Mostafa Zaher Leading in Tech · Student checklist
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Student checklist: week by week

Leading in Tech: The Engineer's Leadership Cohort

Everything you need to do, in order, with a time estimate next to each step. The weekly load is designed to stay small: about 2 hours of live session, at most 1 hour of take-home work, and 30 to 40 minutes of reading.

The operating rule for the whole course: no artifact means not done. Reflection without evidence does not count, in the course as in engineering.

All dates below are cohort 1 placeholders and shift together once the kickoff date is confirmed.


Before the course

Application stage (about 5 weeks before kickoff)

DoneTaskTime
Fill the screening application: experience, role, team size, one paragraph on a leadership situation that went badly and what you think went wrong10 min
Confirm availability for all 6 Friday sessions2 min

Pre-work packet (sent 7 days before kickoff, due 2 days before)

DoneTaskTime
Take the 24-item self-assessment (0 to 3 per item, produces your baseline score per arc)10 min
Write and submit your story: one moment in your career where you saw one of these laws work or violated, and the outcome25 min
Confirm the 6 dates and the teach-back obligation5 min

Stage total: about 52 minutes


Week 0: kickoff (Fri Aug 14)

DoneTaskTime
Attend the kickoff: norms, the four arcs, the two tracks, self-assessment debrief, capstone walkthrough90 min
Note your weakest arc from the debrief. That is your capstone territoryin session
Note your teach-back pairing: partner, law, and which session you present inin session
Pre-read for Week 1: one-pagers for The Lid and Priorities (includes the Project Oxygen and Peter Principle summaries)30–40 min
Write down the one question the reading left you with. Sessions open with a question round and assume you have read5 min

Week total: about 2 hours 15 minutes


Week 1: lead yourself (Fri Aug 21)

DoneTaskTime
Attend Session 1: The Lid, Priorities, burnout and imposter syndrome module, workbook walkthrough120 min
Keep your burnout early-warning checklist from the session somewhere you will see it5 min
Evidence artifact: calendar audit. Tag every block in last week's calendar as Requirement, Return, Reward, or none. Compute the percentage of none. Write 5 lines on what you would cut45–60 min
Submit the artifact (calendar screenshot + the percentage) by Thursday Aug 27, 6:00 PM5 min
Pre-read for Week 2: one-pagers for Influence and Connection30–40 min
Write down your one question from the reading5 min
If your teach-back is in Session 2: prepare with your partner (8 minutes, both speak, framework first, one real story, one question to the room)45–60 min

Week total: about 3 hours 30 minutes (plus teach-back prep if scheduled)


Week 2: earn the follow (Fri Aug 28)

DoneTaskTime
Attend Session 2: evidence round, Influence, Connection, feedback (SBI + Radical Candor), conflict resolution, one teach-back120 min
Be ready to share your calendar audit in the evidence round, 60 secondsin session
Evidence artifact: influence map. Map your team plus 2 adjacent stakeholders. Mark who follows you voluntarily vs by role. Pick the one broken relationship and write a 5-line diagnosis of what connection is missing45–60 min
Submit the artifact (map as Canva frame or photo + diagnosis) by Thursday Sep 3, 6:00 PM5 min
Pre-read for Week 3: one-pagers for Empowerment and Buy-In30–40 min
Write down your one question from the reading5 min
If your teach-back is in Session 3: prepare with your partner45–60 min

Week total: about 3 hours 30 minutes (plus teach-back prep if scheduled)


Week 3: build the team (Fri Sep 4)

DoneTaskTime
Attend Session 3: evidence round, Empowerment, Buy-In with managing up (SCQA + nemawashi), two teach-backs120 min
Evidence artifact: delegation and buy-in audit. List 3 things you are hoarding and the honest reason for each. Pick one proposal of yours that failed and write why it failed, using the buy-in order: people accept the person first, then the idea45–60 min
Submit both lists by Thursday Sep 10, 6:00 PM5 min
Book your 1:1 mentorship session (booking window opens after this session, via the Zcal link shared with the cohort)5 min
Pre-read for Week 4: one-pagers for Explosive Growth and Legacy30–40 min
Write down your one question from the reading5 min
If your teach-back is in Session 4: prepare with your partner45–60 min

Week total: about 3 hours 35 minutes (plus teach-back prep if scheduled)


Week 4: multiply and exit well (Fri Sep 11)

DoneTaskTime
Attend Session 4: evidence round, Explosive Growth, Legacy, final teach-backs, capstone briefing120 min
Capstone: draft your 30-day experiment plan on the one-page template: diagnosis (weakest arc + score), one real named problem on your team, the experiment (one behavior, frequency, start date), evidence to collect, success measure, and the risk that could make you quit, with your plan against it60 min
Submit the plan by Wednesday Sep 16 (2 days before the case clinic). Plans without a real named problem get sent back5 min
No pre-read this week. The case clinic requires zero preparation: cases are read live0 min
If your teach-back opens the case clinic: prepare with your partner45–60 min

Week total: about 3 hours 5 minutes (plus teach-back prep if scheduled)


Week 5: the case clinic (Fri Sep 18, mandatory)

DoneTaskTime
Attend the case clinic: two live cases debated in opposing camps, your written 3-line decision on each, the succession staircase close120 min
State your capstone commitment in one line: the behavior you will run for 30 days and your start datein session
Note the day-30 reassessment date announced at the close2 min

Week total: about 2 hours


After the course: the 30-day experiment

The 30-day clock starts on the start date you stated at the clinic. The plan you submitted plus the commitment you stated is the contract. No revision cycle, no presentation.

DoneTaskTime
Run the experiment on your real team: one behavior, at your committed frequency10–15 min per occurrence
Log the evidence you committed to (1:1 notes, delegation log, calendar tags, a re-run proposal) as you go, not retroactively5–10 min per week
Attend your 60-minute 1:1 mentorship session: 30 min testing and improving your experiment plan, 15 min one career question of your choice60 min
At day 30: retake the 24-item self-assessment10 min
Write the short retro: what moved, what did not, what the evidence shows20–30 min

Stage total: about 2 hours of fixed time, plus the experiment behavior itself spread over 30 days


Certificate checklist

You earn the certificate when all four are true:

DoneRequirement
Attended at least 5 of 6 live sessions, including the Week 5 case clinic (mandatory)
Submitted all 4 weekly evidence artifacts
Delivered your peer teach-back
Submitted the capstone plan and stated your commitment at the case clinic

Total commitment at a glance

BlockTime
Live sessions (6)11.5 hours
Pre-reads (4 weeks × 30–40 min)~2.5 hours
Evidence artifacts (3 audits + capstone plan)~3.5 hours
Teach-back preparation (once)~1 hour
Pre-work packet~1 hour
Mentorship 1:11 hour
Day-30 reassessment + retro~40 min
Total across ~10 weeks~21 hours, never more than ~4 in any week