Christian's Growth Plan Spring–Autumn 2026 · Deal Team
Spring growth review · Approved 27 May 2026

Growing into Staff Engineer (tech-lead flavour).

You already hold the role — promoted last cycle. The next six months are about defining what excellence looks like in it: out of the implementation bottleneck, into systemic leverage. Two growth areas, sequential by design — enable the team first; the leverage work follows.

0%
Overall progress
Oct 31
Culture Amp due
2 GAs
Enable team · Eliminate classes
João + Rasmus
Manager · Coach

Calendar check 3 to book

Two of your five recurring growth sessions are already running. Three need to be booked before momentum sticks.

✓ João 1-on-1 Biweekly · next Jun 8
✓ Karol 1-on-1 Biweekly · next Jun 8
⚠ Florian 1-on-1 Not booked — book biweekly
⚠ Sofia 1-on-1 Not booked — book biweekly
⚠ Rasmus coaching Not booked — schedule first

The role you're growing into

From AutoUncle's Engineer Path. The two growth areas below are how you're advancing specific competencies on this ladder this cycle.

Staff Engineer — design the system that produces the system

A Senior designs systems. A Staff stops asking "how do I build this well?" and starts asking "how do I make it easier for everyone to build things well?" Tech Lead is a role layered on top — a set of added responsibilities, not a different level.

L1 Junior→ L2 Engineer→ L3 Senior→ L4 Staff · Tech Lead→ L5 Principal

Technical

8 competencies
  • Systemic problem-solvingGA2
  • Meta-system designGA2
  • Eliminating problem classesGA2
  • Performance & reliability
  • Quality strategyGA2
  • Continuous improvementGA2
  • Engineering productivity
  • Security & compliance as systems

Interpersonal

6 competencies
  • Relationship buildingGA1
  • Communication
  • Decision-makingGA1
  • Mentorship at scaleGA1
  • LeadershipGA1
  • Strategic thinking

Product & domain

3 competencies
  • Deep AutoUncle business understanding
  • Product strategy (PM as equal)
  • AutoUncle engineering long-term vision

Neither GA directly targets this dimension. Worth watching: don't let the team-enablement and systemic work crowd out the customer-facing, product-instinct work that the ladder calls for at Staff level.

+ Tech Lead overlay

A role, not a level. These responsibilities sit on top of Staff — what you signed up for beyond the ladder.
  • Product discoveryFeasibility owner with PM & Designer; shape before you build
  • Customer contactGet in front of real customers — that's where magic happens
  • Tech radarTrack new technology as an enabler for problems you're solving
  • Tech debtOwn what gets paid down, what stays, when to take more on
  • Set the toneYou're the positive enabler — the team takes its cues from you
  • Still an ICYou still code every day. This isn't management.

The Five Cs company values

Don't scale with seniority — same expectation from day one as at Principal.
Clear Courageous Curious Committed Compassionate

The Bus Ticket P&E hiring traits

High-performer traits we hire for. Same expectation at every level.
Ambitious Humble Coachable Biased for action

Why this matters

"The leverage comes from what you eliminate, not what you produce — entire classes of problems, recurring friction, systemic weaknesses. Your best work is often invisible: it shows up as problems or roadblocks that never happen."

— Staff Engineer description in AutoUncle's Engineer Path. You quoted it back in your self-reflection. The Spring 2026 review made it concrete: 50% of your time on systemic work, not individual features. That's the shape of the role you were promoted into — this cycle is about living it.

Energy: AI potential Energy: new product focus Risk: juggling tasks Risk: micro-managing AI

When motivation dips

You asked João to "capture your enthusiasm today and replay it when you struggle." Press this whenever the load feels heavy and the next step feels unclear.

The two Growth Areas

GA1 is the prerequisite for GA2 — you can't spend 50% on systemic work while you're the delivery bottleneck. Each KR below is straight from Culture Amp (due 31 Oct 2026). Check off as you ship.

GA1 · Foundation

Enabling the team to carry more

Status from review: 2 — Building momentum · 0%
Set up and maintain recurring 1-on-1s with Karol, Florian, and Sofia (20–30 min biweekly). Running consistently by end of June. Go beyond task status.
⚠ 1 of 3 booked
›
Delegate ≥1 piece of complex work to Karol that you'd previously have done yourself. Support — but don't take it back.
✓ Karol cadence ready
›
For Florian: ≥1 targeted monthly conversation checking he's building genuine understanding of the AI workflow, not just shipping agent output.
⚠ Florian 1-on-1 not booked
›
For Sofia: understand what she needs, create space for her input, advocate for her growth. By mid-cycle she confirms support is active and useful.
⚠ Sofia 1-on-1 not booked
›
By mid-cycle: point to ≥2 examples where the team delivered complex work without your direct involvement because you built the conditions.
Mid-cycle: mid-August
›
Start coaching sessions with Rasmus, using this review as the conversation starter.
⚠ Rasmus not scheduled
›
GA2 · Leverage

Eliminating problem classes

Self-set aspiration · 0%
Commit to 1 problem class to own end-to-end (AI harness · quality ownership · or other). Define the problem, approach, expected outcome. Documented in 1-on-1.
Bring to João 1-on-1 Jun 8
›
By mid-cycle: demonstrate measurable progress on that problem class — something the team or engineering can point to as a systemic improvement.
Mid-cycle: mid-August
›
Use Special Fridays for systemic work and share what you learned — ≥3 times this period. Lead by example.
⚠ No Fridays blocked yet
›
Establish a clear approach to quality ownership on Deal Team: review standards, automated checks, shared with Karol. Documented and agreed by mid-cycle.
✓ Karol cadence ready
›
Track the split between feature work and systemic work monthly. Goal isn't 50% immediately — it's a visible shift in that direction.
AI tracking experiment
›
From João, in the review meeting: "Not all need to be completed at once — progress is the key." If this list ever feels overwhelming, the question isn't "did I finish everything?" — it's "did I move in the right direction this month?"

6-month timeline

Front-load the foundation work in June–July (cadence + first delegation + pick a problem class), demonstrate measurable progress by mid-cycle in mid-August, then push leverage and visibility through October. November is the look-back window.

June 2026
Set the stage
Foundation
July 2026
Cadence + first hand-off
Foundation
August 2026
Mid-cycle checkpoint
Mid-cycle
September 2026
Compound the leverage
Leverage
October 2026
Cycle close · Culture Amp due
Cycle close
November 2026
Reflect & set Autumn GAs
Look back

Conversations that hold this up

Three different rooms, three different jobs. They reinforce each other only if all three run.

João · manager 1-on-1 ✓ Booked

Biweekly Mondays 10:00 Lisbon · next Jun 8
  • Progress on the two GAs — honestly
  • Volume check: feeling overwhelmed? Re-anchor to "progress is the key"
  • Pattern reports backed by data, not feelings
  • Surface systemic-work impact for visibility

Rasmus · performance coach ⚠ Book

Not yet scheduled — first session this month
  • Letting go: the "faster if I just do it" instinct
  • Facilitating open team discussions
  • Connecting on a personal level with team
  • Replay button when motivation dips

Team · tech-lead 1-on-1s

Biweekly · 20–30 min each
  • Karol ✓ Booked delegation, autonomy
  • Florian ⚠ Book AI workflow, not just output
  • Sofia ⚠ Book design needs, space, advocacy
  • Beyond task status: blockers, dynamics, processes

Self-management habits

The growth areas only land if these run quietly in the background.

One deep-thinking task at a time

Dedicated blocks for rapid fixes. Propose the structure to the team, refine it, share what works. Track the impact so context-switching becomes data, not vibes.

Catch "it's faster if I just do it"

That's the signal. The short-term cost is real; the long-term return is what makes the Staff role compound rather than collapse back into senior IC work. Bring repeated catches to Rasmus.

Make the invisible visible

The best Staff work hides by nature — problems that never happened. Write it down. Share at engineering forum. Tell João. If it's not visible, it didn't count.

Patterns across Karol, Florian, Sofia

Look for what they're struggling with in common. Structural problems live inside individual complaints. Solving one for everyone is the Staff move.