Writing a Book on Technical Leadership: My Journey So Far

When people ask me about writing a book on technical leadership, I usually laugh and say something like, "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!" But the truth is, this book has been percolating for years – I just didn't know it yet.

Where It Started

The seed for this book was planted during my work on the Orion program. I kept noticing brilliant engineers who were rockstars at solving technical problems suddenly struggle when they stepped into leadership roles. Their technical expertise wasn't enough to help them lead teams effectively.

I was one of those people.

I could troubleshoot a spacecraft system or optimize a manufacturing process. Helping a team navigate conflict? Building trust when dynamics were broken? Creating conditions where people felt safe enough to surface problems early? That was a whole different ballgame.

The Turning Point

The real shift came when I found myself leading a team at Kennedy Space Center – folks who'd been labeled as difficult or lacking initiative. But I saw people who just needed the right conditions to thrive.

One team member, Eric, was methodical and cautious – someone who needed space to think without pressure for immediate answers. When I stopped pushing him for quick responses and instead created an environment where his thoughtfulness was valued, he transformed into exactly the leader we needed.

That's when I realized: this is what technical leadership is really about. It's about becoming an Emotional Architect – someone who can engineer the human systems that enable technical excellence.

The Book

That insight became The Emotional Architect, which is currently with my editor and scheduled to publish in early 2026.

The book is for technical leaders who feel too much, work too hard, and see patterns others miss. It's about stopping being the hero who saves every crisis and starting being the leader who prevents them. About understanding that "scope creep" is usually a trust problem and "quality issues" are often psychological safety problems.

Writing it has been equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. Some days the words flow. Other days I wonder who would want to read what I have to say. I've scrapped entire sections, reorganized countless times, and learned more about leadership by trying to articulate it clearly than I did in years of practice.

What I've Learned

One thing I didn't expect: writing this book made me a better leader. When you have to articulate your leadership philosophy clearly enough for someone else to apply it, you're forced to examine what you actually believe and why.

I've also had to be vulnerable about my failures. Some of my biggest leadership lessons came from spectacular mistakes, and the book is better for including those stories.

Interestingly, my English major background prepared me for this in ways I never anticipated. I spent years analyzing character development and watching fictional leaders make decisions under pressure. I learned from both brilliant and catastrophic leaders without having to personally make every mistake. My hope is that readers gain similar benefits from my real-world experience.

What's Next

As we move toward the early 2026 launch, I'll be sharing more here – insights from the book, stories from the writing process, and eventually how you can get your hands on a copy.

If you're a technical leader working to build teams where both technical excellence and human capability flourish, I'd love to hear from you. What challenges are you facing? Your experiences remind me why this work matters.

Build well. Lead sustainably. Enable awesome.

Want to follow along until launch? Subscribe to my Technical Leadership Thursdays email series or connect with me on LinkedIn.