“The Tech Lead Accelerator Program was a meaningful step forward in my development as an engineering leader. The content was practical, insightful, and directly applicable to my day-to-day challenges. What really stood out, though, was the level of personal support. Andra took the time to connect with me outside of the structured sessions to talk through some of the issues I was facing at work. That kind of generosity and thoughtfulness made the experience feel truly personalized. I walked away with clearer frameworks, greater confidence, and a stronger sense of how to lead effectively. The peer support were incredibly valuable. If you're stepping into a tech lead role or want to grow as a thoughtful, effective leader, this program is absolutely worth it.”

“ Before the program, I often struggled with setting clear boundaries and managing my responsibilities in a sustainable way. Through Andra’s guidance, I learned how to better structure my time and communicate more intentionally. Andra is an exceptional lecturer. Her approach is empathetic, insightful, and practical.”

“Although I have over six years of experience as a Chapter Lead of a team of 8-10 engineers, I am conscious that good habits break or need to be challenged / revised, and that we need to constantly exercise both fundamentals and iterative improvements in our role, therefore I decided to give a try to the Tech Lead Accelerator program in order to refresh the attributions of my role and get in contact with other professionals and hear other perspectives. The best part of the program is making you find and apply small, but consistent changes to your work as a Tech Lead. I was inspired - and nudged! - to make these changes after each topic in the program, that have now stayed with me. Most of them I wish I made them sooner.”

“This course helped me embrace my new role, reshape my mindset, and fully accept the transition. If you're a new Team or Tech Lead feeling unsure about your responsibilities, struggling with communication at different levels, or feeling overwhelmed because you haven't established clear boundaries at work — this course could really make a difference.”

“Before the program I was not feeling confident in my role as tech lead. It was overwhelming to address the different aspects of the role - Should I be coding more? Am I supporting my team enough? What is expected of me? This program has helped me to put the role in perspective and understand and come to terms with the nature of it. Being with seven other Tech Leads from all around the world, allowed us to see that our problems and observations were very common. Andra empowered us to gather the expectations and set agreements around the Tech Lead role at our workplaces to give us a starting point from which to build practices to improve confidence and reduce overwhelm. I now know understand what is expected of me and am able to identify when my work is diverging from the responsibilities of my role. Andra provided a forum for discussion around many important and diverse topics which are common to Tech Leads. She is able to challenge statements and assumptions in a thoughtful and non-confrontation manner, which allows the room to explore different viewpoints and explore their own thoughts and opinions in a new way. I am very grateful for the opportunity to take part in this program. I have come out of it with a new set of tools and practices for different scenarios that I can lean on to help me navigate this role. I feel more confident now in being able to trust my gut, set boundaries, track promises and own it when I have to say "I don't know". Thank you, Andra!”

“I recently completed the Tech Lead Accelerator Program with Andra, and it was a game-changer for me. The first session helped me align with my leader and team on my role and responsibilities, which was a huge relief. Each session provided valuable tools, but a couple of them were especially impactful (in particular, the ones related to keeping promises and managing emotions). This program gave me the clarity and practical skills I needed to excel as a Tech Lead. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to enhance their leadership abilities in tech.”

“The Tech Lead Accelerator program was a game-changer for me. It gave me the tools, structure, and space to step more confidently into my leadership role. Each session tackled real challenges tech leads face, from setting boundaries and managing emotions to building trust through better communication. The program wasn’t about theory, it was about real, practical growth. I came out of it with a clearer sense of how I want to lead, how to support my team better, and how to stay grounded under pressure. If you’re stepping into tech leadership or looking to level up, I highly recommend this program. It’s thoughtful, real, and genuinely transformative.”

“I’d like to share my takeaways from each session: 1. 👀🤝Responsibilities as a Tech Lead -The topic that resonated most was agreements vs. expectations. This often comes up in practice, especially when a new person joins the team or when a developer is promoted to a leadership position. Newcomers are often expected to follow the team’s unwritten rules — which they aren’t aware of — leading to misunderstandings. During the probation period, make sure to clearly state your expectations at the end of each meeting. In the case of internal promotions, a different issue arises: the person may continue doing their old tasks (e.g., coding), while both leadership and the team expect them to fulfill their new role’s responsibilities. Expectations can evolve, so it's important to stay in sync. 2. 🛑⏱️Setting boundaries at work - Every day, colleagues or managers approach us with questions or small tasks. At first glance, these seem harmless — it feels easy to help quickly. But after two weeks of such “small things,” they can accumulate and result in the main tasks not being completed by the end of the sprint. I’ve established a rule for myself: if a task takes more than 15 minutes, the requester must create a ticket, and management should prioritize it in the next sprint’s backlog. 3. 📌⏰Promises must be kept - I have a rule — always keep my promises. But if I realize I won’t make it or run into problems, it’s crucial to inform the person I made the promise to as soon as possible. 4. 🌀🎭Emotions and manipulation - Sometimes people use emotions to influence your decisions. This pressure can escalate into conflict if the person fails to convince you with facts. It’s similar to how children cry or scream to get what they want. Adults use more sophisticated methods — they may play on your emotions to throw you off balance. If you notice signs of manipulation, try to stay focused on the facts and keep the conversation rational. If emotions start taking over — it's better to pause the discussion and reschedule the meeting. 5. 🛣️🤷‍♂️My experience is not your experience - Everyone has their own unique career journey. If you're giving feedback (e.g., during a code review), first ask why the person chose a particular approach. Then, suggest your solution. If your approaches differ significantly — it’s better to have a video call with cameras on, since written comments in a pull request may come off as passive-aggressive. After completing the course, you’ll have your own takeaways based on your experiences and your current work environment. Big thanks to Andra Popa for the mentorship.”