{"id":2053,"date":"2024-02-22T08:09:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T13:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.northwayinsights.com\/?p=2053"},"modified":"2024-02-09T18:28:04","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T23:28:04","slug":"should-i-become-a-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northwayinsights.com\/2024\/02\/should-i-become-a-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I become a manager?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" hcb-fetch-image-from=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/SwkefIDP_bY\" title=\"Should I become a manager? (3 questions to help you decide)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SwkefIDP_bY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>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 \u2013 different enough that those who excel at one tend to struggle at the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what if you\u2019re an individual contributor, and you see that there may be a management opportunity in your future? Is it something you should pursue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are a few questions that can help you decide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1\ufe0f\u20e3 What do you hope to get out of the new role? If it\u2019s simply more prestige, more power, or more pay, you\u2019re likely to be disappointed. The more you move up in an organization, the more impostor syndrome kicks in and the less prestige you\u2019ll actually feel. True power doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2\ufe0f\u20e3 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\u2019s how you bring value, management may not be a good fit. As a manager, your value is no longer about your own work. It\u2019s in inspiring others with a vision of what\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3\ufe0f\u20e3 How well do you tolerate meetings? New managers often complain that they have so many meetings that they don\u2019t have time to do their work. The higher you go in management, the more those meetings <em>are<\/em> your work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I talk to a lot of people who aren\u2019t 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\u2019re still trying to decide whether management is the right next step for your career, let\u2019s talk. Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/stevedwire.com\/connect\">https:\/\/stevedwire.com\/connect<\/a> for a complimentary conversation with me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 \u2013 different enough that those who excel at one tend to struggle at the other. But what if you\u2019re an individual contributor, and you see that there may be a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"wp-custom-template-musing","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Should I become a manager? - Northway Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.northwayinsights.com\/2024\/02\/should-i-become-a-manager\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should I become a manager? - Northway Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I bristle when I hear of a software engineering organization pressuring their top engineers to become managers. 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