shut up and listen.
If the right people are on it, get out of the way.
If your boss needs answers, contain the panic—not spread it.

Because when everything breaks, people don’t remember who yelled the loudest.

They remember who kept them focused.

If this story felt familiar, you already know the cost of interference.

I work with leaders on building calm under pressure here ↓
https://lnkd.in/gHSYuJrv

Teams follow steadiness, not volume.

Engineering Career Coach | Microsoft, Yahoo, SAP, Carnegie Mellon | Engineering with People Intelligence

Some engineers still think they’re in school.

They work hard.
Get the answers right.
Turn in clean code.
And expect recognition to follow.

But engineering teams aren’t classrooms.
There are no grades.
No gold stars.
No teacher pulling you aside to whisper, “Great job.”

You can be right AND still be ignored.
You can have the best idea AND still lose the room.

Because the real world doesn’t reward correctness.
It rewards clarity.
Timing.
Trust.
The ability to move people without leaving a bruise.

You’re not here to impress the teacher.
You’re here to shift inertia.
To ship change in a system that doesn’t want to change.

If you’re still playing for grades, you’re going to be outpaced by the ones playing for gravity.

Need help shifting from correctness to real influence?

Enroll in the Top Engineer Method.

I built it from my experience growing engineers at Microsoft, SAP and startups into people whose ideas actually moved teams.

Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

The best idea only matters if it changes something.

Subconcious

𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨: The part of the mind that is not currently in focal awareness but influences thoughts, feelings, and actions. It operates below the level of conscious perception, often storing beliefs and past experiences that shape behavior and emotional responses without the individual's conscious knowledge.

Goalsetting

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Newsletter Post

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https://open.substack.com/pub/tahahussain/p/want-a-brilliant-team-restrict-their

TopEngineer

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Start now: https://www.topengineermethod.com/

Job Hunt 2024

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Newsletter Subscribe

📌📌📌 Full post:

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Resume Ghostbuster

📌📌📌 The Resume Ghostbuster

https://www.topengineermethod.com/the-resume-ghostbuster

The promotion trap:

You work harder.
You take on more.
You become the person no one can live without.

Congratulations.
You're now too useful to promote.

Because once you’re essential, you’re a hostage.
Too valuable to lose.
Too useful to move.

The reward for being irreplaceable is a longer leash.

So don’t just work harder.
Work quieter.

- Teach others what you know.
- Build systems that breathe without you.
- Make your absence look survivable.

Smart people move up.
Essential people hold the ladder.

Choose wisely.

If you found this useful, there are four more traps waiting for you. 

I mapped them out here: https://lnkd.in/gCVuj3uY

“Feedback is a gift” sounds lovely.

Until you give it to the person who signs your performance review.

Everyone says they want honesty.
Few know what to do with it.

Try telling the VP their strategy makes no sense.
That the roadmap is broken.
That the reorg created more confusion, not less.

Suddenly it’s not feedback.
It’s attitude.
It’s tone.
It’s immaturity.
It’s a lack of alignment.

Here’s the part no one says out loud:

Feedback only feels like a gift when it flows in a safe direction.

From leader to report.
From senior to junior.
From control to compliance.

Reverse it, and everything changes.
Now it’s disrespect.
It’s ego.
It’s a behavior problem.

You can’t build a culture of feedback if people have to calculate how much truth you can handle.

Your engineers don’t respect you.

Not because you don’t code anymore.
Not because you aren’t the smartest person in the room.

But because you don’t protect them.

You let product pile on last-minute scope.
You force them into pointless meetings.
You make them rush, then blame them for tech debt.

And worst of all?

You expect them to be "passionate" about it.

You didn’t build a team. You built survivors.
And survivors don’t innovate. 
They escape.

They leave leaders who feed them to the wolves.

You want their respect?

Fight for sane deadlines.
Say no when it matters.
Shield them from the corporate meat grinder so they can do what they do best — build.

If your best engineers seem “disengaged,” stop asking what’s wrong with them. Start asking what’s wrong with you.

If this felt personal, good. Leadership usually is.

Learn how to lead teams people want to stay on ↓
https://lnkd.in/gHSYuJrv

Respect is earned long before performance reviews.

An Engineering Director hired me to prep him for an M2 role at Meta. He didn’t get it. Not even M1.

On paper, he was perfect.

• Scaled systems
• Managed managers
• Hit every target
• Told every story by the book

So what went wrong?

It wasn’t his answers.
It wasn’t his architecture.
It wasn’t his delivery.

A leadership blind spot, hidden inside his success.

Startups reward it.
Big tech exposes it.

And it revealed itself with one question.

Read it here: https://lnkd.in/gHDGdCE4

Most engineers stay too long at one company because of:

• “The team is great”
• “I’m finally getting visibility”
• “This might be the year I get promoted”

Translation?

You're trading long-term optionality for short-term comfort.

Here’s what they don’t tell you:

• Staying 6+ years means you're indexed on that system
• You stop interviewing, networking, building signal
• You forget how much more the market values you than your employer does

Then a reorg hits.
Or your VP leaves.
Or someone newer, flashier, louder gets the opportunity you waited five years for.

And suddenly, you're stuck.

Because loyalty isn’t rewarded in tech.
Optionality is.

Want to future-proof yourself?

• Build relationships outside your company
• Share your work beyond your Slack channel
• Learn how to package your skills without waiting for a recruiter to “find you”

You don’t owe your company loyalty.

You owe yourself leverage.

If you want leverage without waiting for permission, 
start here ↓
https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

If your manager says “you’re doing great” but won’t put it in writing, you’re being managed.

This shows up in engineering all the time.

1:1s become fog machines.

You hear:

• “You’re crushing it.”
• “No concerns.”
• “Keep doing what you’re doing.”
• “We’ll talk about promotion soon.”

Then review season arrives.

And somehow you’re:

• “not quite there yet”
• “need more scope”
• “need more visibility”
• “missing leadership signals”

That gap is not an accident.

It’s a tactic.

Verbal praise keeps you calm.
Written praise creates receipts.

Receipts create leverage.

So they avoid them.

Here’s the simple test:

Ask for a written summary.

Try this line in your 1:1:

“Can you write 5 bullets on what I’m doing well, and 3 bullets on what would block my next level?”

If they’re honest, you get clarity.

If they squirm, you get clarity faster.

Then do this:

• Keep a running doc of wins with links, metrics, screenshots.
• After big work ships, send a short recap email or message.
• Ask for feedback in writing, even if it’s informal.
• Repeat it monthly, not yearly.

If you can’t get anything concrete, start interviewing.

Because “you’re doing great” with no paper trail is how companies keep high performers productive and powerless.

If everything you’ve done disappears at review time, something is broken.

This is how engineers fix it ↓
https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

Your work deserves to count.

I’ve promoted a lot of engineers.

You know who got promoted the fastest?

The ones who acted like the role before they were given the title.

If you're waiting for your manager to notice you, you're too late.

Promotions don't go to the most deserving.

They go to the most visible.

Don’t just ask for growth.
Prove you’re already growing.

No one owes you a promotion.
You earn it in public.

Want to learn how to position yourself for your next promotion? 

Join 1,000+ engineers in the Top Engineer Method growing their skills and making their work visible: https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

When I was a Senior Engineer at Yahoo, I used to write essays in every PR.

Protected every pattern. 
Pushed back on every deviation.
People called it “thorough.”

Until one day, a quiet engineer pulled me aside and asked:

“Are you helping, or just showing off?”

That line split me open.

I realized I wasn’t protecting quality.
I was protecting my ego.

I slowed the team down. 
Created tension no one talked about. 
Made collaboration harder than it needed to be.

Since then?

I comment less. Ask more. Unblock fast. Trust quicker.

Because the best senior engineers don’t make themselves the main event. They clear the runway and let the work take flight.

If this felt familiar, you’re ready for the next level ↓
https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

Senior isn’t louder. It’s cleaner.

If nobody swears in a crisis, you’re fucked.

Real engineering teams do not sound polished when production is burning.

They are messy. Direct. Blunt.

So if your standups sound like corporate press releases
“on track,” “should be fine,” “to be honest”
you are not hearing the truth.

You are being fed bullshit dressed up as updates.

And once that becomes normal, your team stops solving problems and starts performing for you instead.

The scary part? 

Most managers don’t notice until it’s too late.

Here are 7 signs your team is faking safety (and what to do about it): https://lnkd.in/g9tV2Cmi

The best engineers leave quietly.

They stop pushing back.
They stop debating ideas.
They stop telling you when something is broken.

And when they finally resign? It’s not a decision.

It’s just the last step in a process that started months ago.

I didn’t see the signs. I lost great people because of it.

So I made three changes to fix this, but they did more than just stop the exits.

Read them here: https://lnkd.in/gsST65Ud

A real senior engineer does not add options.

They kill them.

They carve away the maybes until there is one clear path.
One owner.
One set of tradeoffs everyone understands.

When the path is narrow, teams move.
When the path is wide, they stall, split, and second guess.

Velocity is not a byproduct of more ideas.
It is what happens when someone is brave enough to say,
“We are going this way, for these reasons,”
and let everything else die.

This is one of the core habits inside Top Engineer Method.

Learning to choose a path, own it, and explain the tradeoffs like a real senior.

Start here: https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

Your employer is a gold digger.

They’re digging for your best years.

Your energy.
Your loyalty.
Your future defined by their rules. 

In return?

A paycheck and a promise they won’t keep.

Because the moment the numbers don’t add up...
You’re not a “valued team member.”
You’re a line item - “Employee 456.”

You brought gold. 
They brought a shovel. 

You gave loyalty.
They played the long con.

You gave them time with your family. 
They took away their future. 

Loyalty isn’t rewarded.
It’s exploited.

So stop betting your future on one company.

→ Build a reputation beyond your job title.
→ Create value outside your 9–5.
→ Grow a network that pays in opportunity, not company swag.

Because companies come and go.
Relationships last.

Your job is a tool, not your identity.

Use it, but don’t let it abuse you.

If this made you uncomfortable, good. That’s leverage calling.
Start here ↓
https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

You don’t get a second chance at your best years.

At Microsoft, I once met an engineering manager who'd always show up for design reviews but left without saying a word. I knew this kind. Hell, I had been one.

Polished. Prepared.
Eyes on the roadmap.
Always ready with a status update.

That day, I asked him what he thought about the design.
He said, "Let's check the status on that ticket."

I asked what he'd change in it.
He said, "I'll follow up with the team."

I asked, "what’s broken?"
He pulled up the org chart. 

I wasn’t angry at him.
I was scared for him.

He had traded thinking for tracking.

It doesn’t happen all at once. 
Creeps in slowly.
Quietly.
Conveniently.

You skip a review.
You forward a decision.
You default to process.

And before long, you’re not building systems, you’re babysitting one.

Meanwhile, his engineers?

They were drifting. Quietly.

They didn’t need someone to run meetings.

They needed someone who could look at a whiteboard and say,

“That’s wrong. Let’s fix it.”

And the part that still haunts me?

He thought he was doing a good job.

Because once, I did too.

The more reliable you are, the more invisible you become.

You fix the fire.
You stay late.
You do the thankless work without complaining.

Everyone depends on you.
But no one promotes you.

Because reliability is quiet.
And quiet doesn’t get rewarded in loud systems.

You want to believe the spotlight will find you.
That your work will speak for itself.
That one day, someone will finally say, “You’ve earned it.”

But here’s the truth:

The longer you carry the team, the heavier your silence becomes.

Eventually, they forget what the team would look like without you.

Because you’ve made it too smooth.
Too stable.
Too easy.

And in that comfort, they start promoting chaos.
The loud ones.
The edge-case heroes.
The people who sell half-baked ideas with full-volume confidence.

You stay reliable.
They rise.

Not because they’re better — but because they’re visible.

Need a way to be seen without breaking what works?

Enroll in the Top Engineer Method.

I built it for engineers who carry teams and deserve credit for it.

Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

What you make look easy is often what matters most.

At Senior, your politics tax is low.
Do your job well, and you move forward.

At Staff, the tax goes up.
You need advocates across teams.

At Principal, the tax is heavy.
You’re defending roadmaps, budgets, and headcount.

If you don’t want to pay the tax, you won’t clear the level.

That’s what I teach in the Top Engineer Method.

Learn how to reason, explain, and stand behind your design tradeoffs.

Start here → https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

Most “underperformers” on your team are not found.
They are built.
By you.

You quietly decide someone is “not ready.”
So you give them smaller problems.
With less context.
And softer feedback.

They move slower.
Take fewer risks.
Stay in the shallow end.

Then you point at the gap and call it proof.

Psychologists have a name for this: The Golem Effect
 
Low expectations that quietly become reality.

On engineering teams, it shows up in four places:

1. Climate: Who gets your patience and full attention?
2. Input: Who gets the real “why,” not just the Jira ticket?
3. Output: Who gets the scary migrations and visible projects?
4. Feedback: Who gets specific, stretching one, not “Nice work”?

If the same person keeps landing on the “less” side of those questions, you are not just measuring performance.

You are designing it.

Leaders love to say, “I wish they would step up.”

Often, they are already standing as tall as the room you built for them.

I learned this the hard way with an engineer on my team at Yahoo.

I ran the Golem script.

I did not like how the story ended.

I wrote the full story in this newsletter, including what I changed after.

If you manage people, someone is living inside the room you built for them. Make sure you can live with how small or how wide that room is.

How nice managers ruin careers It was 2015. I was at Yahoo in Sunnyvale, newly appointed to an engineering manager role, and the purple badge still fe

The Golem Effect

If you’re low ego, heads down, and quietly excellent...

You're exactly who the system forgets first.

Because most orgs aren't built to spot deep contributors.

They're built to notice:

– The loudest voice in the meeting
– The person who recaps their own success
– The one who attaches themselves to visibility

You think you're being humble.
They think you're on the sidelines.

And it's not malice. Its design.

The system doesn’t reward quality.
It rewards clarity.

And clarity requires you to show up. Speak up.
Name the work. Share the win. Claim your impact.

This isn’t ego.
It’s survival.

So don’t just be excellent.
Be visible.

If you’ve been overlooked for doing excellent work quietly, I built something to help you turn quiet impact into visible leverage. Start here → https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

Most people don’t stay at companies out of loyalty.

They stay because leaving would expose how little they’ve grown.

We tell ourselves we’re “committed.”
We’re often just comfortable being seen as reliable.

Loyalty without evolution isn’t noble.
It’s stagnation dressed as virtue.

Stay because you’re learning.
Leave when you’re not.

That’s loyalty to yourself.

When you outgrow your environment, it is not betrayal to move on. That is the moment for reinvention. 

The Top Engineer Method was built to help you find it.

Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gMGfmVas

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The Battle

Dr. Garland Vance

Taha Hussain

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Engagements

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dr. Garland Vance's LinkedIn Performance

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