How do I lead engineering when I'm far removed from the code?

As a VP your choices ripple across hundreds of people, and it haunts you that your hands are so far from the code now. That distance feels like a loss of the ground you once stood on. But your job changed. You are no longer paid to write the code. You are paid to shape the conditions in which others write it well. Trust that the value you add now is different, not lesser. Judgment, direction, protecting your teams, hiring well, removing obstacles, these move more than any single commit you could make. Clinging to the code would actually be a failure to do the larger job in front of you. Still, stay honest and connected. You do not need to write the systems, but you should listen closely to the people who do. Talk to engineers, understand the real texture of the work, let their reality inform your decisions. Lead from wisdom and closeness, not from the keyboard. That is the craft now.