Day 12: 3 Books I’m Reading Right Now To Be A Better Leader In Tech
“Insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting different results.”
Albert Einstein
I decided in 2024 I wanted to be a better Leader. To achieve that I knew I must keep learning and refreshing my knowledge.
So, here are 3 books I’m currently reading to help me with:
- How to build reliable and scalable systems
- How to learn more about FinOps
- How to lead senior people on their technical journey
Book #1: “Designing Data-Intensive Applications” by Martin Kleppmann
This book is one of the bibles of system design.
It’s a nice read with a ton of real-world examples which makes it a really compelling book to read (even being a technical one).
Some of the key takeaways I got from it are the importance of Observability in critical applications, and how data is at the center of most challenges in system design.
Book #2: “Cloud FinOps” by JR Storment and Mike Fuller
FinOps is one of the topics that has caught my attention the most. It’s a critical topic at any company working with Cloud Providers like Azure, AWS or GCP (amongst others).
Some of the golden nuggets from this book so far:
- FinOps is a mindset and not a tool or a process.
- FinOps is not a one-shot operation
- Everyone is responsible for FinOps
Book #3: “Staff Engineer” by Will Larson
Finally, for anyone leading Senior Developers and above (for example Staff, Principals or Architects), I recommend “Staff Engineer” to help enlighten the technical path.
I’m still going strong on this book, but, it’s already shedding some light on how to create a path for them, and how they can improve their combination of technical, leadership and personal skills.
📚What books are you reading right now?
