I saw a post on reddit yesterday discussing what level of detail frontline managers should play as subject matter experts in the division they represent, and it got me thinking of the management roles I’ve been a part of now and in the past. What immediately came to mind as I saw the post was the words given to me by my boss in one of the first technical manager roles I had 10 years ago; Dylan, put down the screwdriver.
As a new manager at that time, I felt the overwhelming need to be the ambassador of my division. A clear representative of the great work and abilities of my team, there to promote or defend them or be the one to champion on the next challenge given to us. In doing so, I was compelled to learn everything my reports were doing, thinking that I was failing my team and myself if I didn’t understand through and through the tasks they were performing, willing to be the one to jump in and help when the occasion arose. I thought I was being noble and that was the definition of leadership and found myself working 12 plus hour days being both a manager and subject matter expert, running on this misguided concept that was what good managers do.
At first, I was able to keep up, at least I thought I was keeping up. Asking basic level questions to my lead engineers and realizing as they look at me like I’m an idiot and that what I wanted to happen wasn’t possible, but they humored me anyways, breaking out the finger puppets and crayons. I quickly burnt myself out and watched as my managerial tasks took a quality hit as I split my time and energy in a hundred different directions. I remember being called into my boss’s office and getting dressed down for missing a deadline. While I didn’t see eye to eye with all of his policies and leadership and may have taken what he told me the wrong way, at first, I appreciate now the words of advice he gave me that day. “Dylan, you need to put down the screwdriver.”
Reflecting back I see now that my actions trying to be both manager and SME, even though that was veiled in the right intentions, it wasn’t effective leadership and my attempts to be in the trenches with my team, doing the work they were better educated, positioned and hired to do only took away from the important work I was supposed to be doing. I was still ignorant of the leadership role I was promoted into and ignorant of what it meant to provide good managerial support. I knew we were understaffed but instead of fighting for and finding a way to get more bodies in chairs to assist, I volunteered to be one of those bodies instead. I decided that for the risky tasks that if it all went wrong, I wanted to be the one pulling the trigger, so I was the only one to get in trouble over it. None of that was being a good manager. I should have put down the screwdriver.
Yes, there are sometimes when the old dog gets to show the new dog a trick or two, but those days should be few and far between and the role of a good technical manager is realizing that the team you represent often knows more and better than you do now. Most of all, it is okay to rely on that. As manager, it is your job to hire & place subject matter experts into your team that can be trusted and getting those people the resources they need to continue to grow their skill, be the best they can be, and excel the division as a whole. Good management is knowing the direction the team needs to go and the ability to communicate to your reports and those you report to the limits and needs each side requires to produce good work. Once you get the hang of that it starts becoming real leadership and allows you the opportunity to work with your team and help in ways that I know are critical to their success.
In the years since those days, I’ve had the opportunity to change some of my managerial ways and have put some distance between my role and knowing everything there is about a platform or being the one to fall on the sword. I’m still vital to the group, being able to keep an eye on the bigger picture while they focus on each individual tree. I’ve learned to form better relationships with my employees and learn to trust that they are experts in the field too and can contribute just as good if not better than I can. So, put down the screwdriver and focus on becoming the company’s SME on your division’s management.