Today’s guest is Mahdi Yusuf, Tech Lead for the Server Architecture Team at 1Password. Our conversation is about what it means as well as what it takes to navigate the needs of the org, client, and staff in order to find the best path forward. We kick things off by hearing more about what Mahdi’s job at 1Password involves and he talks about the chief concerns and responsibilities of working on the platform code that the rest of the app is built on. Mahdi’s role specifically requires him to do a lot more than write code though, including designing projects, communicating between nodes in the org, and mentoring staff. This is a balancing act indeed and our conversation moves to focus on what it looks like to handle these tasks with equal measure. One of the biggest skills the position of Tech Lead requires for Mahdi is empathy, and he talks about how a big part of what he does involves listening to concerns and working out when it is best to make a pivot and focus on something different for the overall good. In an environment with so many different stakeholders, knowing what this is can be a huge challenge! We wrap up our conversation with Mahdi on the subject of excelling in your career, talking about what it takes to do truly good work, thinking bigger than the specific problem one is working on, and the necessity of having difficult conversations. So to hear Mahdi’s insights on creating rock-solid products while maintaining a healthy and effective team, tune in today!

Links

• Mahdi Yusuf
• Mahdi Yusuf on LinkedIn
• Mahdi Yusuf on Twitter
• 1Password
• Architecture Notes