From the Trenches to Leadership: A Complete Toolkit for New Tech Managers
Dalibor Jovic
Director of AI
Hussam Ahmad
Servant Leader in the AI Era
Move from colleague → leader with confidence, clarity, and proven tools.
A 4 week live cohort for newly promoted/hired managers in tech and product development who want to lead effectively without losing themselves, their team, or their sanity.
👉 Move from “I hope I’m doing this right” to “I’ve got this.”
👉 Gain the frameworks, scripts, and confidence every new tech leader needs.
Stepping into your first leadership role is one of the most challenging transitions in a tech career.
Yesterday you were a colleague.
Today you’re expected to run 1:1s, give feedback, manage delivery, handle conflict, motivate people, and influence stakeholders and much more.
Most new managers are thrown into leadership with zero training or training that is not relevant and leave them with more questions than answers.
This course gives you what you should have received on day one: a practica, battle-tested toolkit for leading in modern tech environments, taught through hands-on workshops, real scenarios, and live coaching.
The Promise: By the end of the cohort, you’ll have a clear, repeatable system for leading "former" peers, running confident 1:1s, giving feedback without tension, and delivering results through others.
What you’ll learn
Master the transition from colleague → leader with confidence, clarity, and proven tools.
Learn to set boundaries, reset expectations, and communicate clearly to build trust while stepping confidently into your new leadership role
Develop clear, structured communication skills to confidently align leaders, peers, and teams across all levels and functions.
Use structured agendas and supportive questions to run 1:1s that reveal issues early, strengthen relationships, and build lasting trust.
Apply practical delegation and prioritization frameworks to share workload effectively and stay focused without guilt, stress, or overwhelm.
Use SBI, CEDAR, and safe conversation scripts to give clear, respectful feedback that drives improvement without triggering conflict.
Handle difficult conversations with clarity and calm
Who this course is for
Newly promoted tech leads, engineering managers, product managers, UX leads, and cross‑functional team leads
People who suddenly find themselves managing former peers
Anyone who has ever felt: “How do I give feedback to someone I used to sit next to?”
What's included
Live sessions
Learn directly from Dalibor Jovic & Hussam Ahmad in a real-time, interactive format.
4 live workshop sessions + optional check-ins hours
Mondays will be a delivery day while Fridays are the feedback days
A complete leadership toolkit for new tech managers
Full pack that is ready to use next day
Templates
1:1 agendas, Delegation framework, Feedback scripts (SBI, CEDAR), Difficult conversation prompts, Decision‑making and prioritization models
Real-world practice scenarios
All we do is based on our own experiences taking the same move as you.
Peer community of new tech leaders
Discuss and reflect with likeminded people who have the same challenges as you.
Direct coaching and feedback
We will hold you hands along the way
Lifetime access to materials
Come back and revisit any delivery session at any time you like.
Maven Guarantee
This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.
Course syllabus
7 live sessions • 3 lessons
Week 1
Apr
9
Live Session: Your New Identity as a Leader
Thu 4/96:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)Apr
9
Communication & Feedback
Thu 4/97:00 PM—8:00 PM (UTC)
Your New Identity as a Leader
Communication & Feedback
Apr
10
Checkins - Q&A - Feedback
Week 2
Apr
16
Execution, Delegation & Decision-Making
Thu 4/166:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)Apr
16
Building a High-Performance Team
Thu 4/167:00 PM—8:00 PM (UTC)
Execution, Delegation & Decision-Making
Building a High-Performance Team
Apr
17
Checkins - Q&A - Feedback
Schedule
Live sessions
1-2 hrs / week
1 hour of live teaching and 1 hour of optional sync & checkin on another day
Fri, Apr 10
6:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)
Fri, Apr 17
6:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)
Thu, Apr 23
6:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)
Projects
1-4 hrs / week
Exercises and templates to execute every week
Testimonials
Experience You Can Trust — Guidance That Transforms
Hussam and Dalibor bring a unique blend of leadership, coaching, and deep technical expertise — the perfect combination for guiding new tech managers through one of the most challenging transitions in their careers.
Hussam is a coach and facilitator known for developing confident, high‑impact tech leaders through practical frameworks, strong communication models, and real‑world leadership practices. He has helped individuals and teams level up their performance, build clarity, and create sustainable leadership habits.
Dalibor is a developer‑turned‑AI director with 20 years of hands‑on experience and more than 200 shipped software projects. He has led cross‑functional teams, delivered complex products across industries, and coached developers at all stages. Together, they offer an uncommon dual perspective: the strategic leadership lens and the deep technical reality new managers must navigate. Their combined experience ensures actionable guidance, grounded insights, and the support you need to grow into a capable and trusted tech leader.
Frequently asked questions
Why Learn From Us?
Together, Hussam and Dalibor offer an uncommon but powerful blend:
Leadership expertise + technical depth
Human-centered coaching + engineering reality
Strategic guidance + practical, battle-tested tools
Mindset development + execution skills
We understand both sides of the leadership journey: the inner shift required to lead people, and the technical complexity you must navigate in product and engineering environments. Our combined experience ensures you receive actionable, real-world guidance that prepares you to step confidently into your new role.
Our Promise to You
We are here to help you grow into a capable, trusted, and confident tech leader, not through theory, but through practical tools, lived experience, and hands-on support that match the realities of modern tech teams.
$749
USD
2 cohorts