About a year ago, I made the decision to transition from individual contributor to engineering manager here at Stitch Fix and it’s been quite a year to take on a new role! In that time, I’ve learned so much, such as how to navigate a pandemic as both an employee and a people manager, how vulnerability can be a powerful tool in a leader’s toolbelt, and the difference between being an individual developer versus a manager on a team.
I was recently interviewed by Code Climate, in collaboration with Codacademy, to talk about just that: my experience as a new manager and tips for engineers thinking of transitioning to the manager track. Here is a short excerpt:
What advice do you have for new managers or for people who are looking to make the shift into a manager role?
…one piece of advice I got from my current manager that I found really powerful was to lean into the vulnerability of being new at something. If you’re managing a team, it’s easy to pretend like you have all the answers… But I’ve been doing this for 9 or 10 months now and I’m still figuring out my management style and what works for me. Be upfront about that, let your team know, “Hey, I’m going try a few things out. Let me know if they’re not working until I figure out what’s working.” It lets your team know… that you don’t have all the answers. Being vulnerable as a leader gives your team permission to be vulnerable back to you, and that just builds more trust…
Here is the full interview on Code Climate’s blog. And be sure to click over to the second part of the interview, over on Codecademy’s blog!
