Books

I’ve been fortunate enough to have published three books. There’s two on becoming a better manager and leader, and there’s one on remote work.

Become a Great Engineering Leader

This is a sequel and follow-on to my first book, Become an Effective Engineering Manager. If you’re looking to further upgrade your leadership skills and run wider, deeper and more impactful organisations and projects, look no further.

The book contains a host of tools, frameworks and introspection points to grow you into a better, calmer, more focussed and competent leader.

Here’s where you can get it:

Effective Remote Work

Remote work is here to stay, and this book is here to guide you through this new world. Whether you work in an office or not, someone is remote to you in some way. So let’s build the future together, efficiently, wherever we happen to be.

Here’s where you can get it:

Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to run a team?

This is a whistle-stop tour through what it means to be a fantastic Engineering Manager. We start by focussing on managing yourself, then managing teams, then focus on being a positive influence in your department and beyond.

You can get it from the following places:

  • The Pragmatic Bookshelf has DRM-free eBooks in PDF, epub and mobi formats.
  • Print copies are available from Amazon US, Amazon UK (and all other Amazons). Additionally you can find it on Barnes & Noble and all other good bookstores.
  • The book is also available in Japanese, Chinese and Russian!

Also, if you’d rather absorb the material via an online course, then you can do so via Educative.

My pitch for the book is that going from engineer to manager doesn’t have to be intimidating. Engineers can be managers, and fantastic ones at that. I wanted to encapsulate everything that I’ve learned over the years, both from others and through trial and error, and distill it into one place so that any new manager can be confident, effective and impactful.

I did a Q&A with InfoQ on the book and why I decided to write it.

But hey, don’t just take my word for it. Here are some opinions from people that are smarter than me:

It’s the book I’ll be recommending to new managers transitioning into the role, managers starting at a new company, and experienced managers looking to make an organization-wide impact.

Gergely Orosz – @GergelyOrosz

This is a book I wish every engineering manager read before they stepped into the role. Bite-sized pieces of advice on engineering management that you would expect from a Pragmatic Publishers book.

Patrick Kua – @patkua

James’s book will be at the top of my mind when I start a product company. The content is not just for software engineering managers – technical leaders, CTOs, and managers will all benefit from practical advice that helps them be successful with the people they manage and work with.

Stephen Bussey – @YOOOODAAAA

If you happen to buy the book, then let me know what you think of it. I’d love to talk to you about it.