Even when committed to an IC career path, if staff+ engineers try out management once, it can accelerate their IC career. 💡
It is easy to say, I know what managers do and I am not interested.
But there is a big difference between observing managers vs actually doing that role first hand.
There are so many skills you’ll be forced to learn that will be valuable as a senior technical leader too.
The most important one is empathy.💞
But here are some more that come to mind:
→ How to get work done through others 🤝
→ Emotional intelligence 👥
→ Collaboration on a deeper level 🌐
→ Inclusive decision-making. 🌈
→ Growing people as a primary responsibility 🌱
→ Hiring decisions and headcount planning 🔮
And countless other skills becoming increasingly important as you approach senior leadership roles in tech. 🚀
For instance, you’ll be in a better position to navigate large technical projects, partner with engineering managers or understand team dynamics. 👨💻👩💻
Think of it as adding another dimension to your technical chops. 🛠️
I’ll highly recommend reading the popular blog article (link in the comments) – “The Engineer/Manager Pendulum” by Charity Majors that echoes this sentiment. 😇
I am interested to hear your thoughts or experiences around this 😊🗨️
