How to Become a Tech Lead
Beginner's Guide
So you want to become a tech lead. Maybe your manager hinted at it. Maybe you're tired of watching bad technical decisions happen. Or maybe you're already doing the work without the title or pay.
Here's what this guide won't do: pretend it's just about skill. It's also about politics, timing, and knowing your worth. But mostly?
It's about taking specific actions that significantly improve your chances, or help you recognize when it's time to find a better opportunity.
Should You Even Want This?
Tech leadership means trading your favorite part of the job (deep coding) for meetings, politics, and being responsible for other people's mistakes.
Don't become a tech lead if:
You love uninterrupted coding time
People conflicts drain you for days
Your satisfaction comes from personal technical achievements
You're only doing it for the money
Still interested? Let's see if you're already doing the job.
The Signs You're Already a Tech Lead (Just Unpaid)
People actually want you in meetings. Someone says "let's loop in Alex, they know this codebase." Suddenly, you're explaining architectural decisions you didn't make to stakeholders you've never met.
You turn problems into plans. You know what's broken and what to fix first. You can explain to your manager why fixing that "small" database issue is worth two weeks of engineering time.
You're the translation layer. Product says "just add a button." You hear "restructure three services." You turn vague asks into clear options and trade-offs.
You shield the team from chaos. Instead of heroically jumping in to save the day, you create processes, documentation, and knowledge sharing that prevent crises.
Your code reviews are teaching moments. Not just "this doesn't work" but "here's why, here's a pattern to consider, here's what could go wrong."
If three or more sound familiar, you're ready. The question is whether your company is.
Step 1: Build Technical Judgment
You don't need to be the best coder. You need to make good decisions quickly and help others do the same.
System architecture - Draw your system on a whiteboard until you can do it from memory. More importantly, understand why past decisions were made. Every weird choice has a story.
Debugging at scale - When production breaks, be the calm person who knows which metrics matter and who to wake up. Create runbooks before you need them.
Trade-offs - Every decision sacrifices something. Start articulating these: "We can optimize for speed or accuracy here, but not both. Given our user base, I recommend speed because..."
Practical exercise: Document your next technical decision using this template:
Context: Current situation
Options: What we could do
Recommendation: What we should do and why
Risks: What could go wrong
Do this five times. You'll start thinking like a tech lead.
Step 2: Expand Your Influence
Influence isn't about being loudest. It's about being the person others naturally turn to for guidance.
Own something completely - Pick a critical system or feature. Document it thoroughly. Teach others about it. Become the expert—then teach someone else to be the expert.
Level up your code reviews - Transform them into teaching moments. Instead of just pointing out issues, share context: "This works, but we saw similar patterns cause scaling issues in the auth service. Consider [specific alternative]—happy to pair on it."
Write everything down - After important discussions, send a summary. "To confirm: we chose Option B because of X, Y, Z. Next steps: [owner] will [action] by [date]." This habit builds significant trust and visibility.
Step 3: Navigate Politics
Technical skills open doors. Political skills determine which doors are worth walking through.
Learn what your manager actually cares about - Hint: it's not elegant code. It's usually predictable delivery dates, no surprises, team stability, and looking good to their boss.
Start speaking this language. Instead of "we need to refactor," say "investing two sprints now prevents the Q4 outage risk."
Master the pre-meeting - Real decisions happen before the official meeting. Talk to key stakeholders beforehand. Walk into meetings with support already built.
Spot the red flags early:
Tech lead roles always filled externally
Your manager sees you as competition
"Acting tech lead" lasting over six months
Budget for external hires but not internal promotions
If you see these patterns, skip to Step 5.
Step 4: Level Up Your People Skills
Your success is now measured by the team's success. This is the hardest transition for most engineers.
Delegation without disappearing: "I need your help with [specific thing]. Here's why it matters [business context]. My initial thought is [high-level approach], but I want your perspective."
Shield the team from chaos while keeping them informed - Filter noise, pass on signal.
Give growth feedback - Help team members see their next step. "I noticed you're great at [skill]. If you also developed [complementary skill], you'd be ready for [next level]."
Step 5: Have the Money Talk
If you're doing tech lead work consistently, you should be compensated accordingly.
Tech leads often earn 15-30% more than senior engineers, though this varies by company and market. If they offer the title without discussing compensation, it's worth having that conversation.
Script: "I've been taking on more tech lead responsibilities over [timeframe], including [specific examples]. I'm really enjoying this work and would love to discuss how this might fit into my career path here.”
If they stall:
"Let's see more consistency" → "What specific metrics would help you evaluate this?"
"Not in the budget" → "When might budget become available? Let's revisit on [specific date]"
"You need more experience" → "What specific experience would be most valuable? How can I gain it here?"
Give it three conversations max. If there's no progress after three discussions over several months, you have your answer about how the company values your contributions.
Your 90-Day Action Plan
Days 1-30: Foundation
Document three technical decisions using the template
Own one system completely
Upgrade your code review style
Map out what your manager cares about
Days 31-60: Visibility
Lead a technical discussion
Write a one-pager on a technical strategy
Mentor someone through a challenging problem
Send weekly status summaries
Days 61-90: The Ask
Document your tech lead activities
Research market compensation
Have the career conversation
Set a deadline for response
If nothing changes by Day 120: Update your resume with all the tech lead work you've been doing and consider whether this company is the right fit for your career goals.
The Bottom Line
Becoming a tech lead is about demonstrating value before demanding recognition. But it's not about working for free indefinitely.
Reality check: Not every company promotes from within. Some have bias problems that competence alone won't overcome. The path isn't always linear—some engineers try leadership, hate it, and go back to being brilliant individual contributors. That's not failure, that's self-awareness.
But you won't know until you try.
The best time to start? Today. Pick one action from the 90-day plan and do it this week. Build momentum. With consistent effort, you can become the person others naturally turn to for technical leadership.
And when that happens, make sure you're getting paid for it.
Read next: Your First 90 Days as a Tech Lead
(Practical Survival Guide)
Really good article. Loved reading it !