4 ms·
No, what young developers (possibly other employees too) really want is not to be asked what they want to do, they want to be told what they would be good at.
by jameshart 4y ago
No, what young developers (possibly other employees too) really want is not to be asked what they want to do, they want to be told what they would be good at.
They don’t know! I didn’t when I was a young dev; still don’t if I’m honest. And for years all I ever really wanted a manager to say was ‘here’s a pathway I could see you going down’.
If there is one thing mentors and managers can usefully do it is to stop asking stuff like ‘what motivates you?’ and start saying ‘you might be good at X’
- jonathankoren 4y agoI don’t see how any of this is different from what I said.
- jameshart 4y agoWhat do you want to become? Tell me your goals. Let's help you make a plan. All very empowering manager buddy stuff. To a junior developer, sitting across the table, it all sounds like I can't do anything for you. If you don't know what you want to do, you're a failure. I don't even know what you do here. What I want to hear from a manager who understands me: Here are the pathways open to you. Here's where I see you fitting in. Here's what you could be doing in a few years. Here's what I'd like to see you achieve.
- Json1 4y ago[flagged]