Having been on a project with a 100x tech lead who rarely wrote code (but every time it was amazing) due to their leadership position, followed (and preceded now that I think about it) by a project where the tech lead was a 10x engineer who wrote tons of solid, bug-free code ,but was not really a great tech lead, this is 100% true. The difference between the projects were night and day.
The defining feature of the 100x tech lead for me was their ability to do code reviews-- with a tilt of the head, they would point out something that no one else thought of and helped make the code better. I really wish I had the ability to review code that way that 100xer did.
Yeah. Reading code is definitely an underrated skill. I always think that Linus Torvals' secret is his ability to read code quickly and comprehend it on a deep level.
I am pretty good at reviewing single blocks of code but if you dump a complex system on me I struggle to comprehend it in depth within reasonable time.
I also had the opportunity of working with a 100x tech lead. Their coding skills weren’t that great (although they did very little, so it may have just been what I saw was rushed out), but they had a very good understanding of how all the parts fit together and what was important for the business, which I would say is more important. They were able to bridge the gap between the business and the tech team, and able to manage expectations on both sides without any issues.
The defining feature of the 100x tech lead for me was their ability to do code reviews-- with a tilt of the head, they would point out something that no one else thought of and helped make the code better. I really wish I had the ability to review code that way that 100xer did.