Leverage Maps #13: Engineering Management Impact System
Why your engineering manager performance review feels misaligned: You’re running two impact systems, but only one gets measured.
Leverage Maps #13: Engineering Management Impact System
Visible Work → Easy to put in a promotion packet
- Sprint metrics
- Completed reviews
- Process docs
- Tech presentations
Invisible Work → Compounds over quarters and careers
- Preventing burnout with one conversation
- Spotting problems early
- Knowledge transfer that unblocks the future
- Developing talent that stays
The problem: Performance systems reward visible work. The truth: Invisible work drives sustainable performance and retention.
The play:
- Deliver enough visible impact to keep credibility.
- Invest heavily in invisible infrastructure for people and processes.
- Track and call out the outcomes it creates.
Great engineering managers don’t choose between these systems. They know their real job is building infrastructure: for code, for people, and for performance that compounds over time.
💡 If your teammates couldn’t mention your title, how would they describe your impact?
