• Why the promotion from engineer to tech lead is one of the hardest transitions in technology.
• The difference between a Maker mindset and a Multiplier mindset—and why it matters.
• Why being the technical expert can become your biggest leadership weakness.
• How to stop becoming the bottleneck for your team.
• Why meetings, communication and uncertainty become part of a leader’s real work.
• Practical ways to multiply your team’s impact instead of your own output.
• How to develop coaching, delegation and influence as core leadership skills.
• Why listening is one of the first behaviours of great technical leaders.
• A simple exercise to measure whether you’re spending your time as a Maker or a Multiplier.
• Five diagnostic questions to help evaluate your current leadership mindset.

Why do so many exceptional engineers struggle when they become tech leads?

It’s rarely because they lack technical ability. More often, it’s because the role has changed, but their mindset hasn’t.

In this episode of Build Your Edge, Jack Cole sits down with Pat Kua, founder of Tech Lead Academy and one of the technology industry’s most respected leadership coaches, to explore one of the biggest transitions in an engineering career: moving from Maker to Multiplier.

After more than 25 years as a software developer, consultant, technical lead, CTO and advisor, Pat has helped hundreds of technical leaders navigate the shift from individual contributor to leader. His central message is simple but profound: the behaviours that make you a brilliant engineer can become the very behaviours that hold you back as a leader.

Together, Jack and Pat explore why this transition feels so uncomfortable. They discuss the identity shift that comes with giving up the role of chief problem-solver, why many newly promoted leaders become bottlenecks without realising it, and how organisations often promote great engineers without preparing them for what leadership actually demands.

The conversation goes beyond theory into the realities of modern engineering leadership. Pat explains why technical leaders spend more time in meetings, communicating across departments, and making decisions with incomplete information. Rather than seeing these as distractions from “real work”, he argues that these activities become the work of an effective leader.

Jack also challenges Pat on the commercial impact of the Maker and Multiplier mindsets. They discuss how great leadership improves delivery, quality, predictability and team performance, while poor leadership can quietly slow an organisation down, reduce ownership and ultimately affect business outcomes.

Throughout the episode, Pat shares practical examples from his own career, his time as CTO of N26, and the leaders he now coaches through Tech Lead Academy. From resisting the temptation to solve every problem yourself to learning how to coach, delegate and remove obstacles for others, he offers practical advice that listeners can apply immediately.

The episode concludes with Pat’s simple self-assessment framework: five questions designed to reveal whether you’re operating primarily as a Maker or as a Multiplier. Rather than offering a checklist for becoming a better manager, the framework encourages technical leaders to think differently about where they create value and how they can multiply the effectiveness of the people around them.

Whether you’re an experienced software engineer preparing for your first leadership role, a new engineering manager finding your feet, or a seasoned leader looking to have greater impact, this conversation offers a thoughtful and practical roadmap for making one of the most important mindset shifts in your career.