To be a manager, you need to have an EQ. An efficient developer is more or less the worst manager because they underestimate how difficult grasping concepts, problems and solutions are. It’s difficult for folks to understand why a change that would take them an hour is taking someone 10 hours to do.
Once you crack your EQ, you need to also understand what level someone is on and how to uplift them from that level. You’ll have to give autonomy to folks who thrive in autonomy and micromanage folks who will only work when you do. Identifying the right strategy for the right person is important.
I would say very very few people in their 20s or early 30s have these traits. It can be developed, but it’s hard work to get these skills that can’t be quantified.
Another downside is, your learning takes a big hit. You’re expected to be a generalist and help folks design solutions and navigate roadblocks, even when you are unsure of the finer details of implementation.
As an independent contributor, you have the liberty to spend hours diving deep into a problem statement and technologies used. As a manager, you need to trust that the person approaching you has done their research, are able to explain what they did and why they’re stuck and then you could do some reading and lead them with a path. More often than not, this doesn’t happen. Folks are going to be very vague because they assume you know the solution in-depth and you’re just expecting them to be typists and testers.
Thank you for taking time to write a comprehensive view on this 🙏 I've got clarity because from the last 2 months I've been given this task of managing it's taking a toll on learning technical skills, as it's a startup I've got no time to learn on my own as well.
You've not developed your IC skills to their greatest potential and leave a lot of that skilltree on the table.
Your team might take a lot of time to develop respect for you, if they do at all.
Stereotypes will play against you and you'll have to prove your worth and ability time and again.
Yeah, that is the main concern. Because all my colleagues joined in a similar timeline when i joined, there are seniors with Good technical skills. But management chose me because I know how the systems interact and the working flow of all the systems. But I think they are exploiting because they have to hire managers who may ask for a huge salary for this kind of job.
Your SE & technical skills will rot away, which will hamper your ability to understand technology and take strategic decisions related to technology later.
You will do much better if apart from your day job as manager, you maintain a life-long interest in learning technology in the evenings and weekends as a hobby.
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