Impact through Influence in Engineering Teams

4.8 (40)

·

2 Weeks

·

Cohort-based Course

Some people get things happen despite gnarly roadblocks. Their secret? Influence. Learn how to build yours 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.


Changing minds is hard—but not impossible. Winning support, making a case, and reaching agreements are skills anyone can learn—but most people get them wrong.


The reality is:

➡️ People are irrational (even when it’s in their best interest).

➡️ Good ideas don’t sell themselves.

➡️ More arguments won’t magically make someone say “yes.”


You need something else. You need influence.


Without influence, it’s tough to shape decisions, keep people accountable, and move projects forward. This usually eads to missed deadlines, frustration, and feeling stuck.


💡 But it doesn’t have to be that way.


Imagine if your ideas weren’t just heard—but valued and acted on.


Imagine having real control over decisions and outcomes.


Imagine being seen as a trusted partner with a seat at the table.


For many people influence is invisible. It’s cultural. It’s a nice to have. Yet it‘s the strongest force that drives anything.


With it, you’ll build trust, inspire action, and gain buy-in.


In this course you'll learn to:

✅ Overcome the inner obstacles that limit your influence

✅ Define how you want to show up and shape your reputation

✅ Build trust-based relationships that create real opportunities

✅ Handle pushback with confidence

✅ Use proven persuasion techniques that fit different situations


Course format:

➡️ Pre-work videos & articles

➡️ Interactive live sessions

➡️ Simple frameworks to explain complex concepts

➡️ Worksheets & templates to apply what you learn

➡️ Ready-to-use phrases & questions

➡️ Office hours for personalized guidance


Who takes this course?

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


Bonus

📩 Get a 1-year free subscription to The Caring Techie Newsletter ($100 value).


Questions?

Not sure if this course is right for you?

Email me at thecaringtechie@gmail.com—I’m happy to chat!

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.

Create a strong professional reputation

Using a proprietary framework, you'll define and implement a memorable reputation work ASAP. Learn to tell your story and position yourself as a subject matter expert capable of contributing to the strategy not just to execute.

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

19 in-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

4 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

Feb 17—Feb 23

    Feb

    21

    Office Hours

    Fri 2/215:00 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)

    Feb

    19

    Module 2: Understanding People and Building Strategic Relationships

    Wed 2/194:00 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)

    Feb

    17

    Module 1: Foundations of Influence & Power

    Mon 2/174:00 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)

    Module 1: Foundations of Influence & Power

    6 items

    Module 2: Understanding People and Building Strategic Relationships

    6 items

Week 2

Feb 24—Feb 28

    Feb

    28

    Office Hours

    Fri 2/284:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)

    Feb

    26

    Module 4: Putting Influence Into Action - Influence at Scale

    Wed 2/264:00 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)

    Feb

    24

    Module 3: Putting Influence Into Action - The Ingredients of an Ask

    Mon 2/244:00 PM—6:00 PM (UTC)

    Module 3: Putting Influence Into Action - The Ingredients of an Ask

    6 items

    Module 4: Putting Influence Into Action - Influence at Scale

    5 items

Bonus

4.8 (40 ratings)

What students are saying

Irina's Pyramid of Influence

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

Irina has 14 years of experience building software products, rising from junior engineer to staff engineer, leading major cross-functional projects at Google and Uber, and even managing people.


Irina built a strong career reputation and led through influence, even without direct authority. Now, she shares those hard-earned leadership skills.


Today, she’s a leadership coach, content creator, and author of The Caring Techie Newsletter with a following of over 100k+ subscribers.

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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