A bit of history
At conferences, I’ve spoken about why good engineers don’t need to become managers in order to progress their careers. I’ve also spoken about why management is also a legitimate path for good engineers, and how to get there. I’ve also uploaded some videos to youtube on the topic.
My last talk at Data Scotland on the matter was in the main auditorium due to a large number of sign ups. This isn’t because it was me talking, hardly anyone knew who I was. It was because it’s a subject that people really want some guidance on. There is no right or wrong path, sometimes you need to go down one path to realise it’s not the best route for you. It’s good to hear the wisdom of those who have gone before you. In the end however, you need to try things out for yourself.
Staying in an Individual Contributor (IC) role.
You can stay technical if you find the right company. Larger enterprises will have separate career routes for IC and management. Many ICs will be more senior than managers and even directors, however they don’t manage people. They shape the direction of the technology choices and provide invaluable guidance to the company’s leadership.
If you are good enough to work in Principal engineer or Staff engineer roles and you don’t wish to manage people, it can be done and there is no reason why your comp needs to be limited to below the management tier. Companies realise the value in having these people as part of the leadership. Staff engineers tend to not just be experts in their own area but are abreast of wider developments in technology. In my line of work, these people were early adopters of technologies that have become mainstream such as streaming, IaC/pipelines and public cloud. Not every new tech lives up to the hype but an instinct for trends helps your company make technology choices that are less likely to be thrown away.
Companies realise that offering attractive positions for excellent ICs is the best way to retain their top talent. Ours is a competitive marketplace, and offering interesting work, influence and good money is a sure fire way to keep people engaged.
Moving into management
Forgive the jargon here but this is the best phrase I can think of to explain this concept. Some people choose management to become a force multiplier. That is, they are excellent engineers, but they know they can accomplish a lot more if they could direct a team. They believe they can guide their team members on priorities, methods and how to get effective work done. They feel they can help people develop themselves into better engineers and will nurture their team to become better. (Blog post about this in planning too)
This is true of good leaders. If they have the background and also the leadership skills, momentum can be achieved. This can lead to further promotions, but be aware that most companies will want people with a track record of managing a team before they let them start managing other managers. Do this well however and the sky can be the limit.
What other skills do you need to have as a new manager
Resilience:
- You may find that your new coworkers in management are not as capable as you thought. Conversely, managers you didn’t rate when an IC may demonstrate to you why they are so effective. I’ve seen both situations. Working with people you don’t think are highly competent can be frustrating for some personality types.
- Be aware that as a new manager, all of your ideas won’t be taken forward. Sometimes there are good reasons for this, sometimes there aren’t. It’s your job to sell your ideas to your peers and your own manager. If you do it well, more or your plans will get taken forward. Ultimately, as a first line manager, you are going to be setting the company strategy. Sometimes you have to accept you haven’t persuaded effectively enough. Do your own job well enough however, and you will get your chance.
Handling frustration:
You may find that you work for or with people that couldn’t do the job of the people they manage. This is to be expected for a number of reasons. It’s not always a bad thing but I’ll cover in a later section why the days of the non-technical managers may be over soon.
- It was/is conventional wisdom that management is a completely different discipline to technology. It’s long been advocated in some quarters that anyone who is good at management (say in a bank) could do it anywhere. As a result, these people exist in tech companies.
- Blaggers get promoted. The people who are best at self promotion will always have the confidence to apply for roles above which they would be competent in. An attitude of fake it until you make it is lauded in some circles. In other words, give me the opportunity and I’ll work out the details when I get there. The Peter Principle says that “people in a hierarchy tend to rise to a level of respective incompetence”. Unfortunately, it takes a while to move these people on and you may come across them.
The non-technical managers’ days may be numbered
I used to argue that the best engineers rarely made the best managers. This is partly wrong. I should have said being an engineer doesn’t necessarily make you a good manager. So many top ICs are not suited to lead people but some are and those are the people that need to be identified.
It’s more important than ever that managers have a solid technical background, ideally one or two areas of expertise and a broad (if shallow) knowledge of the wider industry. I was wrong to say that since management is a completely different skillset, you don’t need to be technical to do it well. So much of technical leadership is having an instinct for technology, decisions, what’s a flash in the pan and what is the next big thing. You also need to understand what your team is working on in order to direct them.
A bit of clarity, I’m not saying you must be better than everyone in your team at what they do day to day, but if you have no idea what they do, or how to direct them, you won’t know the strategies to keep your team moving forward.
I’ve also noticed recently that many of the larger tech employers now want managers to spend a percentage of their time on the tools. I see this as a shift in the industry. Can’t write python, you can’t work here pal.
Whatever you decide, good luck. Being honest and doing your best goes a long way!
