I used to think that being left alone was the highest form of praise from a manager. If autonomy was the reward for a job well done, then intervention was the punishment for "messing up". For the first 4 order so years of my career, I thought of one-on-one's as something that happened mainly when I needed correction, something was off with the team or company, or maybe once a year for a performance review.
One of the most impactful things to happen in my career as a software engineer was having a manager who helped me to redefine leadership and reassess how I evaluate myself. Through that relationship, I learned to see that the interfaces between people are just as important as the interfaces between software for the success and long term health of companies, products, teams, and people. With this recalibrated mindset, I've grown into the engineer that you know today.
It is with this understanding of what it means to be a great engineering manager, I've stepped up to try this role because
- I want to help people to grow 🌸! Great managers have been instrumental to my growth so this is an area of high personal importance to me
- I'm interested in learning how to define and execute tech vision and strategies 🤔 📊. This will stretch some of existing skills by "forcing" me to think from a new perspective
- I still get tripped up by larger project delivery efforts, so I'd like to gain some strength here, which is a big part of the job 🏋🏾♂️!
See also
On the purpose of management