I have clients throughout the world at various points on their career arcs. Yet, regardless of the geography, industry, or the client’s age one common problem surfaces often, more than most. This problem deals with graduating from being an individual contributor to the first-level manager role.
What typically happens is that most individual contributors (ICs) are rewarded with a manager promotion when they are at the top of their game. Management often makes the mistake of assuming that such an employee would be grateful for a manger promotion with greater responsibilities and authority. The recipient assumes that since they are being promoted for being so good at what they do they must continue doing more of it in their new role.
Now, this results in a rub!
Since the roles and responsibilities in a manager job are so different from those in an individual contributor role, both sides—the management and the employee—soon get disenchanted with the change and things start going south. In my practice I come across this situation so often that I have forgotten how many times I have given the same advice to different people about how to deal with it. This blog is the summary of that advise if you are also at such a juncture:
- For an up-and-coming professional (in the first phase of their career growth) they must focus on mastering their technical skill (software code creation, designing systems, writing legal briefs, creating great ad copies, or whatever their job requires as their basic skill).
- For most young professionals there is some anxiety around getting rapid promotions and salary increases. One must avoid this temptation and defer their need to get promoted by focusing on mastering their craft first. Even if you do not use this particular expertise in your later career the process of mastering just one skill prepares you for a successful career later.
- Remember, the role of a manger is very different from that of an individual contributor. A manager must learn how to provide leadership, manage resources within their responsibility, and provide technical expertise in the area of their work to all those who rely on it.
- There are four functions that a manager must learn in their new role: Leading, Planning, Organizing, and setting up Controls. These functions are not directly related to the technical expertise that got you promoted to the manager role. In fact they are orthogonal to it. This is where most young managers make mistakes in understanding their true role as a manger.
- A manager also must learn how to team up with others within their peer group and at higher levels. This often requires soft skills. These soft skills include Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Political Intelligence (PQ), Cultural Intelligence (CQ), and Contextual Intelligence (XQ). Often, your IQ does not count as much as you go higher up in the management ladder, although it is considered a basic requirement (it becomes a Hygiene factor: a disqualifier and not a qualifier!). When in an IC role your IQ often carries big weight, and other Qs don’t seem to matter much.
- If you do not have the stomach for dealing with people’s individual needs and preferences and if you insist on making decisions purely based on cut-and-dried data and facts, then as a manager you will come out short and you will be frustrated because people will not respond to your leadership, despite your technical superiority that got you there in the first place.
- If you are not sure if being a manager is a good move for you, try assuming a Lead role under your current manager to get a flavor of what you may need to do in your manager role before jumping into the new promotion willy-nilly.
- Do not be shy or afraid of reverting back to your IC role if your manager promotion does not give you the joy and results that you thought you would achieve.
- If you are determined to climb the management ladder, but are not sure because of your early setbacks, seek some coaching or take some courses that deal with the areas of your difficulty (teamwork, EQ, building consensus, brainstorming, etc.). Many companies offer such courses through their HR resources. Many universities, too, provide such courses and certifications. Visit YouTube.
- Each higher level of management requires progressively less technical work and focus. Learn how to focus on the right management work and do the work that only you can do. Leave everything else to people below you to carry out. This way you will have more time for doing management work and people will love you for it!
Good luck!