5 ms·

I run a free mentoring service for managers & leaders. No strings attached. Not a coaching service. Not trying to pitch you anything. Just me being a service to

I run a free mentoring service for managers & leaders. No strings attached. Not a coaching service. Not trying to pitch you anything. Just me being a service to our community. https://freemanagermentors.com https://freemanagermentors.com I've met with a lot of people from HN since I started the program. It's been a real joy! As for your comments, a couple of things jump to mind you might want to explore. [1] Are you receiving enough positive reinforcement from those around you? Are your colleagues aware that their support & positive affirmations make a difference to you? This is all part of "managing up", and a lot of colleagues don't realize it's ok to tell their manager how they appreciate them. It may sound self-serving to you to teach them this, but it's important you know how you benefit them, so you can continue to do that effectively! [2] I think it's great you're carving out time to do some coding. I'd lean harder into this area if you're finding it's generating enjoyment. Perhaps finding someone to take on 50% of your manager workload would allow you to take a more active coding role in non-time-critical projects? [3] Are you due for a sabbatical, or have the ability to take an un-paid sabbatical? You may just be hitting some general burnout and may need to hit a reset button. [4] Perhaps you're due to try a tougher management role in an area that you have little to no expertise. I spent a year at my previous job deep diving into our business operations team, and it helped keep me going for an extra 12 months on a job I was "done" doing. You might be due for a fresh challenge that's beyond engineering. Happy to chat if you'd like! Be well, and best of luck!

solipsism 8y ago
Are you due for a sabbatical Not to detract from your advice, but what's with that question? Virtually no engineer has a job that offers sabbaticals. Even the companies that family used to don't anymore. I don't doubt someone will chime in and say "my job offers me a sabbatical", but they're in the extreme minority. You might as well ask, "does you job offer free massages? If so, I recommend you go for the shiatsu"
- wjossey 8y ago
  YMMV. A lot of the startups in my circle now offer sabbaticals. I get it’s not even remotely common in non tech related jobs, but in tech jobs in the US it’s absolutely on the rise. I wouldn’t call it rare anymore. I get that’s a very heavy anecdotal answer but my day job has me interact with a lot of companies from a people / performance perspective, so I see a lot of these policies first hand. It’s also come up in five of the fifteen most recent mentoring conversations I’ve had (just went and double checked my notes). Can’t really produce anything more concrete than that for you, unfortunately. No clue what the hard data is. Might just be some weird bias based on the type of work I do. -- EDIT -- Switched to my laptop and found an HBR article saying it's about 17% of companies. So, doesn't seem that rare. https://hbr.org/2017/08/research-shows-that-organizations-benefit-when-employees-take-sabbaticals https://hbr.org/2017/08/research-shows-that-organizations-be...
- ido 8y ago
  Keep in mind that in America a "sabbatical" may mean something like 2-3 weeks off...I.e. what in Europe would just be a normal vacation (most every job I ever had in Austria or Germany included ~25 days [5 weeks] off per year - it is common for people to take 2-3 weeks of those in the summer in one go). The original meaning (and the one that will probably throw europeans off) was 1 year every 7, which I would venture a guess is so rare outside of academia/education as to basically be irrelevant.
  - solipsism 8y ago
    No, it doesn't.

solipsism 8y ago

Are you due for a sabbatical Not to detract from your advice, but what's with that question? Virtually no engineer has a job that offers sabbaticals. Even the companies that family used to don't anymore. I don't doubt someone will chime in and say "my job offers me a sabbatical", but they're in the extreme minority. You might as well ask, "does you job offer free massages? If so, I recommend you go for the shiatsu"

wjossey 8y ago
YMMV. A lot of the startups in my circle now offer sabbaticals. I get it’s not even remotely common in non tech related jobs, but in tech jobs in the US it’s absolutely on the rise. I wouldn’t call it rare anymore. I get that’s a very heavy anecdotal answer but my day job has me interact with a lot of companies from a people / performance perspective, so I see a lot of these policies first hand. It’s also come up in five of the fifteen most recent mentoring conversations I’ve had (just went and double checked my notes). Can’t really produce anything more concrete than that for you, unfortunately. No clue what the hard data is. Might just be some weird bias based on the type of work I do. -- EDIT -- Switched to my laptop and found an HBR article saying it's about 17% of companies. So, doesn't seem that rare. https://hbr.org/2017/08/research-shows-that-organizations-benefit-when-employees-take-sabbaticals https://hbr.org/2017/08/research-shows-that-organizations-be...
ido 8y ago
Keep in mind that in America a "sabbatical" may mean something like 2-3 weeks off...I.e. what in Europe would just be a normal vacation (most every job I ever had in Austria or Germany included ~25 days [5 weeks] off per year - it is common for people to take 2-3 weeks of those in the summer in one go). The original meaning (and the one that will probably throw europeans off) was 1 year every 7, which I would venture a guess is so rare outside of academia/education as to basically be irrelevant.
- solipsism 8y ago
  No, it doesn't.