After being drafted into Engineering Management from 3 IC roles in a row, I decided to jump in with enthusiasm. My primary motivation is that I've had bad engineering managers and a couple of great ones and I want to be like the great ones.
Along the way I have studied a lot about how to manage people in a positive way. I learned coaching and that has helped me help others grow in their career which I find very rewarding!
As an engineering leader I have 2 primary goals: 1. Enable the team to deliver top quality work. 2. Do everything I can to make this a great place to be a software engineer. I filter every decision I make with these goals. If doesn't move us closer to both of them then its probably not the right decision.
I do miss full time coding but I have hobby projects and I do monthly games and challenges with the team with the goal of all of us having fun while learning something useful and/or interesting.
Honestly, it's a completely different job as an Engineering Manager vs being an IC. What you give up is replaced by what you gain. If you like helping people be their best and achieve big things, it can be very rewarding.
> Honestly, it's a completely different job as an Engineering Manager vs being an IC
This is the right perspective, in my opinion. The way I think of it is that its more like you are the coach/manager of a sports team and not a player. Sometimes the best players do not make good coaches and sometimes players that are mediocre/bad are really great coaches/managers. Its a different role. If you approach it with the mindset that your role as coach/manager is to help your team's outcomes be the highest they can be (which will differ based on the make-up of your team) then you (and your team and your company) will do well.
In business/management terms this is called servant leadership - serving others to help them grow and succeed. Traditional leadership is typically the accumulation and exercising of power to "move up" a hierarchy - much like in the animal world with wolves or lions, etc.
Along the way I have studied a lot about how to manage people in a positive way. I learned coaching and that has helped me help others grow in their career which I find very rewarding!
As an engineering leader I have 2 primary goals: 1. Enable the team to deliver top quality work. 2. Do everything I can to make this a great place to be a software engineer. I filter every decision I make with these goals. If doesn't move us closer to both of them then its probably not the right decision.
I do miss full time coding but I have hobby projects and I do monthly games and challenges with the team with the goal of all of us having fun while learning something useful and/or interesting.
Honestly, it's a completely different job as an Engineering Manager vs being an IC. What you give up is replaced by what you gain. If you like helping people be their best and achieve big things, it can be very rewarding.