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The transition from IC to manager can be disorienting. For one thing, feedback loops are much longer & so is any payoff. No more PR-based dopamine hits for you. Things you set in motion can take days, or weeks to pay off & it& #39;s not always easy to tell if something is going awry
There& #39;s a sense of & #39;otherness& #39; when you become a manager. People that were your peers treat you differently. It& #39;s usually subtle, but there nonetheless. Positional power is a thing, & it affects how everything you say and do is perceived. You are now part of & #39;The Establishment& #39;
This is natural. You now have an amount of (perceived if not actual) power over their careers opportunities, remuneration, how they work, what they work on etc. You can& #39;t be best mates anymore because at some point you might need to have a & #39;difficult conversation& #39; with them.
For your team, you& #39;re the face of the company now. Of course you have a duty to shield them from unreasonable requests, but be very clear on the difference between unreasonable and unpopular. There is overlap in that Venn diagram, but it& #39;s not a perfect union.
Unreasonable requests are things that
* can cause people psychological or physical harm to the team or others
* are unethical or ethically dubious
* create a chronic imbalance in sustainability
* violate legal or compliance practices
* ...
(clearly not an exhaustive list)
* can cause people psychological or physical harm to the team or others
* are unethical or ethically dubious
* create a chronic imbalance in sustainability
* violate legal or compliance practices
* ...
(clearly not an exhaustive list)
Unpopular requests might be a messy refactoring job when the neighbouring team gets some new greenfields hotness. It might be something that falls outside someone& #39;s area of expertise. Play to your team& #39;s strengths, but where that& #39;s not possible, you still need to get it done
If in doubt - mission first, then your people, then you.
Pete Blaber wrote an excellent book & #39;The Mission, The Men and Me& #39; which I highly recommend.
Pete Blaber wrote an excellent book & #39;The Mission, The Men and Me& #39; which I highly recommend.
Deliver unpopular orders straight. It& #39;s a mistake to try and ingratiate yourself with the team by saying & #39;I have no say in this, It& #39;s not up to me, I& #39;m in the same boat as you& #39;. It may make you popular in the short term, but you& #39;re telling the team you are an empty chair.
You& #39;re also showing your boss that you& #39;d rather foment discontent in the team than be unpopular. Sometimes known in the biz as a career limiting move.
If you& #39;re & #39;just following orders& #39; & incapable of aligning the team around an unpopular mission, you& #39;re in for a bad time.
If you& #39;re & #39;just following orders& #39; & incapable of aligning the team around an unpopular mission, you& #39;re in for a bad time.
