Managing Managers

Episode 16: Management as a true calling and the three pillars of being a director with Dan Na

Mar 2, 2024

Dan Na, Engineering Director at Squarespace, discusses his journey into management, embracing the director role, and managing growth in a tech company. He highlights the challenges of international expansion, the importance of self-improvement in leadership, and the transition to management roles. The podcast also covers parental leave management, online presence in management, and the pillars of being a director.

44:05

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Episode guests

Dan Na

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Quick takeaways

Management as a true calling aligns with personal traits and career aspirations.

Effective delegation and mentorship ensure team growth during parental leave.

Deep dives

Transition to the Management Track

Dan Na's journey into the management track began at Etsy under the mentorship of Laura Hogan, where he learned valuable lessons that shaped his management style. Moving from an individual contributor role to managing the accessibility engineering team was a pivotal step in his career path, leading to a realization that the management track aligned best with his skills and career aspirations.

The Two-Sided Nature of Management

01:03

Balancing Leadership and Coaching

00:52

Embracing Human-Centered Management

01:19

Value in Focusing on Intrinsic Passion

01:09

Introduction

3min

Transitioning into Management Roles and Managing Growth in a Tech Company

2min

Navigating International Expansion and Technical Leadership in Early Organizational Growth

2min

Embracing the Director Role in Management

22min

Managing Parental Leave and Transitioning to Management Roles

13min

Preparedness and Online Presence in Management

2min

I’ve been a big fan of Dan’s writing for a while. You might have read some of his articles on management in my Level Up newsletter. In this episode, he shines a light on how he found himself in his first managing managers role, how he sees management as his true calling, how management might not be everyone’s cup of tea and how to deal with the ambiguity of the role.

Guest Biography

Dan Na is the Engineering Director of the Market Expansion organization at Squarespace in NYC. Previously he was a Staff Engineer at Squarespace and an Engineering Manager at Etsy. He loves learning and teaching in a collaborative environment and solving both the technical and people problems of shipping software. He’s a weather-agnostic iced coffee drinker, a mediocre golfer, an NBA basketball fan and loves spending time with his family.

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