| Management is an awful job yet it's also essential. I made a post about this three years ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20532057) and unless you're very extroverted it sucks all the joy out of the field. > How can I avoid being put in this situation again? I made it very clear I was not interested and wasn't really given any choice not to. Like some others have said protect your manager, but I'd qualify that by saying provided they earn that protection and trust. Also, build a relationship where the manager is effectively working for you and then (eventually) with you. You also have to ask yourself what sort of manager the company or the team needs. A people manager who can build connections with others and trusts (relies completely) on the team to work out the engineering? Or a technically-savvy manager, who can guide and mentor on the basics? Not the easiest topic and these are not mutually exclusive, but depth in one usually means sacrificing the other. Note: I'm the latter type and it's unfortunately an inhibitor to my own growth. Schmoozing is not something I can get comfortable with and soires like large company gatherings I just shut down (too much sensory input). But I'm loving how my team is growing and provide input on best practices, some architectural decisions (eventually I'll have to give this up), and technical evaluations. |