Staging environment

Impact through Influence in Engineering Teams

4.8 (33)

·

4 Weeks

·

Cohort-based Course

Some people seem to get it all: promotions, raises, bending impact in their favor. Their superpower? Influence. Learn it in this course.

Students from

Google
Amazon
Meta
Dropbox
Microsoft

Course overview

Having the right idea doesn't matter ... if you can't get others to join you.


Making people commit, comply or change is difficult, but not impossible.


Getting buy-in, convincing and negotiating aren’t elusive arts. But most people approach it the wrong way.


The truth is this:


➡️ People are irrational (even when it's for their own good).

➡️ Good ideas don’t sell themselves (no matter how good they are).

➡️ More arguments in favor of an idea won’t make someone say “yes”.


You need something else.


You need influence.


Unless you’re the CEO, your levels of authority are limited, making it difficult to shape decisions or keep people accountable.

This can lead to missed deadlines and a sense of frustration and disempowerment.

You might feel behind, stuck in your career, or worse, like you’re never taken seriously.


💡But it doesn’t have to be that way!


How would you feel if your insights were not only heard but also valued and implemented? If you could feel a sense of control over the direction and outcomes?

What if you were finally seen as a real partner and had a seat at the table?


For many people influence is invisible. It’s cultural. It’s imaginary. Yet it‘s the biggest powerhouse that gears decisions in our favor.


You’ll inspire voluntary commitment from people and get buy-in on ideas with ease.


If you want to drive this impact, then influence is your gateway.


Course Outcomes

➡️ Reframe the inner obstacles that get in the way of your influence.

➡️ Define how you want to show up

➡️ Become your own PR person and create your own brand strategy

➡️ Build mutually beneficial relationships based on trust and social capital

➡️ Learn to handle resistance from others

➡️ Learn a menu of effective persuasion techniques


Course format

➡️ Course pre-work videos and articles

➡️ Highly interactive classes

➡️ Frameworks to explain complex concepts in simple terms

➡️ Worksheets and templates to learn by doing

➡️ Exact phrases and questions to use right away

➡️ Office hours for more direct time and personalized answers


Build a network

Software Engineers, Data Engineers, Engineering Managers, Researchers, Directors, CTOs, Product Managers and Researchers from companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, and Square have taken this course and found it transformative.


Bonus

➡️ You get 1-year free subscription to "The Caring Techie Newsletter" - www.thecaringtechie.com worth $100.


Not sure this course is for you?

Feel free to email me at thecaringtechie@gmail.com and I'd be happy to jump on a call to answer any questions you might have!

Who is this course for

01

Tech Leads and Senior+ Engineers lacking formal authority to mandate decisions, who rely on influence to lead, motivate, and get buy-in.

02

Engineering Managers who want to navigate complex, challenging cross-functional projects, where direct hierarchical influence is limited.

03

Anyone who wants to find a larger scope, have a bigger impact, and get to the next level.

What you’ll get out of this course

Build your personal power

Using the personal power leaks worksheet, identify the mindsets that are holding you back from being the most influential version of yourself and learn the techniques you need to re-program them once and for all. Learn how to align your body language to support you.

Define how you want to show up and find your voice

Using the personal brand plan, define your core values, brand attributes, and opportunities to build a memorable personal brand at work ASAP. Learn to tell your story and position yourself as a subject matter expert capable of contributing to the strategy, not just executing.

Build reciprocity and trust-based relationships

Learn what to do and what not to do to build trust-based mutually beneficial relationships with peers and superiors from your team and beyond. Learn to truly understand others, by making them feel heard and seen. Build a tribe of allies and sponsors.

Persuasively frame and present your ideas

Learn to create moments of influence, how to frame and present your ideas clearly, and how to communicate them persuasively, to maximize getting buy-in and support from any stakeholder. Practice using the 9 persuasion tactics and pitching templates.

Practice negotiations and disagreements

Manage the resistance and conflict that will be unavoidable as you establish yourself as an influencing figure who deserves a seat at the table. Learn how to approach conflictual situations — what to say and what not to say — so you win no matter what the outcome is.

This course includes

6 interactive live sessions

Lifetime access to course materials

17 in-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

9 projects to apply learnings

Guided feedback & reflection

Private community of peers

Course certificate upon completion

Maven Satisfaction Guarantee

This course is backed by Maven’s guarantee. You can receive a full refund within 14 days after the course ends, provided you meet the completion criteria in our refund policy.

Course syllabus

Week 1

Sep 9—Sep 15

    Sep

    9

    Foundations of Influence & Power

    Mon 9/93:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)

    Module 1: Foundations of Influence & Power

    5 items

Week 2

Sep 16—Sep 22

    Sep

    16

    Personal branding

    Mon 9/163:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)

    Sep

    18

    Office Hours

    Wed 9/184:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)

    Module 2: How We Show Up

    6 items

Week 3

Sep 23—Sep 29

    Sep

    23

    Building Relationships & Organizations

    Mon 9/233:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)

    Module 3: Building Relationships and Organizations

    6 items

Week 4

Sep 30—Oct 4

    Sep

    30

    Principles and Tactics of Persuasion

    Mon 9/303:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)

    Oct

    2

    Office Hours

    Wed 10/23:00 PM—4:00 PM (UTC)

    Module 4: Principles and Tactics of Persuasion

    5 items

Bonus

    Resources for self-study

    0 items

    Module 1: Foundations of Influence & Power

    1 item

    Module 2: Personal Branding

    1 item

    Module 3: Building Relationships and Organizations

    1 item

    Module 4: Principles and Tactics of Persuasion

    1 item

4.8 (33 ratings)

What students are saying

Course Syllabus

What people are saying

        Growing your career hinges on your ability to influence—whether to convince your org to pursue a promising opportunity, address an important challenge, or back a specific choice in a key decision. Irina has mastered this topic from firsthand experience and refined her thinking through writing and community engagement. A value-packed course!
Omar Halabieh

Omar Halabieh

Tech Director @ Amazon Payment Services
        Impact through Influence is such an important topic and much needed for Senior+ roles. I have known Irina for a while now and she is an industry expert who shares thoughtful insights from her experience working with top companies. Make sure to learn from her!
Gregor Ojstersek 

Gregor Ojstersek 

CTO | Author of Engineering Leadership newsletter
        As a tech lead, I've spent last year working on my soft skills and I was still not seeing the results I wanted. This course created a complete picture of how influence works - spoiler alert, it's more than being articulate and having the best ideas.
Andreea Lucau

Andreea Lucau

Staff Software Engineer @ Google
        Irina’s course helped me understand what I was doing right and wrong when influencing. She teaches you when to use particular strategies and includes a ton of helpful examples and stories from her own experience. For anyone who has been perplexed by "influence" in the past, this is the course for you!
Jordan Cutler

Jordan Cutler

Senior Software Engineer @ Pinterest | Author of High Growth Engineer Newsletter

Meet your instructor

Irina Stanescu

Irina Stanescu

With 14 years of experience in building software products, Irina has done it all: grew from junior software engineer all the way to staff software engineer, was the Tech Lead for numerous large cross-functional projects at Big Tech companies such as Google and Uber, and also managed people.


At Google, Irina's team built dynamic ad insertion in the linear and on-demand TV streams for the Google Fiber Mobile TV App. The project involved multiple orgs: Google Fiber, YouTube and DoubleClick, and Irina successfully influenced across all 3 organizations. At Uber, Irina’s team was in charge of the entire Eater Delivery Experience in the Uber Eats Eater app, which was a place of intersection for multiple other teams and functions.


No matter what company she was at, Irina built a memorable personal brand and was able to lead by influence on numerous occasions. As a very hands-on technical leader with limited direct managerial authority, Irina’s influence was her biggest asset. She had to hone in the skills presented in this course and now she wants to share everything she learned with you!


Currently, Irina is a leadership coach, content creator, and the author of “The Caring Techie Newsletter”. In the last year, by continuing to use her personal brand and influencing skills, she grew her newsletter audience to over 20k subscribers and is a Top Voice on LinkedIn with more than 30k followers.

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Impact through Influence in Engineering Teams

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Active hands-on learning

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Interactive and project-based

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Learn with a cohort of peers

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

Frequently Asked Questions

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Impact through Influence in Engineering Teams