Should I become a manager?

I bristle when I hear of a software engineering organization pressuring their top engineers to become managers. Managing and engineering are completely different skill sets – different enough that those who excel at one tend to struggle at the other.

But what if you’re an individual contributor, and you see that there may be a management opportunity in your future? Is it something you should pursue?

Here are a few questions that can help you decide:

1️⃣ What do you hope to get out of the new role? If it’s simply more prestige, more power, or more pay, you’re likely to be disappointed. The more you move up in an organization, the more impostor syndrome kicks in and the less prestige you’ll actually feel. True power doesn’t come from the position; it comes from relationships. And in a good organization, there may be other ways to earn more pay than changing careers into management.

2️⃣ What makes you valuable to your organization? Is it your technical skill? Your ability to find and avoid potential problems? The pace at which you complete your work? If that’s how you bring value, management may not be a good fit. As a manager, your value is no longer about your own work. It’s in inspiring others with a vision of what’s possible, coordinating discussions to resolve disagreements, making the tough decisions to decide what will not get done, and being willing to take the heat for failures while redirecting to your team members any credit for successes. Your value is in what other people do.

3️⃣ How well do you tolerate meetings? New managers often complain that they have so many meetings that they don’t have time to do their work. The higher you go in management, the more those meetings are your work.

And I talk to a lot of people who aren’t even sure how to answer those questions. We humans can often be our own biggest mystery to ourselves. A professional coach can help you discover more clarity around your dreams, your values, and your preferences. If you’re still trying to decide whether management is the right next step for your career, let’s talk. Visit https://stevedwire.com/connect for a complimentary conversation with me.