The Manager's Path: Chapter 1 - Management 101
The opening chapter of The Managerās Path lays out basic expectations for managers and their reports. Since the book āis structured to follow the stages of a typical career path for an engineer who ends up becoming a manager,ā most of the focus is on experiences and responsibility from the individual contributor (IC)ās side.
Nonetheless, there are some good reminders in here for more experienced managers. Itās a good opportunity to look at management as a discipline with fresh eyes and do some self-reflection.
Post format
This is my first chapter review for the Engineering Management Book Club. I havenāt yet settled on a format, but Iām going to give the below approach a few chapters and see how it goes. Iām not trying to provide a summary, overview, or condensed version of each chapter. Rather, Iām focusing on bringing what each book discusses into the real world.
Key takeaways
You are responsible for your own career
āUse your manager to discover whatās possible where you are, but look to understand yourself in order to figure out where you want to go next.ā
There is a āshared responsibility modelā between yourself and your manager for your career development. This responsibility shifts as you advance in your career.
Shift in career development responsibilities between a direct report (blue) and their manager (green) over time.
Iāve felt this shift throughout my career. In fact, I think the slope is probably more aggressive with the report taking on more responsibility more quickly. I donāt think this mix is ever entirely on one side. Even as a new entrant to the workforce (or to management) you bear some measure of responsibility for your own career, and thereās never a point where your manager is completely free of responsibility for your further development. However, realistically you probably will reach a point where you wonāt receive what you need to grow and you should have a plan for progressing on your own.
First, change yourself
āYour relationship with your manager is like any other close interpersonal relationship. The only person you can change is yourself.ā
The reminder of our own responsibilities and advice on giving our managers a break is spot-on, and one that we should be better equipped as managers to heed. After all, we know weāre fallible and would ask our own direct reports for their understanding, right?
Unfortunately, I havenāt always gotten this right. Recently I lost sight of this and worked with an executive coach to improve it. That experience was more difficult than I anticipated, but it was well worth it in terms of reframing my situation at the time and giving me back a measure of control over it.
Specifically, it helped me think more about my managers as people whoālike meāhad too much to do and not enough resources to do it all. I still didnāt agree with all the decisions that were made or actions that were undertaken, but it did help me be more empathetic upwards as well as down the reporting chain.
Assessing your own experience
Each chapter ends with a section of questions for assessing your own experiences. Iāll provide answers for all as we go, but I will occasionally answer from the point of view of the manager in order to protect the privacy of my past and current management. This journey is about improving my abilities as a manager, not assessing theirs.
- Have you had a manager you considered good? What did this manager do that you found valuable?
Iāve been lucky to have several managers and leaders who I considered good. Unsurprisingly, many of my earliest examples come from my time in the Army. I had direct leadership like team leaders, squad leaders, and section sergeants who showed me the value of leading by example. I had skip-plus leadership like platoon leaders and company commanders who taught me the value of clearly communicating vision (commanderās intent) and inspirational leadership in connection with achieving that mission.
I also have good management in my current role. Most notably, my manager listens to understand, not to tell me why Iām wrong. We may end up disagreeing on the outcome, but he always listens to me, asks clarifying questions, and considers what Iām telling him and my context before moving on.
- How often do you meet 1:1 with your manager? Do you come to 1:1s with your manager bringing topics to discoss? If your 1:1 is a status meeting, can you use some other means to convey that status?
Turning this one to my point of view as a manager - I have weekly recurring 1:1s with all of my direct reports. I generally let them guide the meeting unless there are specific areas we need to address like regular (monthly, quarterly) performance reviews or providing context for recent decisions and upcoming work.
I do my best not to let these turn into status meetings. Iāve found some direct reports want to give that status update as a way of maximizing shared understanding. In that case, I encourage the report just because it āunblocksā them from thinking more deeply about other topics we address in the remainder of the meeting. This is largely about tailoring communication with others to the way they prefer to communicate to maximize the effectiveness of our communications.
- Do you feel that you can tell your manager when you have a major life event? Do you feel that your manager knows something about you personally?
I do feel that I can tell my manager when I have a major life event. My manager does know a few things about me personally, like how my previous experiences shaped me, my hobbies, and my family life.
A question that isnāt asked here is whether itās safe to share major life events in your company at all. This one is far more challenging to answer clearly as a lot depends on context beyond your reporting chain. Also, not all major life events have the same impact for the same length of time. Dealing with a short-lived emergency like a death in the family is different from prolonged time away, such as with parental leave.
Luckily, in my current role leadership at literally every level above me has shown that they value this time away by taking time themselves for parental leave. Itās a powerful indicator that itās not just okay but expected to take time off when you need it.
- Has your manager delivered good feedback to you? Bad feedback? Any feedback at all?
Turning this one again - I bristle a bit at the ābad feedbackā phrasing here. Providing feedback on areas of improvement or even on-the-spot corrections is an implicit declaration that you believe someone can be doing better. Itās an affirmation of faith in your reportsā abilities. That aside, I have delivered both āgoodā and ābadā feedback recently to direct reports.
- Has your manager helped you set any work-related goals for this year?
One final turn - Iām currently in the process of setting goals with all of my direct reports for the year. We approach these more on a quarterly basis, but this question itself is a good reminder to step back and ensure that those quarterly goals set them up to achieve their longer term career objectives.
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I think the chart of responsibility for career development is intriguing
Iāve always thought of the manager as more of someone who can support/enable/shed light on career growth, but they arenāt the ones to drive it.
Thatās on the IC, and thatās the biggest chunk of career growth
A good manager's help is crucial in getting started.