Advice
I’m a technical lead who coaches developers but lacks formal manager authority. I’m seeking advice from other managers on how to handle this situation.
I’ve been coaching a developer for a while and have tried to support him by providing guidance, quality checklists, walking through expectations, encouraging him to reach out when unsure, and being supportive.
However, I’m seeing recurring issues:
- Pushback on direction and not aligning on expectations.
- Quality issues and not consistently checking work before stakeholder communication.
- Communication gaps, such as not acknowledging asks, not responding after pushback, and limited follow-through.
- Publicly suggesting things after clearly communicating a different direction privately.
For example, we have a long-standing expectation not to update a high-risk CMS file during market hours due to production risk. I reiterated this privately, but he later suggested otherwise in a stakeholder chat. When I talked to him, he provided a screenshot saying I did it, but I got an exemption.
Another example is when I asked him to support an 8:30am update due to the rule, and he suggested I do it instead in a stakeholder chat. After I pushed back, he stopped responding.
A few leaders have also proactively reached out to me about quality and communication concerns. I’ve been at the organization for over 10 years and have a good working relationship.
My questions are:
- How would you handle this as a lead without formal authority?
- At what point do you move from coaching to escalation?
- How do you handle defensiveness and pushback in the moment without it turning into an argument?
What language works when someone responds to feedback with explanations, excuses, or defensiveness?
I’m trying to approach this fairly and constructively, but coaching alone hasn’t improved the pattern.
I’m not sure if this is cultural. He’s from India, and cultural work differences exist from my experience. I’m trying to be mindful and find the best way for him to succeed.
I’m writing down everything I need to see but don’t want to micro-manage.
The job is chaotic due to the nature of the business, and relationship management is key. He doesn’t manage relationships and just follows instructions from non-technical and new people.