Human Systems for Engineering Leaders

Most software engineering leaders struggle for a reason no one talks about.
They were promoted for being great at writing code - and then handed responsibility for humans.

Meetings.
Conflict.
Silence.
Motivation.
Trust.

We quietly expect the same instincts that worked for technical systems to work for people.

They don’t.

In this session, we’ll explore leadership through a systems lens - not as a set of personality traits or management hacks, but as an adaptive human ecosystem that responds to risk, safety, and meaning.

You’ll learn:

• Why silence in meetings is rarely agreement
• How everyday leadership behaviors quietly train teams to wait, escalate, or
disengage
• What makes leaders accidentally become bottlenecks
• Why “helpful” interventions often have unintended consequences
• How human systems learn - even when you’re not teaching

This is not a talk about tools, frameworks, or performance management templates.
It’s about seeing what’s actually happening in your team - and realizing how your own
behavior shapes the system you’re leading.

Drawing on real-world stories from 20+ years in software engineering leadership (and a
background in anthropology), this session gives leaders a language for the invisible
dynamics they’ve felt but never been able to name.

Attendees will leave with:

• A new mental model for leadership
• A sharper lens for reading group behavior
• And a deeper understanding of how to create environments where people actually
think, speak, and decide

No blame.
No buzzwords.
Just a clearer view of the human system you’re already inside.

About Robert Harris

Robert N. Harris is the Founder & CEO of Coded2Lead LLC, a coaching practice dedicated to transforming software engineers into emotionally intelligent leaders. A 4x software engineering executive based in Houston, TX, Robert draws on 20+ years of pragmatic leadership experience - alongside a unique academic background in psychology and anthropology - to tackle the toughest problems in technology: the human ones.
His claim to fame is helping small engineering teams punch above their weight. He’s helped companies shrink product cycles from months to weeks, launch new products in months instead of years, and scale revenue by 10x.

He’s mentored tech leads, managers, and founders across industries, blending technical rigor with surreal metaphors, visual storytelling, and deeply empathetic insight. Whether he's refining a brand identity or helping a developer navigate imposter syndrome, Robert’s approach is iterative, creative, and always human-centered.

When he’s not coaching, you’ll find him in the garden, under the stars, or behind the wheel - using race cars, astronomy, and nature as unexpected mirrors for leadership growth. His mission: to help engineers debug themselves, lead with courage, and build systems where people thrive.

If a business is willing to invest in software engineering, he’ll make sure they get the most out of that investment.

More About Robert »