Luigi Di Lena — Leadership & Management Coaching

Coaching for managers in tech

Last updated: June 2025

I help managers and leaders become more effective at leading their teams. With 25+ years of experience leading cross-functional engineering teams, I offer individual coaching and management development programs tailored to those working in technical organizations.

What is leadership coaching

Leadership coaching is a structured, one-on-one process where an experienced leader helps managers develop their style, navigate team dynamics, and increase their organizational impact — through practical, experience-based guidance rather than generic management theory.

Unlike generic management training, this approach focuses on your specific challenges: the team dynamics you're navigating, the organizational politics you're facing, and the style you're developing. It's practical guidance from someone who has been in your shoes.

In the tech industry, where technical excellence alone doesn't guarantee leadership success, having a leadership coach who understands both the technical and human sides of management makes all the difference.

Services I offer

Every engagement is tailored to your specific role, challenges, and growth objectives. I work with leaders at all levels of technical organizations:

Programs for organizations

I partner with organizations to deliver customized coaching and mentoring programs for their managers and leaders. Whether you're scaling your engineering organization or developing your next generation of leaders, these programs provide:

• Individual Mentoring: Pair emerging leaders with experienced mentorship for accelerated growth and development
• Team Leadership Effectiveness: Help managers improve team dynamics, cross-functional collaboration, and delivery outcomes
• Management Skills Development: Build core management competencies for those stepping into leadership roles for the first time
• Feedback Culture: Teach leaders to build continuous feedback systems that drive ongoing improvement and team engagement

Why work with a leadership coach?

A leadership coach with 25+ years of experience leading cross-functional teams at a global technology company provides practical, experience-based guidance on team dynamics, organizational challenges, and management effectiveness — not generic theory.

Research from Harvard Business Review shows that coaching is most effective when it focuses on real-world challenges rather than abstract frameworks. As a leadership coach with extensive experience leading teams at a global technology company, I understand the unique challenges of technical leadership firsthand:

• Led cross-functional teams across multiple time zones and cultures
• Managed large-scale security programs affecting 300+ enterprise services
• Supported leaders in their progression to senior management roles
• Built high-performing teams in cloud security and infrastructure domains
• Navigated complex organizational dynamics in fast-paced tech environments

This is not about generic management theory. It's about practical, experience-based guidance from someone who has faced the same challenges you're dealing with today. Every session is focused on your real-world situations and goals.

Available worldwide — sessions are remote. I work with clients in the US, UK, Europe, and beyond.

What to expect

This is a collaborative process. In our sessions, we work on your real challenges — not hypothetical scenarios. Here's what a typical engagement looks like:

• Assessment: We start by understanding your current leadership style, team dynamics, and organizational context
• Goal Setting: Together we define clear, measurable objectives for your leadership development
• Ongoing Sessions: Regular coaching sessions focused on your real-world challenges and progress
• Accountability: I help you stay on track with action items and follow-through between sessions

Common challenges I help with

Technical coaching addresses the real-world situations engineering managers face daily:

• Transitioning from IC to manager — Learning to let go of individual output and measure success through your team
• Managing former peers — Navigating the awkwardness of suddenly being "the boss" to people you worked alongside
• Building executive presence — Communicating with clarity and confidence in senior forums
• Running effective 1:1s — Moving beyond status updates to coaching conversations that develop your reports
• Navigating re-orgs and ambiguity — Leading through organizational change without losing your team's trust
• Dealing with underperformers — Having difficult conversations with empathy and directness
• Scaling beyond one team — Moving from managing a team to managing managers

Who this is for

This program is designed for:

• First-time engineering managers making the IC-to-manager transition
• Senior engineering managers preparing for director-level roles
• Directors and VPs wanting a confidential sounding board
• Staff/Principal engineers considering the management track
• Tech leads building influence without formal authority

For broader career strategy beyond leadership, see career consulting. Security leaders may also benefit from cybersecurity-specific coaching. Read more about what technical leadership coaching is and how to navigate the engineer-to-manager transition.

Results

• 70% of clients achieved a promotion or role change within 6 months
• Average rating: 4.6/5 across client reviews
• 50+ coaching sessions delivered to managers and directors at tech companies

“He knows what he's talking about — you can tell he works in the industry. He gave me concrete tips that no other coach had given me before.” — Andrea M.

Pricing

Priced to remove any reason not to start. One good conversation with the right person compounds for years.

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