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How to Grow as a (Software) Engineering Manager
Tips to thrive outside of the corporate ladder
When discussing their journey as engineers, managers, VP, or CTO with my friends, colleagues, and peers, a striking observation always remains: there’s a vast diversity of journeys.
I used the word “journey” intentionally and not “career,” as I prefer that framing. I find it particularly restricting to picture progress as a “career ladder,” in which you’d have to tick the boxes to climb to the next level. A ladder is a possible way to visualise that journey, but I encourage everyone to question what their journey should be.
The main issue that I see with the concept of “ladder” is two-fold. First, it suggests that the higher, the better (analogous to similar organisational considerations I’ve always found awful). Second, it indicates that the journey is dramatically linear. To formulate a couple of other criticisms, it also suggests a form of “the sooner, the better,” and even worse to me; it implies that there’s a final rung you can reach (yes, “the end,” my friends).
Still, we all want to make progress in our respective journeys. So, when reflecting back on mine and all the great conversations I had with my peers, colleagues, and friends, I thought it could help to put some of my thoughts on paper to explain how I would personally articulate what that journey could look like for engineering managers.
How the Journey Starts (for Most of Us) and Differs
Allow me to start with a trivial observation. I know very few people who graduate and begin that journey as an EM straight away. To the best of my knowledge, there’s no school with a major in “Engineering Management.”
After a quick research, these options seem to be extremely limited and barely connected to the software industry. This impossibility to start our journey as EM with no prior experience implies a transition period in our professional journey, a point where we decide to become an engineering manager (most of the time after a few years as a software engineer).
The responsibilities vary significantly from one company to the next. Then the way EMs within the same company spend their time can also…
