As I detailed in my last post, I am wanting to move out of my developer role. Even only a few weeks into taking on some Business Analyst duties, I’ve found the biggest challenge to be really taking off that developer hat that I swear I want to shed. I mentioned this to my manager, and he lent me “Becoming a Manager“, which he said would help me in this.

I’ve only made my way through the preface and the first chapter, but already the book has offered me plenty to think about. It’s helped me in looking at managers I know, both who’ve supervised me as well as others, and see where they’re coming from. Indeed, I can definitely see that the manager who lent me the book has read it!

The book (this is the 2nd edition) is based on interviews conducted with and around 19 new managers. It offered up the challenges they faced (those they recognized as well as those they did not). I was actually struck to read that the managers spoken with had served as individual contributors for around 8 years, as that’s the point I am at in my career. However, it is not to a supervisory role I am looking to move.

For that was one thing that was really called out in the first chapter, “Setting the Stage”. The new managers were asked to describe their primary duties as manager, as were their superiors, their subordinates and their peers. Despite the fact that the new managers had recently been individual contributors, their opinions as to their responsibilities were slightly different than those of their superiors. The book has an interesting table wherein the different duties of a manager as seen by these different groups is displayed. The managers saw themselves as ‘the boss’, ‘business leaders’, ’supervisors’, whereas subordinates considered them ‘team leaders’, ‘organizers’ and superiors considered them ‘team leaders’ and ‘administrators’. There was some overlap, but ultimately the roles were seen from the standpoint that would best suit the group perceiving them.

An interesting observation is that often new managers are promoted for their great work as individual contributors: it is often seen as a reward to advance. However, how a person self-identifies is fundamentally different as he enters the role of manager. I would argue that the qualities that make someone an outstanding programmer don’t necessarily lead them to being a good manager. The book also calls out that a high-performing individual contributor may have actually “depended less than the average [person] on their … manager for support and guidance” [26]. They may therefore be unaware of the aspect of the management role that is involved in encouraging and supporting subordinates.

As I mentioned, I’m not planning to move into a role that involves this supervisory aspect to it, but some of the other duties associated with the management role are very helpful to think about. There is some mention of the manager as “network builder” as opposed to “doer”. I think this suits me well, in terms of where I want to be. I am always eager to grow and learn, and I have definitely seen the merits in leveraging the insights and expertise of others. I’m proud of the network of incredibly talented and intelligent people I know, and while I do take pride in my personal accomplishments, I would just as soon work with others to further their achievements. In some of the BA work I’ve been doing, I’ve been glad to be able to communicate information between parties, rather than necessarily trying to jump right in and ‘fix it all’.

As I said, the book has offered me some guidance for myself professionally, and even one chapter in, I can say that I think this should be on the “must-have” list for new managers

More to come as I progress through the book…..