An Engineering Team where Everyone is a Leader

The core idea is to give each engineer a publicly announced project lead role so ownership is clear and decision-making spreads across the team. By delegating responsibility while the manager retains accountability, bottlenecks disappear and engineers develop real product sense.

The author started with an eight-person team, wrote a simple seven-point expectation checklist, and let engineers rotate lead duties. Early leads received mentorship and weekly written status updates, forcing them to communicate progress, risks, and stakeholder impact. This practice built both writing skill and stakeholder management.

When junior engineers attempted their first lead role, the original vague expectations proved insufficient, so a prescriptive template for kickoff meetings, stand-ups, and weekly emails was introduced. Mentors paired with first-time leads, turning a failed project into a learning loop that refined the process. The result was a sustainable rotation where every engineer owned features end-to-end and stayed engaged after launch.

After 1.5 years, most of the twelve-person team had led complex projects, promotion rates rose, attrition fell, and stakeholders trusted the weekly updates. The approach spreads leadership, improves decision speed, and creates a high-performing culture without overburdening a single tech lead.