The Hard Part

Book a Call

Career and leadership for tech professionals

Most of what's written about leadership wasn't written for people who got here by being technically excellent. This was.

The Hard Part covers career development, leadership, and performance for tech professionals, grounded in psychology and coaching science rather than management folklore.

Latest Post

There's No Debugger For This

David Killen Published on: 28/07/2026

A technical fix to an adaptive problem doesn't fail loudly. It works just well enough to hide what's actually going on. This post looks at why good leaders reach for process instead of confronting what a conflict is really about, and what it costs.

adaptive leadership in techtechnical vs adaptive leadership problemsHeifetz adaptive leadershipnew engineering manager mistakesteam conflict resolution for tech leadersfirst time tech lead adviceleadership for software engineersengineering team dynamics

The Technical Skills Got You Here. They Won't Get You There.

David Killen

Published on: 21/07/2026

Your technical skills earned you the role. They won't help you lead the team. Most first-time tech leaders face this wall unprepared — 82% receive no management training before stepping up. Here's why the gap exists and what actually bridges it.

Leadership

Executive, leadership, and career coaching for tech professionals. southwellperformance.io