Becoming a Technical Leader

is the title of an excellent book by Jerry Weinberg. As usual I'm going to quote from a few pages:

Underlying organic models is the fundamental idea of systems thinking: "It is impossible to change just one thing at a time."

Leaders are leaders of change in themselves.

People don't become leaders because they never fail. They become leaders because of the way they react to failure.

If you are a leader, people are your work.

There is no conflict between people and task.

Doing something new heightens awareness, which is stimulating, but also a little uncomfortable.

If you intend to grow you cannot avoid some pain.

Very few of the classic leadership studies have been done in environments even vaguely resembling the technical work situation.

The only way we can see ourselves is through other people. This inability to see ourselves as others see us is the number one obstacle to self-improvement.

Becoming a leader means shifting the focus from your ideas to the ideas of others.