Advice for New Principal Tech ICs (i.e., Notes to Myself)

The piece argues that being a principal engineer is less about being the smartest coder and more about choosing a flavor of influence that matches your strengths. Some principals dive deep in a narrow area, others spread horizontally, and others align multiple orgs. Amazon expects principals to stay hands-on, but the real impact comes from shaping vision and design. At this level the day-to-day work shifts from writing most of the code to providing technical vision, design feedback, and sponsorship. A principal acts like a part-time product manager, designer, recruiter, and finance liaison, connecting the right people and building consensus across directors and VPs. Convincing others that your ideas matter is as important as being right. A large part of the job is teaching the organization to care about things it currently ignores. This means mentoring, running office hours, and deliberately scaling through others so the team can make the same decisions you would. Effective meeting habits-creating space for junior voices and stepping back when the discussion runs smoothly-free up time for high-impact work. Principals should focus on work that won't happen without them, often at the intersection of personal passion and exceptional skill, and then move off the critical path. By delegating, setting clear charters, and protecting thinking time, they maintain autonomy while ensuring the org can succeed without constant dependence on a single individual.