[samspenc]

> I was running 4 teams with 24 direct reports.

Wow, 24 direct reports. Didn't your management chain ever consider bumping you up from an M1 to a M2 manager and bringing / promoting one level of managers under you to manage an engineering team of that size?

[dmhmr]

Hilariously, the reverse is how I ended up in that position. The client really liked my results with my single team and re-structured 3 other teams so that they would fall under me as well. Their former team leads then became "Senior" ICs who could step in if I took time off.