I love solving technical problems and never really considered the managerial track until well into my second role as a staff data scientist. I then realised that the more senior you become, most of your impact comes through others IC or managerial track. Which means that there's an increasing amount of emphasis on communication, processes optimisation as your impact is no longer measured by your output, but by how more effective you make everyone around you. In practice, this will materialise differently for ICs and managers.

The managerial track represents an opportunity to solve a different set of problems altogether while still being able to have impact. I would argue that you have wider reaching impact by embracing the non-technical responsibilities that come with senior positions.

I then embarked on a journey to understand better the expectations that come with staff / principal roles but also to consider managerial positions. Here are the books that stood out.

First-time manager

This is a great book to get started. It's not tech-specific, and that's probably why it's an important one. It covers the essential to get up to speed in your first few months. This book helped introducing a lot of new concepts that I was not very familiar with. I still come back to this book from time to time as it covers a vast number of topics.

The First-Time Manager
What’s a rookie manager to do? Faced with new responsibilities, and in need of quick, dependable guidance, novice managers can’t afford to learn by trial and error. The First-Time Manager is the answer, dispensing the bottom-line wisdom they need to succeed. A true management classic, the book covers essential topics such as hiring and firing, leadership, motivation, managing time, dealing with superiors, and much more. Written in an inviting and accessible style, the revised sixth edition includes new material on increasing employee engagement, encouraging innovation and initiative, helping team members optimize their talents, improving outcomes, and distinguishing oneself as a leader. Packed with immediately usable insight on everything from building a team environment to conducting performance appraisals, The First-Time Manager remains the ultimate guide for anyone starting his or her career in management.
Google Books

The making of a manager

This book is written by Julie Zhuo who draws from her experience as an early employee at then Facebook and lived the company growth, being promoted to a manager only after a few years at the company. This book is a must read for first time managers in the tech industry. It covers all the basics from getting started, managing a small team to hiring, growing and coaching your team.

The Making of a Manager
No idea what you’re doing? No problem. Good managers are made, not born. Top tech executive Julie Zhuo remembers the moment when she was asked to lead a team. She felt like she’d won the golden ticket, until reality came crashing in. She was just 25 and had barely any experience being managed, let alone managing others. Her co-workers became her employees overnight, and she faced a series of anxiety-inducing firsts, including agonising over whether to hire an interviewee; seeking the respect of reports who were cleverer than her; and having to fire someone she liked. Like most first-time managers, she wasn’t given any formal training, and had no resources to turn to for help. It took her years to find her way, but now she’s offering you the short-cut to success.This is the book she wishes she had on day one. Here, she offers practical, accessible advice like:· Don’t hide thorny problems from your own manager; you’re better off seeking help quickly and honestly· Before you fire someone for failure to collaborate, figure out if the problem is temperamental or just a lack of training or coaching· Don’t offer critical feedback in a ‘compliment sandwich’ – there’s a better way!Whether you’re new to the job, a veteran leader, or looking to be promoted, this is the handbook you need to be the kind of manager you’ve always wanted.
Google Books

The Manager's Path

This book is a must read for aspiring, soon to be, or on the job managers alike. It is written for tech leaders and is useful for managers of small teams to managers of managers. It's a good complement for First-time manager if you're a tech professional. I recommend it as reading for managers that report to me and I've seen the positive impact.

The Manager’s Path
Managing people is difficult wherever you work. But in the tech industry, where management is also a technical discipline, the learning curve can be brutal—especially when there are few tools, texts, and frameworks to help you. In this practical guide, author Camille Fournier (tech lead turned CTO) takes you through each stage in the journey from engineer to technical manager.From mentoring interns to working with senior staff, you’ll get actionable advice for approaching various obstacles in your path. This book is ideal whether you’re a new manager, a mentor, or a more experienced leader looking for fresh advice. Pick up this book and learn how to become a better manager and leader in your organization.Begin by exploring what you expect from a managerUnderstand what it takes to be a good mentor, and a good tech leadLearn how to manage individual members while remaining focused on the entire teamUnderstand how to manage yourself and avoid common pitfalls that challenge many leadersManage multiple teams and learn how to manage managersLearn how to build and bootstrap a unifying culture in teams
Google Books

Engineering Management for the rest of us

This book takes a different approach: not everyone is meant to be a manager and if you feel like this this book is a step to step guide on how to learn the ropes (just like you learned how to be a solid individual contributor). I definitely felt like management was not for me but this book helped unlearned these false stories we tell ourselves about managing people.

Engineering Management for the Rest of Us
A lot of Engineering Managers and leaders studied for years and years to become the best Engineer they possibly could be... and then they were promoted.It can be very tough for those of us who didn’t go into Engineering with the distinct concept that we would become managers, but still want to do our best to support our teams.I wrote this book because there’s so much no one told me about management that I wished I would have known. There’s a lot to be purposeful about that many of us learn on the job, and worse: learn on people. This book provides some organization for collaborating with networks of people, working together towards a common purpose.There seem to be millions of articles and “how to”s on programming and only a handful of resources on Engineering Management- why? It’s very tough to talk about something that involves people processes. People are non-deterministic. Working relationships are nuanced, communication is linked with individual values, motivations, power dynamics, and skills. People also have a range of experiences and emotions that are not consistent day-to-day.Hopefully, in the happiest, most productive sense.It’s imperative that we as managers learn as much as we can and work on ourselves, so that our teams may enjoy a healthy working life and strong relationships. It’s not just important, it’s crucial that we iterate on our own skills as managers so that we can properly support everyone around us: individuals, peers, leadership, and the business.I’m sharing what I’ve learned- not so that you follow my concepts exactly, but rather so that you can be thoughtful about your own leadership and needs. The book goes from the macro to the micro- with topics ranging everywhere from “feedback” to “scoping down PRs”.Though the book is meant to address people in management, individual contributors are welcome to read the book as well- perhaps you need to manage up and need some tools to help guide the conversation, perhaps you just want a peek at other concerns within the business- everyone is invited to the conversation.
Google Books

The Staff Engineer's Path

If you're a manager of managers, this book is a must read. Understanding precisely what these highly skilled engineers can bring to your team and how to get the best out of them can make a difference in your overall team's performance. Staff engineers role differ from one organisation to another but there are common archetypes. This book will provide support for hiring, managing, retaining, coach and get the best out of your staff / principal engineers.

The Staff Engineer’s Path
For years, companies have rewarded their most effective engineers with management positions. But treating management as the default path for an engineer with leadership ability doesn’t serve the industry well--or the engineer. The staff engineer’s path allows engineers to contribute at a high level as role models, driving big projects, determining technical strategy, and raising everyone’s skills.This in-depth book shows you how to understand your role, manage your time, master strategic thinking, and set the standard for technical work. You’ll read about how to be a leader without direct authority, how to plan ahead to make the right technical decisions, and how to make everyone around you better, while still growing as an expert in your domain.By exploring the three pillars of a staff engineer’s job, Tanya Reilly, a veteran of the staff engineer track, shows you how to:Take a broad, strategic view when thinking about your workDive into practical tactics for making projects succeedDetermine what “good engineering” means in your organization
Google Books

The Learn Product Playbook

As a manager, escpecially in the tech industry, a strong product acumen as you get more experience will be an added value. The product-led approach has been so successful that it's become widespread: companies treat their internal infrastructure as product. Data product, platform as a product. These principles are universal to delivery experiences that delight your end users, whether they're internal or external to your company.

The Lean Product Playbook
The missing manual on how to apply Lean Startup to build products that customers love The Lean Product Playbook is a practical guide to building products that customers love. Whether you work at a startup or a large, established company, we all know that building great products is hard. Most new products fail. This book helps improve your chances of building successful products through clear, step-by-step guidance and advice. The Lean Startup movement has contributed new and valuable ideas about product development and has generated lots of excitement. However, many companies have yet to successfully adopt Lean thinking. Despite their enthusiasm and familiarity with the high-level concepts, many teams run into challenges trying to adopt Lean because they feel like they lack specific guidance on what exactly they should be doing. If you are interested in Lean Startup principles and want to apply them to develop winning products, this book is for you. This book describes the Lean Product Process: a repeatable, easy-to-follow methodology for iterating your way to product-market fit. It walks you through how to: Determine your target customers Identify underserved customer needs Create a winning product strategy Decide on your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Design your MVP prototype Test your MVP with customers Iterate rapidly to achieve product-market fit This book was written by entrepreneur and Lean product expert Dan Olsen whose experience spans product management, UX design, coding, analytics, and marketing across a variety of products. As a hands-on consultant, he refined and applied the advice in this book as he helped many companies improve their product process and build great products. His clients include Facebook, Box, Hightail, Epocrates, and Medallia. Entrepreneurs, executives, product managers, designers, developers, marketers, analysts and anyone who is passionate about building great products will find The Lean Product Playbook an indispensable, hands-on resource.
Google Books

Product Direction

This book is probably my favourite in this list, because it does covers topics that are seldom talked about. This books goes into details on the strategy, roadmap and execution. It's such a compact but reach read. I go over it often when I need to write a strategy and writing OKRs.

Product Direction
How do you identify, select and define the right Product Strategy? How do you connect it to execution and align the entire company towards the same goals?Making great products is hard. Interdisciplinary teams must discover and deliver the rightsolutions to delight customers while creating a sustainable business model. But that is notenough to succeed. Product Leaders must play a critical role: they must identify the problems and opportunities most crucial to delight customers while creating a sustainable business.They must also align teams toward them. But how? How do you come up with the right insights and select the most promising opportunities? How does a successful product strategy look? Who has to define it? How do you focus product teams and the entire organization in the same direction?Product Direction is a practical approach to solve these problems, based on artifacts, tools, and best practices, to define, link, and communicate your product strategy, strategic roadmap, and objectives.These tools will help you: ❏ Multiply your results, with increased team alignment and autonomy.❏ Align everyone on the right opportunities, and ignore other distractions.❏ Grow in your strategic skills to grow in your career.Nacho Bassino has been leading product teams for over ten years in different companies and industries. He also is a speaker, teacher, and coach, working with organizations in different countries to help product teams and product leaders improve their practices and skills to achieve greater impact. During the last decade, he has created, tested, and consolidated the methods explained in Product Direction with dozens of product teams.
Google Books