Follow-up: 12 YOE staff eng, never got a chance to break into management
Posted by gburdell@reddit | ExperiencedDevs | View on Reddit | 15 comments
https://www.reddit.com/r/ExperiencedDevs/comments/1rz6js0/12_yoe_staff_eng_never_got_a_chance_to_break_into/
Well, it happened. Last Friday, a manager in my skip's org abruptly left the company for a competitor, and he tapped me to replace him. It's a group I don't have strong technical expertise in, but my background in data is where he wants to steer the group.
To be honest, I felt mixed. On one hand, this is what I wanted. On the other hand, my technical career is basically dead with how rapidly things are going to change in the next year or two. I succeed by my team succeeding. That's a tough sell for someone who's been promoted multiple times for having superior technical chops. Beyond myself, I immediately felt the weight of several other people being dropped on me: their ambitions, troubles, and insecurities are now my problem. Doubts began to creep in pretty quickly, as well. I've been behind the curve on AI adoption and I started to wonder afterward whether this was a preservation move by management because one of their technical leads isn't showcasing AI much, even as it's being heavily shilled internally.
Anyway, I haven't found my mooring yet, but I feel like I was transported back to being a junior engineer again at the bottom of a new ladder (in a good way).
SansSariph@reddit
I'd encourage putting together a summer reading list on leadership; curiosity, empathy, psychological safety, vulnerability, shame and how it impacts interpersonal communication. It is a skill to learn and practice.
Unlikely_Rich1436@reddit
Management definitely acts defensively when technical leads are perceived as falling behind on new methodologies. If you weren't enthusiastic about the new adoption curve, they likely insulated the project to protect its velocity
bbqroast@reddit
It'll be good for you.
You might be a great manager, or at least a decent one, after all the training and experience. You've clearly got value as an IC to fall back on. I reckon management experience gives you some insights on the IC side as well in terms of how things work.
Jump on any training opportunities (e.g. leadership classes) if offered, even though they seem like a waste of time. If you have the time and energy there's quite a lot of good books too (I don't think any one is the exact perfe style, but having a bunch of ideas is better than nothing).
aerfen@reddit
I'm staff+ with 15 YOE and I've done a few years managing engineers (had 12 under me at one point) before stepping back to IC.
I'm very glad for the experience, but I've got to say I'm so glad I got that out the way before the AI boom, and right now I'm really happy to be fully hands on and able to dedicate my time to keeping up with this strange new world.
I'm sure whatever you choose you'll do well, but it's a tough choice either way at this moment in time. Good luck!
inspired2apathy@reddit
Yup. Managing has helped me build very different skills and perspective-taking. I figure I'll at least try for 2 years. That said, training has been pretty much non existent for me so far
gburdell@reddit (OP)
Hey, thanks for the response. I’ve been reading High Output Management, by Andy Grove, at night. It’s reasonably relevant 40+ years later. I also worked at Intel in the 2010s and the old timers all said he was a great CEO (if a bit of a hardass; stories abound of him waiting at the entry turnstile taking down the names of people who arrived late and chewing them out later)
bbqroast@reddit
I'll try that one, would recommend Radical Candor and the five dysfunctions of a team as well.
midasgoldentouch@reddit
This is a bit concerning, isn’t this a large portion of management work? If you weren’t very enthusiastic about this as a team lead, well, I don’t know that you’ll enjoy doing it a lot more.
gburdell@reddit (OP)
The difference is that now the perception is bad if I’m doing the trenches work. My skip told me as much. I am in a F500 company, so I am fundamentally a lab rat who responds to incentives because I have a family to support. It takes time to reprogram my brain.
I think this experience is typical. Managers have a habit of promoting their best technical talent
midasgoldentouch@reddit
I mean, I’m just saying, it sounds like you enjoy doing the trenches work and not actively enabling others, and you’re heading in a direction that will have you do little of the former and mostly the latter.
SubstantialTrifle@reddit
I remember this original post and my feelings haven’t changed. OP doesn’t want to be a manager, they just want the pay / title / feeling of superiority. I’d hate to be their report.
spez_eats_nazi_ass@reddit
Management is overrated. All the unemployed motherfuckers in my network - management track. Ic is getting fucked too but normally it’s a lot more transferable.
gburdell@reddit (OP)
I plugged this post into Google
“Based on structural, stylistic, and linguistic markers, this text was almost certainly written by a human, not AI.
Why It Is Human-Written
Emotional Nuance: The text balances conflicting internal feelings (pride vs. career dread) in a raw, authentic way.Idiomatic Phrasing: Expressions like "superior technical chops," "heavily shilled," and "found my mooring" flow naturally.
Irregular Structure: Sentences vary sharply in length and rhythm, reflecting natural human thought progression.
Vulnerability: The author openly admits to professional insecurity, imposter syndrome, and strategic skepticism.
Contextual Slang: Using "shilled" to describe internal AI corporate pressure reflects specific internet/tech-industry vernacular.“
FUSe@reddit
This leads me to believe that maybe management is not a good place for you.
See in management, you have to deal with a lot of people’s opinions.
I have 20yoe now and about 5 years ago I went back to being an IC. I don’t have any regrets. I don’t have to listen to people complaints or lose good people because management doesn’t want to pay them fairly or managing people’s feelings.
johnpeters42@reddit
Not that I trust AI-detecting-AI as far as I can throw a mainframe, but yeah, original post doesn't particularly read like AI to me, either.