| Common traits of senior engineering managers | July 1, 2006 |
How much can you really do to get ahead? What does it take to be promoted to next level?
Like many of my colleagues, I choose people for jobs based on skills, or subject matter expertise. Practice and perfect the skills for your current job. Then, invest the time and effort to prepare for the next level. Once the skills are well honed, the opportunities will come knocking on your door.
As you move up the level, skills gradually blend into character and mentality. They become harder to describe or acquire. You should think about them right now. They are not easy and take time to acquire.
At Sun, a strong senior engineering manager generally exhibit few common traits.
- Strong sense of right and wrong
Things usually have their own intrinsic logics or ethics that cannot be manipulated — the fundatmental truth. From an engineering's point of view, there is always an optimal solution, given the constrains and the objectives. A strong engineering manager tries to understand the constrains and objectives, then evaluates if the current solution is the optimal one. If not, he or she does not hestitate voicing his or her opinions, sometime to very senior executives.
A junior manager does not review the list of constrains and the objectives carefully. He or she does not speak up afterward either.
The flip side of this management style is the less emphasis on personal elements and execution details. After all, engineers are trained to design, not implement. Engineers also easily overlook factors that cannot be measured and manipulated easily, such as synergy, motivation, etc. There are also tendency to not having “plan B.” This comes from the natural confidence of everything has been considered and this is the best solution.
- Fast learning, curious
Senior managers are likely to be fast learners. They grasp the concepts and familarize with the terminology quickly. They stay current. They change courses easily. How?
One simple way is to stay curious. Do not stop when things work. Pursue dogmatically until you have grokked.
This comes with a price. You need to work harder and the effort may not seem worthwhile. Why waste time and energy on trivialities? You have better things to do.
Consider every project that comes your direction a learning opportunity. You would have learned 90% when you have completed the requirements. Do not stop there. Learn the extra 10%. It may, or may not, pay off. But if the same kind of projects come your way once more, you would be able to do better than those who did not.
- An energy source
Energy makes everyone around you want to do more. The most common form of energy is motivation. It is not, however, the only form. Vision, charisma, love, loyalty, friendship, passion, determination, or even greed and hatred, all provide energy.
Energy is infestious. It feeds on itself, circulates, and multiply. Are you an energy source?
- Know when to drill down
Micro-managing is not evil, it is actually necessary. The art is in choosing when to delegate and, more importantly, when not to. No manager can afford to get back to his boss later. An “elevator opportunity” will not come again. Decisions must be made now. A strong senior manager is always ready. How?
Focus, be prepared, and control the agenda. Whatever you choose (yes, it is your decision) to do. Do it well. You will naturally have all the answers on your finger tips. Be in tuned with your boss's agenda and the company's priorities. Whatever in those area, you should be prepared to respond quickly. Lastly, you are always prepared if you are in control. Ask questions, propose ideas, raise issues, and suggest alternatives.
What does it take to get promoted? The answer is exactly the same question turned around. “Do you have what it takes?”