Director-level comms trending on social
What happened
Engineering leaders on X are pushing concrete frameworks for getting promoted: make invisible work visible by linking technical tasks to strategic impact and use KPI-backed storytelling to translate Agile into board-ready updates. Practitioners like Pawel Hajdan, Gregor Purdy and SheCanCodeHQ are all advocating structured practices — intent-based ownership, leadership superpowers systems, and explicit alignment to business goals — as the pathway from IC to director. (x.com) (x.com) (x.com)
Why it matters
Three influential posts on X from Pawel Hajdan, Gregor Purdy and SheCanCodeHQ pushed concrete, repeatable tools for the jump from individual contributor or manager into a director role. (x.com 1) (x.com 2) (x.com 3) Those threads sit on top of longer work: Hajdan is an ex‑Google tech lead who consults on team and infrastructure practices and has given talks about translating leadership lessons from a submarine commander into engineering teams; Purdy publishes a system called “Leadership Superpowers” that centers a diagnostic plus a 90‑day development plan; SheCanCode runs a resource hub and career guides that package templates and exercises for career mapping. (pawelhajdan.com) (sreday.com) (amazon.com) (shecancode.io) Purdy’s model prescribes diagnosing which one or two “superpowers” (focused leadership skills to practice) will move the needle, then running a structured 90‑day plan to show measurable improvement; that diagnostic → sprint pattern is intended to produce clear before/after evidence for promotion panels. (amazon.com) (gplead.com) Hajdan frames “intent‑based ownership” (a leadership approach that asks owners to state their intent—a short plan and why it’s the right choice—so leaders can grant decision authority while tracking outcomes) and argues for surfacing invisible work (tasks like cross‑team coordination and risk mitigation that don’t appear in code metrics) into decision records and impact statements. (sreday.com) (it.purdue.edu) Across the three threads the practical pattern is the same and can be used as a template: lead with one headline metric and its trend (a “key performance indicator,” or KPI, defined as a single number that executives track), translate the recent engineering work into that metric with a one‑line causal link, then end with the specific decision, resource ask or risk to be monitored and the 30/60/90‑day measure you’ll use to prove progress. (x.com 1) (x.com 2) (shecancode.io)
Quick answers
What happened in Director-level comms trending on social?
Engineering leaders on X are pushing concrete frameworks for getting promoted: make invisible work visible by linking technical tasks to strategic impact and use KPI-backed storytelling to translate Agile into board-ready updates. Practitioners like Pawel Hajdan, Gregor Purdy and SheCanCodeHQ are all advocating structured practices — intent-based ownership, leadership superpowers systems, and explicit alignment to business goals — as the pathway from IC to director. (x.com) (x.com) (x.com)
Why does Director-level comms trending on social matter?
Three influential posts on X from Pawel Hajdan, Gregor Purdy and SheCanCodeHQ pushed concrete, repeatable tools for the jump from individual contributor or manager into a director role. (x.com 1) (x.com 2) (x.com 3) Those threads sit on top of longer work: Hajdan is an ex‑Google tech lead who consults on team and infrastructure practices and has given talks about translating leadership lessons from a submarine commander into engineering teams; Purdy publishes a system called “Leadership Superpowers” that centers a diagnostic plus a 90‑day development plan; SheCanCode runs a resource hub and career guides that package templates and exercises for career mapping. (pawelhajdan.com) (sreday.com) (amazon.com) (shecancode.io) Purdy’s model prescribes diagnosing which one or two “superpowers” (focused leadership skills to practice) will move the needle, then running a structured 90‑day plan to show measurable improvement; that diagnostic → sprint pattern is intended to produce clear before/after evidence for promotion panels. (amazon.com) (gplead.com) Hajdan frames “intent‑based ownership” (a leadership approach that asks owners to state their intent—a short plan and why it’s the right choice—so leaders can grant decision authority while tracking outcomes) and argues for surfacing invisible work (tasks like cross‑team coordination and risk mitigation that don’t appear in code metrics) into decision records and impact statements. (sreday.com) (it.purdue.edu) Across the three threads the practical pattern is the same and can be used as a template: lead with one headline metric and its trend (a “key performance indicator,” or KPI, defined as a single number that executives track), translate the recent engineering work into that metric with a one‑line causal link, then end with the specific decision, resource ask or risk to be monitored and the 30/60/90‑day measure you’ll use to prove progress. (x.com 1) (x.com 2) (shecancode.io)
