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Early-career professionals working on large companies soon or later will be faced to the dilemma: “Should I become a manager?” and this article discusses how to go about answering to that question.
Is that really the right question? I am going against the traditional consensus that people should do what they are naturally inclined to do, some people thrive in hands-on technical execution and others gravitate naturally towards coordination roles. I propose that, in order to develop a successful career, people who enjoy and thrive in IC roles can delay their transition into management, but should not assume they will not become a manager over the long-term.
That reframing of the question is important because, I believe that, regardless of how comfortable and satisfied someone is in an IC role, they should seek the development of leadership skills. Professionals will gain experience over time (which is important in management/leadership) and will become less competitive in maintaining sharp specific technical expertise as technology evolves.
There are alternative career trajectories outside the scope of this article that allow value creation without being part of a hierarchical structure, such as becoming an architect or consultant.
The role of Individual Contributors
An Individual Contributor (IC) focuses on the technical execution of tasks and delivery of results that, combine with the work of others, achieve a certain business goal. For example, in Software Development, IC Software Engineers design, write, test and deliver working software that meet partial stated technical requirements.
ICs are responsible for the delivery of the tasks assigned to them and their own professional development and performance. They don’t have other people reporting to them and are on the leaf end of the organizational chart.
Most college-graduated professionals start their career as ICs, using technical skills acquired in school to perform specialized technical tasks. As they gain more domain expertise, they can take more complex tasks and start advising junior ICs on technical matters (sometimes referred to as “technical lead” roles).
The role of Managers
A Manager has direct reports and is responsible for the management of a team and its outputs, guiding the career of others and providing the resources need by the team to succeed. This requires domain expertise and experience, so most managers have earlier been ICs in that domain.
Managers are less involved in the direct execution of technical tasks and have two sets of responsibilities in most organizations:
- Project management: Deciding technical direction, decomposing larger projects into its parts and assigning individual tasks, providing guidance/advice to less-experienced employees, coordinating dependencies with other teams, managing project timelines, budget, and delivery.
- Organizational management: Being a conduit of communication between leadership and employees, maintaining team coordination and culture, responsible for the career development of team members: hiring, training, performance management, promotions, compensation changes. These organizational tasks are often not learned in school.
Management roles typically involve less technical and more process and people-related work, which can be more demanding and stressful than an exclusive focus on technical challenges. Managers typically spend more time in meetings. For example, in Software Development, a manager might meet team members individually and review project status with the team periodically and coordinate with other teams to deliver a system that solves business problems.
Transition from IC to Manager
A high-performing IC who has neglected the development of communication, people-management, collaboration, leadership skills will not be a good manager. That is the reason why many brilliant ICs go onto becoming mediocre managers.
Regardless on how long you intend to be an IC for, seek the development of communication and leadership skills from early on so you are ready when the opportunity comes.
Determining your path and timing
If you are a manager working in a large organization, experience is valuable, while specific technical skills are difficult to maintain and have less durable value compared to more junior ICs. For example, younger, less experienced software engineers might not know how to decompose a large project into individual tasks, but they will be more up-to date on the ever-evolving tools and programming languages.
So, assuming most people are looking for increasing levels of responsibility and compensation over time as their experience levels increase, for technology/knowledge workers, the question is less on whether, but on the timing to transition from IC to management roles.
I usually recommend that early-career professionals rotate between at least a few IC roles within a certain area to gain a more systemic view of the roles and responsibilities involved, and gain domain knowledge before taking on a manager role. How fast that happens will also depend on what you enjoy doing and how ambition-driven you are. ICs who want to continue to be hands-on performing technical work, could also consider moving to smaller organizations with smaller teams and less management demands.
The direction and timing of turns in your career is the result both on what you want (and you will find it through self-awareness and reflection) and the opportunities that come your way.
Reflection Guide
A “SWOT” analysis is a popular framework for reflection
- Strengths – Think about what you naturally do well and what you enjoy doing. If, for example, you are in Software development, do you tend to get immersed in solitary solving coding challenges or you prefer to solve challenges by interacting and collaborating with others? That will tell you how fast you want to consider a management role to leverage your natural preferences effectively.
- Weaknesses – Communication, leadership, people relationships, presentation, process and project analysis, etc. are examples of skills required by management roles. Reflecting on how well-prepared you are will give you a roadmap to develop skills necessary to advance your career.
- Opportunities – In some environments, becoming a manager is the only path to advancing your career. Consider whether or not you want to accelerate your transition or look for a different environment that will extend your learning and growth as an IC. This reflection will tell you how to select a role in a company that maximizes growth opportunities for your profile.
- Threats – Particularly in the technology space, knowledge obsolescence is always a threat. Can technology changes disrupting your career? Is the impact of emerging technology going to affect decisions you make? Think about how to consider the market context in your career decisions.
Becoming a manager/leader is not absolutely necessary for a satisfying career. In innovation-driven organizations it is possible to grow into a domain expert and technical thought leader on a primarily technical track over a long period of time.
But let me be direct. If increasing financial compensation is a priority for you, developing management and leadership skills and eventually becoming able to lead organizationally is a necessity. In the vast majority of societies and industries, there is a significant difference in value attributed to knowing how to do it and knowing how to lead others do it.
Also, as we grow older and more experienced (and less agile in refreshing our technical skills), we tend to aspire to more systemic and larger business impact. So, the fact that being an IC suits you well today doesn’t mean you should neglect developing skills to eventually be able to lead others at work.
You have control on how fast you make that transition, allowing the time and experience to develop domain expertise before you start managing others.
Follow-up Action
Practice some reflection and seek to develop organizational management skills, even if you feel comfortable and would like to remain an IC for a while. Other articles on this channel offer advice on how to develop leadership.
Take the time to share this post with a mentor and use it as a conversation piece. Share this with a friends who might be at similar points as you are in your career.
About the author
Marcio is a technology veteran both in large corporate and startups. He has built a 35-year career in Technology product development and led a handful of people in a startup environment, dozens of people in traditional companies, and hundreds of people in large Tech. Marcio provides career coaching, including preparation for successful onboarding and development in organizational leadership roles.
Marcio Saito 