I'm a Tech Lead, and nobody listens to me. What should I do?

Authority vs. Influence

• One camp argues hierarchy and real authority (including power over hiring/firing) are essential; without them, “tech lead” is an empty title and decisions bog down in endless negotiation.
• Others push “lead without authority”: earn trust, be right often, be likable, and avoid leaning on hierarchy. Abusing title-based power is seen as corrosive.
• Several note that even with senior titles, peers and upper management may still ignore you; influence must be built, not assumed.

Early Missteps in New Roles

• Many criticize coming into a new org and immediately proposing big architectural overhauls (e.g., hexagonal architecture, testing pyramids, new processes).
• Suggested alternative: spend time learning context, constraints, and existing decisions before adding work or complexity; first fix one painful, concrete problem to earn credibility.

Architecture, DI, and Testing Digression

• Some recount negative experiences with “hexagonal” or “clean” architecture used dogmatically, generating interfaces, DI plumbing, and untestable glue code with little benefit.
• Others counter that DI and clear interfaces can be useful, especially in ecosystems like .NET, but only when driven by real change drivers, not fashion.
• Several emphasize separating pure and impure code, testing pure functions simply, and avoiding over-mocking.

What Makes an Effective Tech Lead

• Being a great coder alone is seen as neither sufficient nor always necessary; leadership requires communication, context setting, and owning processes and outcomes.
• Opinions diverge on whether one person can be both strong IC and strong tech lead simultaneously, given meeting/people overhead.
• Good leads are described as: listening first, clarifying problems, understanding politics and context, explaining “why,” and guiding architecture without dictating every line.

Culture, Politics, and When to Leave

• Multiple anecdotes describe organizations that ignored repeated risk warnings until disaster, then reacted chaotically.
• A recurring conclusion: if leadership is careless, political, or blocks all improvement, you likely cannot change the culture—document your attempts and leave.
• Some note that “trust equations” and similar models assume good-faith actors; in political or adversarial environments, such tools can be misapplied or weaponized.