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I am a manager of managers. Haven't taken any vacations of more than 5 days since 2011. Constantly worry about my technical skills becoming obsolete - hence I
by danrocks 5y ago
I am a manager of managers.
Haven't taken any vacations of more than 5 days since 2011.
Constantly worry about my technical skills becoming obsolete - hence I have to do coding on the side.
Constantly worry about whether my managers will practice what I preach (kindness, coaching, caring, etc.) with their team.
Constantly worry about multiple deadlines for multiple projects, all under my responsibility but not direct control (I'm not a direct manager).
Hire 10-15 people at a time, campaign for some of them, they disappoint, become a burden for others and risk destroying the team - have to worry about that as well.
Get an e-mail at 10pm on a Friday that your best developer has been hired by Google at 2x the pay and there's nothing I can do about it. Another e-mail at Monday 11am saying that your worst developer has ALSO been hired by Google at 2x the pay. Spend 24/7/365 on how to prevent your entire team from jumping ship because of pay I cannot match.
Worry about managing up, sideways, down, and in the fourth dimension as well.
Kill to just be a developer, step back into IC role. Do well, less stress, gets asked to become a manager again because the previous 3 have been a disaster and the team elected you.
Go back to #1, rinse, repeat.
- ipnon 5y agoThe corollary is it's easy to earn favor with your manager by borrowing tasks from them. They always have too much to do.
- danrocks 5y agoIn general, yes. I sleep a tiny bit better when someone takes something over from me. If they complete that well, I will go to bat for them to get them recognized.
- dennis_jeeves 5y agoIf you think of it, a large part of the stress is really need not needed ( some of it will be always there) if there is a collective will of the management. It's largely the management to blame, not the role.
- baskethead 5y agoYou should also join Google as an IC. Sounds like you would be much happier.
- danrocks 5y agoMaybe, or grass is greener? Also don’t know if I would pass IC technical interviews after so many years as manager. The leetcode grind seems out of reach for me now.
- aliswe 5y agoif you are managing managers, they should be taking the responsibilty of the operations (if even them!) - not you. you should only touch your own buttons, not others', and whats outside of that is not your (id like to say problem, but thats not correct) fault.
- isbvhodnvemrwvn 5y agoShit falls down. If these managers failed in their responsibilities, were they correctly trained? Why didn't you notice that? What have you done to remedy it? If you didn't, why are they keeping you in the organization in the first place?
- danrocks 5y agoYep this. Trust, but verify. If a manager (or IC, for that matter) is failing in my org, then it is absolutely my problem. VPs won’t accept “these were by my buttons to push” as an excuse.