How do I break out of technical leadership into management without technical skills holding me back?
Breaking through barriers. I'm 30+ years into an IT career that is split between full time and consulting work, hands on, leadership, and management. Because of the mix I get pulled into the details while trying to further my management knowledge and skills to push me to the side where I'm no longer a hybrid. A unique position I haven't found a way out of. I held my first managment position in 1998, yet still get questioned about having managment experience because I'm naturally technical and tend to know more about the details than my peers. I'm in a position where this is being recognized as a plus, but fear it will once again serve as an anchor causing me to eventually leave. I had broken through for good when becoming director of software development the day before the company was purchased. As his last act as CIO before being fired (being a nice guy) my boss demoted me back to software development manager so I wouldn't lose my job upon execution of the merger. But can't put that on my resume.
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Dec 11, 2014
If you can choose your team, be careful and choose people who know what you don't know. Remember that the team work is the thing that allows to ordinary people to perform straordinary task.
Additionally, it is difficult to help you, since I don't know what technical skills you need, but the web is full of online free courses (take a look at coursera.com, e.g.). Of course you can easily find something helpful for your purposes, even if you have not a lot of time off to spend on studying. Fortunately you are still 30+, therefore it's not too late :)
Daniele
Dec 8, 2014
Hello, Scott, as a long time leader of staff and operations, and an entrepreneur employed in the highly technical field of infrastructure engineering, I see your issue often with developing staff. Companies that sell 'brains' and the output from their people always value very much the technical individuals working in their talent pool. Often, these technical people seem to think that the only way up the ladder is through management. So, first, I challenge you to review your goals to see why you wish to make this move. Money, status, challenge and being bored with your current work. If it's the latter two, then you do need to make the change. Next, management competencies are vastly different from technical competencies, as you know. What you may not know is that even with training, sometimes a highly technical person doesn't fit well into a manager role without long term coaching, learning and mentoring. I would suggest you assess your personality to see if you have the basic competencies to perform management, such as listening skills, accommodating tendencies, sociability.. others. The assessment report describes the precursors to success, telling you where your gaps are and your preferences. Emotional Intelligence, Myers Briggs, and Profile XT are inexpensive and good assessment tools for this. It would be a shame to do all that work and not be successful in management because you didn't focus training correctly, or you end up hating what you do. After you become more self-aware and know what to work on in your skills/competencies, I would strike a bargain with your employer. First, though, before that, informally do as other great commenters here have said, which is to start creating your own mini-succession plan by delegating, mentoring to someone you KNOW management will accept. You may have to work more hours on doing this to eventually free you up. Next, while you are training in your development program on the areas where you need most, the bargain I suggest you strike is to say that you are ready to 'groom' your replacement on your 'own time' to create bench depth in expertise, IF they will recognize your training effort and desire to move into management, officially. In a meeting with both HR and your supervisor (maybe HR first) explain you are trying to make a career change to move into a management path. I would suggest this AFTER you do some homework and find out what the 'pain points' the company is experiencing currently and historically, in their management realm. Surely there is a problem there and business leaders are so much more amenable to listening when you offer a solution to their pain. That may be they have a poorly performing manager now, or they are exposed to some inherent risk in quality by not having enough oversight on a particular product.. whatever it is, you need to learn what it is, then offer a plan through your growing expertise, to solve their issue in the long run. Again, I have found that companies such as yours truly do value your expertise. They get nervous when they feel they have an aging or understaffed population of highly experienced technical people and often will make concessions to these employees moreso than to the overhead employees, where you want to go. Maybe you can offer to grow the company through recruitment after they receive a good contract. Remember, it costs much to take someone out of technical role as you are no longer generating revenue! So, you are much more 'at risk' for continued employment with a new company and during the down times when you're in management, so also consider this. Find out if you're going to be able to succeed through some assessment of yourself, then formulate several plans, a succession plan, an Individual Development Plan and a plan to solve a certain problem the company has in their management realm, either from their staff or performance overall. Hope this helps!
Dec 8, 2014
Scott, all of the advice that has been offered is good, but I like what Wayne and Oleg have to say. As long as you keep getting pulled into the details you will have a difficult time rising in the organization. Most technical people like to fall back into their comfort zone and yet this is holding them back. When you mentor and develop the staff who work for you, you will free yourself up to focus on more strategic issues. You will also be able to demonstrate how you can solve technical problems more quickly because you can delegate them. Companies look for leaders who can develop the staff, they don't look for leaders who like to get buried in the weeds.
Dec 8, 2014
This is the most significant thing I'm realizing by reading my own post and the responses. The value of my technical skills are no longer in being able to perform tasks, but in guiding those that are. It has been through that guidance that the quality of our teams actions have improved and I've been rewarded. Sharing it and seeing the feedback has provided great value simply through getting it out of my thoughts and before others for feedback. It has made me see that they are not holding me back, to the contrary, they are part of what has contributed to a very successful period in which the transition has now occurred. I will save this post and all the responses. A reminder as to the value getting out of ones own thinking provides. Thanks to all!
Dec 8, 2014
The most important thing about making this major transition is to be aware of it, which you so sagely already are, so good for you. Many of my clients are in the exact same boat, if it gives you any comfort. Below, I share a partial list of traits that can scream “technical or individual contributor” rather than leader. To craft the identity you want (as suggested by others here), consider which of these traits you can leave behind.
Common habits that keep one from being perceived as a leader include: being obsessed with factual truth as the point of your meetings or dialogue with others; holding dear to the opinion that doing good work alone will lead to the recognition you want and thinking office politics are beneath you; assuming others understand your intentions and give you credit for them automatically; and needing to prove how valuable or smart you are, often by falling back on your technical skill or knowledge.
Twenty more such habits are listed below, and these come from a book called "What Got You Here Won’t Get You There" by Marshall Goldsmith. (Note: the language he uses to describe the traits can come across as a bit hyperbolic but try to disregard the caricaturing aspect of his descriptions and look for clues to any tendencies you might have.)
a. Winning too much: The need to win or be right at all costs and in all situations - when it matters, when it doesn’t, and when it’s totally beside the point.
b. Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion.
c. Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them
d. Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasms and cutting remarks that we think make us sound sharp and witty.
e. Starting with “No,” “But,” or “However”: The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone, “I’m right. You’re wrong.”
f. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.
g. Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
h. Negativity, or “Let me explain why that won’t work”: The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren’t asked.
i. Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
j. Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to praise and reward.
k. Claiming credit that we don’t deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success.
l. Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
m. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
n. Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
o. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit when we’re wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.
p. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
q. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.
r. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually trying to help us.
s. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
t. An excessive need to be “me”: Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they’re who we are.
I hope this gives you some food for thought. You are at a very exciting place in your career and, if handled well, can lead to some incredibly rewarding professional experiences. Have fun and good luck!
Dec 8, 2014
Thank you. My mentor provided me with this not to long ago and I like to review it periodically. It is an exciting time with the magnitude of the result of actions taken or averted are so much larger. Learning to look at problems as opportunities alone is profoundly changing what I do, or prevent as I see the footprint of the result changing so much.
Dec 7, 2014
I don't have a solution but would make a few - hopefully helpful - points.
A good balance/mix of technical and managerial experience is a good thing. There are many people who are good managers but not technical and vice versa. So this is a strength not a weakness. Good management and leadership is as much about attention to detail as it is about seeing the big picture. So if you are strong at both this is a good thing, not bad. It's not so clear from your post what is holding you back, but getting pulled into technical activities seems like a problem of delegation. Not being able to delegate or recruit/mentor someone to delegate to is a management issue.
Dec 8, 2014
Thank You. Perspective is important, I did state in my own post that this is recognized as a plus, and it is. My peers regularly recommend I receive responsibility to our Directory because I have the technical skills to do more than they can. As part of announcing my promotion I was commended for leveraging a set of skills most had abandoned enabling me to identify and solve many problems unseen by others. A lot of peers afterwards stating their wish that they had not been so quick to let go of those very skills that I'm saying I want to yet without I would not have received my quick move up after only a partial review cycle. In reading your feedback, considering all the feedback both here and on the job, I'm seeing I may be taking a flawed view on something simply because it is different and thus seeing it as bad when the evidence is to the contrary. Just getting and really considering others perspective is making me see this is more a matter of state of mind than reality.
Dec 7, 2014
Start trusting those you manage to do the technical work, and you play the role of mentor, teacher, overseer, and problem solver. It is largely a mindset that needs to be overcome.
Dec 7, 2014
Hi Scott,
Define a technician from your team who has the similar experience as you and
delegate all the technical issues you usually care about to him keeping just
really requiered level of control from your side. Dedicate all the time you will earn from this to improving your management skills and it's demonstration to your tops.
By this way you will not lose you technical level which is important for manager in IT
and will get chance to shift you position to the destination you want.
Dec 6, 2014
Such a good question!
The shift from technical hands on to non tech or tech management is always a difficult one. I had to achieve the same thing way back in my career but was lucky enough to be fully supported both by the company I was working for and work colleagues.
You point out and appear to suggest that your technical knowledge is being seen as more important than your management knowledge. If this is true then you would probably benefit from sitting down and trying to analyse which of your work colleagues (if you are now managing them) is going to be best positioned to do the work you used to do.
Some mistakes will happen if you delegate, but plan to keep a watchful eye on the key elements of the job and only step in as a last resort.
Create a contingency plan just in case, but even if this comes into effect, do not do it yourself. Give it to the person who made a mistake and let them learn from it, and take the reward.
The more you delegate, monitor and control from afar, the better you will get at management and you will soon forget that you were a "techy" once, and so will everyone else.
Dec 7, 2014
Thank you John, Rejesh and Oleg. I see a common theme to your suggestions which gives me the foundation of a plan that appears viable and well within my realm of control to establish the necessary change in time in the best way possible. By working through others it will help distance me from those front lines at the same time as build confidence in the stars on my team that can collectively step into that role through a more formal sense of responsibility combined with an established support plan so they know I'm not "throwing them under the bus" but rewarding them for showing leadership. This should provide a path forward for all and motivation to those who have those capabilities, just need support as I once did. Excellent! I see a path for all developing from this.
Dec 6, 2014
Dear Scott,
My invitation to you is to explore how you would like to project yourself as. Your concern seems to be seniors or decision makers identifying you more as a technical expert than a managerial leader. And this is due to your strong technical capabilities.
It may be helpful if you shift your focus from 'How they perceive me' to 'How can I help them to perceive me the way I want '
It would invariably lead to changes in the way you communicate and position yourself. Your background as a strong technical expert is not a barrier- it could be seen more as a stepping stone in your career progression (eg "with my strong technical expertise, I am in a great position to guide, coach and demonstrate as the case may be to my team members. This helps in winning their trust in me as a leader quite naturally")
Wishing you success and very best!
Dec 6, 2014
Start demonstrating strategic long term planning and present everything in emails sent to key groups, i.e. organizational thinking and leadership.
Dec 6, 2014
Does your company have employee development program? If, yes explore it.
If not, have a career development conversation with your supervisor. If you're not taken seriously, leave.
Best of luck
Tony Delas
Attorney at Law
(+ a 24 year high tech career)
Dec 6, 2014
Thank you Tony, they do and I have just joined it recently. Should have mentioned I am new to the company and that this just became available upon my 6 month anniversary. The biggest challenge is with the corporation growing so fast that finding someone with more than a years experience is difficult. It is actually a very fertile group for opportunity. As I write these responses it becomes more clear to me that things are going well and I have been treated well, the challenges are organization wide and my answer might better be found in asking more about the specific challenges caused by the growth. Good people willing to provide as well as receive help. The challenge is in obtaining stability in my management role in an organization growing fast enough that prior role responsibilities are hard to sever (one of several).
Dec 6, 2014
Start a little earlier: stay a little later and work all the time you are at work.
Take a course or two in management at night school.
Start to dress and act like those two rungs above you.
Stop looking for others to give you a leg-up: do it yourself.
Dec 6, 2014
I was just offered a promotion last week and publicly commended for my willingness to work extensive hours with a whatever it takes attitude, so I don't think looking to others for a leg up is what I'm speaking about, I simply have so much more current technical experience than my peers that while holding a management role I'm getting pulled into a lot of the work my employees are delivering. The corporation is growing fast so I'm having to hold all the roles that got me here to train while manage the team at the same time.
Dec 6, 2014
Dec 6, 2014
To clarify, are you interested in being a management consultant versus a management employee?
Dec 6, 2014
Thank you Ed, a point of distinction so very important yet my division between the two environments tends to make me forget to say it. I was a Management Consultant for years while consulting and have been a Software Development Manager as an IT employee both. I was at a firm positioned to become the Software Development Director when they were purchased. It has been in the two years since I find this "foot in each role" situation.
Thanks Daniele, I think you got the question inverted plus I did get the answer from the collective of advice above. I was not talking of a lack of technical knowledge holding me back, but an over abundance causing me to get pulled into technical tasks. Somewhat new to a more pure managerial role, I had not really realized that while working with my resources on these tasks I am not performing them, I am mentoring them. Two very distinct activities of which one is my responsibility as a manager. My original concern was getting pulled into executing the tasks, which is not what is happening. Takes time to acclimate and see things through the proper perspective. Comments helped a great deal.