At some point in your career, you don’t apply for leadership. It just shows up. People start looking at you in meetings, asking for your opinion, and expecting you to 'handle things', even though your title still says developer.

This talk is about that quiet shift. Not about becoming a manager but about what changes when your technical role starts carrying social weight. We’ll explore why instincts that worked as a developer suddenly stop working, how influence forms in tech teams without formal authority, and why leadership often feels uncomfortable long before it feels intentional.

No management theory, no buzzwords and no promise that you’ll stop writing code. Just real situations, awkward moments and practical insight into what’s actually happening when you find yourself leading... whether you planned to or not.

I’ve spent years leading and coaching developers in a tech team. I’ve seen how often strong engineers struggle when their role starts to change and how small shifts in approach can unlock trust, clarity, and momentum. This talk is built from those real situations.