How top tech leaders manage their teams without losing focus on innovation

Making the leap from a full-time coder to a leader is no small feat. You’re still in love with the technical work, but now you’ve got more on your plate—managing a team, attending meetings, setting strategy. It’s tough. The challenge isn’t just doing the work any more, it’s figuring out what to work on.

If you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, you’re not alone. Prioritization is the key to keeping your head above water and thriving in this new role. Today, I’m going to break down how you can balance technical tasks with leadership duties, without feeling overwhelmed.

Let’s dive in.

Tech vs. Leadership Responsibilities

When you’re transitioning into a leadership role, the biggest mental shift is realizing that your impact is no longer just through code. Now, your success is measured by the success of your team, your projects, and how well you align with the company’s strategy.

That doesn’t mean you give up coding completely, but it does mean you need to carefully choose when and how to contribute technically. Your leadership tasks—managing, mentoring, and aligning with business goals—are just as important, if not more.

Ask yourself:

• What technical work can I delegate?
• Where do I add the most value as a leader?

You have to be strategic about where you spend your time. It’s no longer just about what you can do individually—it’s about what you can enable others to do.

Pro Tip: Write down a list of everything on your plate. Separate your tasks into “technical” and “leadership” categories. This gives you a clear view of how you’re spending your time and where adjustments need to be made.

Set Priorities Based on Impact, Not Urgency

One of the biggest traps leaders fall into is letting urgent tasks dominate their time. But urgency doesn’t always mean importance. A key part of prioritization is knowing the difference between what’s urgent and what will have a long-term impact.

Impactful tasks are those that move your team forward, improve processes, or align with your company’s strategy. Urgent tasks are things that feel pressing but might only offer short-term relief.

Ask yourself:

• Will this task make a significant difference in the next 3–6 months?
• Is this task solving a recurring issue, or is it just putting out fires?

Focus on high-impact tasks first, even if they don’t feel as immediately pressing. When you work on things that move the needle, you’ll see long-term benefits that make the urgent stuff less frequent and easier to manage.

Pro Tip: Use the Eisenhower matrix to prioritise tasks based on a combination of urgency and importance.

Learn to Delegate

If you’ve been coding for a while, delegation might feel foreign, or even uncomfortable. You know you can knock out a bug fix or feature quickly. But here’s the thing—if you’re spending all your time coding, you’re robbing your team of growth opportunities and yourself of time for leadership.

Delegation isn’t about dumping work on others. It’s about empowering your team to grow. When you delegate properly, you multiply your impact. Your team learns, and you free up time for higher-level strategic thinking.

Ask yourself:

• What tasks can someone else on my team handle?
• How can I delegate while still providing support and guidance?

By sharing responsibilities, you’re not just getting things off your plate—you’re developing your team into stronger, more capable engineers.

Pro Tip: Start small. Delegate a task you’re comfortable giving up, but make sure to provide clear instructions and check in regularly. As you build trust, you can hand off more significant tasks.

Get some breathing space with Time Blocking

As a leader, your calendar fills up fast. Meetings, check-ins, code reviews—it can feel like you’re constantly being pulled in different directions. That’s where time blocking comes in. It’s a simple but effective technique to protect your most productive hours.

Here’s how it works: Block off dedicated time for your most important work, whether that’s technical or leadership tasks. During these blocks, focus solely on that work. No meetings. No distractions. This ensures you have uninterrupted time to tackle high-priority tasks.

Ask yourself:

• What times of the day am I most focused?
• Which tasks need deep, uninterrupted work time?

By blocking off time for specific tasks, you’ll be more productive and prevent lower-priority work from creeping in.

Pro Tip: Start with just two blocks of time a day - one for management and one for tech work. Don't forget to block your calendar at these times, too, so you don't get dragged into another meeting.

Master the Art of Saying “No”

As a leader, you’ll have more people coming to you with requests. And while it’s tempting to say yes to everything, that’s a fast track to burnout. Part of prioritization is learning when to say “no” to tasks or meetings that don’t align with your goals or add significant value.

Saying no isn’t about being unhelpful—it’s about protecting your time and energy for the work that truly matters.

Ask yourself:

• Does this task align with my team’s or the company’s priorities?
• Is this request something I can delegate or postpone?

By saying no to the wrong things, you’re saying yes to the right things—the work that drives your team and company forward.

Pro Tip: Have a polite but firm response ready for requests that don’t align with your priorities. For example: “I appreciate you mentioning this, but I need to focus on [high-priority task]. Can we revisit this later?”

Balancing technical work with leadership isn’t easy, but it’s essential. The key is to prioritise what really matters—both in the short term and for the long-term success of your team.

Remember:

• Protect your time with time blocks
• Think about impact over urgency
• Delegate to multiply your impact
• Say no to low-priority tasks

As you continue to practice these skills, you’ll find yourself managing your time better and growing into a more effective, strategic leader.

Cheers,
Gábor