4 ms·

Do you think the manager career path is still worth it, or is the 'technology-oriented' career path better?

• iretired 12y ago
  It depends on the individual. Most (75%?) of engineers are not suited for management. Most engineers have a "busy-beaver" personality type. "Show me the problem, I'll go solve it." This is a great personality type for an engineer, but it doesn't work well for a manager. Managing is a different game. A lot of it is about pushing back and asking, "what is the question? does this really solve the right problem? are we solving the right problem?" You must be ready to negotiate on every front. I made my share of rookie management mistakes. But I had the right personality type and I was generally quite successful as a manager. In such a short message I can't possibly give your question due diligence. But I'd summarize it like this: if you have talent for what you do AND you are in the 25% of people with the "management" personality type, you will be successful.
  • deleted 12y ago
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