D2C241: Choose Your Own Adventure: Manager, Director, or IC
Apr 24, 2024
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Hazel Weakly, an experienced professional in management, directorship, and individual contribution, shares insights on the different skill sets needed for each role. Topics include transitioning into leadership, balancing remote and in-person collaboration, and the unique skills required for engineering leadership. Key points cover managing teams, career growth, and the importance of soft skills like empathy.
Transitioning between manager, director, and IC roles requires adapting skill sets effectively.
Prioritizing visibility, resource allocation, and developer experience enhance efficiency in management and organizational stability.
Deep dives
Hazel's Leadership Journey and Managing a Turbulent Transition
Hazel's unexpected transition into a leadership position was prompted by her manager's sudden departure, necessitating her quick adaptation to dual roles of tech lead and eventually engineering manager and head of infrastructure. Despite facing initial challenges, Hazel's proactive approach and ability to maintain team cohesion led to effective management and organizational stability.
Managing the Director and Manager Roles in Infrastructure and Development
Navigating the responsibilities of director and manager in infrastructure and development involved addressing workload disparities and aligning cross-functional teams. Focusing on visibility, resource allocation, and establishing a developer experience platform were key strategies in enhancing efficiency and overcoming operational challenges.
Transitioning from Management to Individual Contributor Role
While excelling as a people manager, Hazel recognized her irreplaceability as an architect and transitioned back to an individual contributor role as a principal architect in the platform organization. Emphasizing the importance of amplifying organizational effectiveness, she leverages her force multiplier approach to drive holistic improvement.
Developing Soft Skills and Leadership Influence
Hazel emphasizes the significance of managing adaptive capacity and grounding oneself to effectively navigate high-stress situations. She underscores the value of empathy, active listening, and a force multiplier mindset in cultivating influential leadership behaviors, which transcend technical expertise and elevate interpersonal effectiveness.
What makes for a good manager, director, and independent contributor (IC), and how do you figure out which is the best fit for you? Hazel Weakly has had a whirlwind tour of all three and is ready to share her insight into each. We talk about the skill set needed for each, and figuring out... Read more »
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