S2 | Episode #10 - Borna Pourhossein - Engineering Manager at Friendsurance - "The Importance of Guilds and Career Growth"

The Technology Leadership Podcast

About Borna:
Borna Pourhossein is the Engineering Manager at Friendsurance. He's been with the company for over seven years, being promoted to team lead and engineering manager after starting as a senior frontend engineer. His experience has shown him the importance of having an environment that allows you to grow and where you are challenged. Borna has also been instrumental in setting up engineering guilds at Friendsurance, which can drive developer-friendly topics in parallel with user-friendly features.
Synopsis:
In this episode of the Technology Leadership podcast, Borna Pourhossein , a highly experienced engineering manager from Friendsurance, takes listeners on a journey through his successful career growth story. Providing valuable insights along the way, he discusses how he established an engineering guild in his company and how it It is important to have an open environment where employees can voice their concerns and suggestions. Borna also highlights the importance of fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning in today's fast-paced technological landscape.
Key Takeaways:

• To grow in your career, you need a challenging environment with supportive colleagues and managers who can mentor you and give you feedback.
• Improve projects by not only pointing out flaws but also providing feasible solutions that senior management can understand and implement. This requires technical expertise, communication skills, and an understanding of the project's objectives and constraints.
• Engineering guilds are horizontal communities of practice where people with similar skills can exchange ideas and make collective decisions. Joining a guild enhances technical skills and builds relationships with colleagues.
• Guild meetings provide a regular forum for members to discuss technical issues and share best practices.
• Anyone interested in the topic can join the guild to learn from experienced professionals, get exposure to new ideas, and build their network within the company. Guilds can also serve as a platform for recruiting new talent and identifying potential leaders and mentors.

Episode Outline:
[00:09] Meet Borna
[01:10] Borna's journey to becoming an engineering manager
[06:16] What is an engineering guild?
[10:47] When should you start an engineering guild?
[12:42] The importance of guild communication and meetings
[24:31] How to improve your communication skills as an engineer
[27:57] 5 Years ago, what would Borna have done differently?
[32:37] Growing future leaders and management
[37:02] How to be comfortable as a leader