The day your to‑do list grows up
I knew I became a senior EM before HR updated my title. My to‑do list changed. It stopped being tasks. It became bets.
My job is impact, not motion. That shift showed up in how I write work.
What changes when you become senior
- You write outcomes, not chores. “Cut lead time from 3 days to 1.5” beats “review PRs.”
- You manage systems, not tickets. DORA, roadmap contribution, investment mix. You move the dials.
- You plan in quarters, not afternoons. Every line maps to an OKR with an owner and a target.
- You optimize for the team. Not heroes. The team is the smallest unit.
My before vs after
- Sync with PM → Move the activation metric for our patient onboarding feature by 15 percent.
- Hire backend dev → Build a repeatable hiring loop with time‑to‑offer under 21 days and a 90‑day ramp plan.
- Introduce AI → Free 10 percent of engineer time via Copilot, v0 scaffolds, and scripted Jira hygiene.
How I run it each week
- Publish a simple update every Friday. Wins, risks, next move. No pretty slides.
- Kill one thing on purpose. Space creates impact.
- Automate or delegate tactical work. Let Copilot write boilerplate. Use templates. Use checklists.
- Teach the why. The team ships outcomes when they see the scoreboard.
This is not about ego or title. It is about efficiency. In 2025, you do not lead by adding headcount. You lead by compounding the output of the people you already have. Clean metrics, clear bets, ruthless focus.
Your to‑do list tells the truth. If it reads like chores, you run today. If it reads like bets with metrics, you lead the system. That is when the work starts to move the business.