Hey 👋 this is Luca! Welcome to a 🔒 weekly edition 🔒 of Refactoring.

Every week I write advice on how to become a better engineering leader, backed by my own experience, research and case studies.

Here are the latest articles you may have missed:

• Refactoring Learning Tracks

• How to Deal with Impostor Syndrome

• How to Reduce Meetings

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A few months ago I conducted a comprehensive survey about engineering careers.

It provided many insights, one of which is that people believe non-technical skills are crucial for advancing their careers — even more so than technical ones like coding or system design.

In fact, three out of the top four skills that people want to improve are non-technical.

While I have covered management many times, I never really wrote about how to improve your own communication. Over time, though, I collected a ton of notes on this, by reflecting on what helped me during my career, and by speaking with some truly excellent communicators.

So, this week I compiled all of this into an article that covers the two angles that are the most relevant to me:

• 🏗️ Structure — how to deliver information in an effective way. I will cover proven frameworks, examples, and mental models that can help you with that.

• ❤️ Empathy — how to focus on what needs to be heard, rather than what needs to be said. How to communicate in a way that is trustworthy and non-violent.

I will include practical advice about situations you may encounter at work, as well as plenty of additional resources to learn more.

Let’s dive in!