What Happened?
Last year was a hard year. I was managing three engineering managers, setting direction for their teams, removing blockers, and trying to ensure two big projects were successful. There was a lot going on. In November, one of those projects more or less failed. My direction and leadership for that team wasn’t enough. The pressure was too much.
I worked with my boss in November and decided that after two years, it was time to step away from my management role.
I was assigned to a new project as an individual contributor, not a manager. 😮💨 What a relief. The project is hard, but totally achievable. I get to dig into DevOps, be mentored by multiple Principal Engineers, deepen my understanding of Docker, learn Kubernetes, and build new CI/CD pipelines for the main product at Dealer Inspire.
It’s now official. After four months since I talked with my boss the transition is complete, I’m a Staff Engineer.
What I Learned
Being a manager was stressful, but I’ll always be grateful. I’ve learned more in the last two years about how to get things done, and how not to, than at any other point in my career. That experience gave me a shared perspective I didn’t have before. I can lead from the middle now.
What I’m Looking Forward To
Building: Learning DevOps, digging deeper into Rust and Go.
Leading: Guiding architecture, leveraging constraints, mentoring.
Communicating: Connecting the dots between engineers, middle management, and upper management.