What makes a good leader?

I used to measure my days in commits and closed tickets. Clean code, working features, done. Now I measure them in people’s progress, and it hits different.

Last week our new dev looked at me, confused about a system design choice. Two years ago, that would’ve been a quick fix and move on moment. Now it’s more. Their confusion is my responsibility. Their growth is part of my job. Their struggles keep me up at night.

It’s not about the broken build or the buggy code – those are just symptoms. It’s about carrying the weight of everyone’s learning journey. When they succeed, it’s beautiful. When they stumble, it sits heavy in my chest.

Nobody tells you how personal it gets.

I’m still a developer. But now I’m also something else – a guardrail, a safety net, a guide. The code isn’t the hard part anymore. The people are. And somehow, that’s both harder and more rewarding than any algorithm I’ve ever written.

Turns out leading isn’t about being the best coder. It’s about helping others become better than they were yesterday. And that’s a whole different kind of exhausting.