Who am I to talk about management? After all, I've never managed anyone in my life, and probably couldn't manage well enough to save my life. To that, I reply, "I've been bloody managed all my life, and if you think I don't have opinions about how I'd like to be managed, you have got to be kidding."
First of all, management is like any other relationship. It's built on trust. For me to trust my manager requires two things on her part: integrity, and competence. Integrity is the simple part: that my manager wouldn't talk behind my back about me in scathing tones, that my manager trusts me to use my judgment, that my manager's honest with me and lays everything straight on the table, that I get continual feedback and no nasty surprises during my review --- after all, if I'm screwing up, I should be getting feedback about it throughout the entire year. Competence is the hard part. Don't assume that just because I'm technical that I value technical competence in a manager. One of the best managers I ever had was someone I had to explain (and even teach) technical matters in great detail to. One of the worst managers I've ever encountered was a highly technically competent guy.
Managerial competence is something entirely different from technical competence. It's being sensitive, knowing when something's wrong. It's knowing to trust me and my technical judgment in my field of expertise. It's "letting go" and letting me do my thing and getting obstacles out of my way. It's hiring the right people, nurturing a working environment where teamwork is rewarded. It's being a great cheerleader and helping me keep my morale up. It's being receptive to good ideas and suggestions. It's not cutting me or my peers out of the decision-making loop. It's being open with everyone. It's being a good person in general.
To tell the truth, I think technical people make lousy managers. And the more technical they are, the worse they are. Here are their faults: technical people think that people are interchangeable parts (after all, that's what they were trained in during school, to build and use interchangeable parts), but forget that people have feelings and emotions. They forget that every person understands a problem differently, and it may be easier for one person to solve a problem in his own way, even if the manager doesn't understand his approach. Technical managers often forget to give positive feedback. Worse, sometimes they take credit for everything and forget to give credit where it's due: to the person who did the real work. Technical people are well-versed in criticism, and tend to have little tact. One manager I knew once criticized an engineer in front of the entire team over lunch for an "idea" that engineer had. This is definitely a guaranteed way to piss off the engineer and guarantee that nobody will ever voice any wild and crazy ideas they have. And wild and crazy ideas are often the most creative ones!
This is not to say that non-technical people automatically make great managers --- just look at Dilbert's boss! What I'm saying is that technical people tend to have a much harder time than most when moved into management positions, and need to work much harder to correct their inherent tendencies to criticize their reports and provide no positive feedback. I also claim that it's much easier for me to explain technical stuff to a non-technical manager who's excellent at managing, than for me to explain management stuff to a technical manager who's just starting to manage.
Ok, you're a technical person who wants to move into management. Is all lost? Can you be saved? Or are you doomed to piss off every technical person who reports to you? Well, you can learn management, just as you can learn leadership. Some people are naturally more talented than others at it, but that's not an excuse to not bother to learn how to manage well.
Here are a few things you can do:
Since writing the above, I've ended up in Management at Mpath Interactive. It's been one of the harder things I've done in my career, and while I enjoy it enough, I can't help worrying about whether I'm doing a good enough job or not. It's one thing to ask for feedback, it's another to act on it or to get actual, real feedback as opposed to just hearing what you want to hear. Everything that's hard about being a human being shows up when you end up being a manager.
The best advice anyone gave to me, however, was Jeff Rothschild, the VP of Engineering at Mpath. When Jeff moved me into management, the first thing he said to me is: "everyone gets focused on the deliverables, including me. But your most important job as a manager isn't just to deliver product, it's to make sure that people who report to you have fun. In this valley, none of us have to come in to work if we don't want to. If your job isn't satisfying to you, you can always walk down the street and get another one that is. Your most important job is ensuring that everyone else has fun."
In contrast to other companies I've known, Mpath has promoted all of its engineering managers from inside the company. I predict this company will go far, or at least, have a lower turnover in engineering than most.
What have I learnt over the last 3 years? Smart people don't always make great managers. Great management ability is a talent, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter even if someone gives you a VP position, you won't be any good. Even if you read all the management books you can, you'll still not be able to be a good leader without basic personal skills. This is depressing to me for several reasons, but most of all, it is depressing because it means that I can't turn any person into a great manager. Sigh.
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