Is being a good IC making you a crappy manager?

Many managers in tech are there because they were great individual contributors. The logic is that if you’re great at your job you can help make a random other group of people great just like you were. Of course we all know this is flawed. Being a manager and the ability to tap into others is its own skill set. Not to mention that people have different strengths.  So this really only works best if the people on the team have similar styles and skills. Yet it’s still common. First because many of the managers in place got there that way a long time ago and then many continue to create more managers in their image.

Micromanagement isn’t unique to this group.  And not even manager who got there by being a great individual contributor will struggle with micromanagement.  But there’s a pattern I’ve seen a lot.

The specific patterns looks like “I’m not good at delegating because I usually think I could do it better.” And they might continue on with something along the lines of “but I’ve learned it’s important to let people do it their way so I stay out of it.”

Even if a manager stops meddling, if they still have the thought that they would do it better, the problem is still there. This thought isn’t going to set anyone on the team up well. There’s an additional problem caused by just staying out of it. This manager may have a lot of great ideas, but now they don’t share them.

This is a common struggle for managers who have a tendency towards micromanagement. They think either they have to control exactly how things are done or that they have to completely stay out of it. 

If this is you, first off, you were promoted to be in a manager role because you are supposed to know more about at least some things.  You’re supposed to use that to make other’s better.  Thinking your way is better than others, hurts you as much as it does them. 

If this is you, don’t panic.  There’s a path forward.  Here’s an alternative appraoch I’d like to offer: 

1. Let the individual know you have some thoughts on how you would do the project. Note I didn’t say thoughts on how they should.
2. Ask them if they’d like you to share. If they say know you’re welcome to let them know to come to you if they change their mind. Sometimes people like to think through something before they get ideas or they already have something they want to try.
3. If they are interested, simply share what you would do and WHY. The context of why is the most useful part. It will allow them adapt your approach without undermining the intent.
4. If there’s any question, remind them that you’re excited to see how the approach thing. You hope that your ideas were helpful and of course they are free to do it their way.

There are occasions where something really must be done 1 specific way. That’s fine, explain and people will get it. Most of the time that’s not the case. The amount in which you guide vs hang back depends on the individual and where they are in their journey.  Generally the newer to role the more ideas they’ll want, but that isn’t set in stone. If in doubt, ask them.

As long as you sit back with your extra context allowing others to do thing “not as well”   They will continue to do thing not as well (evidence of your initial thought). But if you share your ideas and context, they will likely go beyond what you would have done and come up with something even better. You may even begin to see what a privilege it is to see 1, 2, or even 10 different ways to approach a problem that previously you only thought there was 1.

That might feel scary. You’re used to being the best. As long as you tell yourself that the reason you don’t delegate is because of how much better you’d do it, you are giving yourself an excuse to not grow as a manager.  It will open your eyes that your way isn’t always so much better than others. But it will make you a significantly better manager.

So which do you want to be? The best hypothetical individual or an amazing manager?