The Leadership Bench: Why Your Second-Tier Leadership Ratio Matters More Than You Think

Engineering Managers, Directors, and VPs should make up at least 15% of your engineering organization. But the implications? They're anything but simple.

You know that moment when you realize you're the bottleneck? When every decision, every escalation, every strategic question lands on your desk? That's exactly where many CTOs find themselves as their engineering organization approaches 40-50 people. The calendar becomes a game of Tetris where nothing quite fits, and your team starts to feel the strain of waiting for your input on everything.

This is where the Second-Tier Leadership Ratio becomes your lifeline. The metric is simple: Engineering Managers, Directors, and VPs should make up at least 15% of your engineering organization. But the implications? They're anything but simple.

Where Does This 15% Come From?

The typical managerial span for a coach is six to seven direct reports¹, according to McKinsey's research on organizational design. Meanwhile, experts suggest the ideal range is 5-15 direct reports² for engineering managers specifically. When you do the math – assuming managers have 6-8 direct reports on average – you naturally arrive at a leadership density of 12-20% of your organization.

The 15% target sits comfortably in the middle of this range. It's not an arbitrary number but a practical benchmark that ensures you have enough individuals you want each manager to support³ while maintaining effective leadership coverage. Think of it as the minimum viable leadership density needed to create what systems thinkers call "redundancy" – the ability for your organization to function effectively even when you're not in the room.

The Single Point of Failure Problem

When you're the only person who can make strategic decisions, approve architecture changes, handle escalations, AND maintain relationships with other executives, you've become a single point of failure. Not just technically, but organizationally.

Consider what happens in practice. Eight engineers means eight hours of 1:1s. Say you have four peers with whom you're spending half an hour per week. Now you're up to 10 hours⁴. Add in sprint meetings, interviews, and cross-functional coordination, and suddenly half your week is consumed by meetings alone. This doesn't leave much time for strategic thinking, technical leadership, or even basic administrative tasks.