ALM #059: From Unknown to Influential: Making an Impact as an Engineering Manager
Building Your Reputation in Your First Year
📖 Read Time: 4 minutes
Changing jobs as an Engineering Manager can be a scary thing.
It's not bad; it's just scary.
But investing your energy in evolving specific areas makes this apparently scary situation manageable and thriving.
Impress in key areas instead of being average in all.
You must go from an unknown to someone on the radar within a year.
And you have 365 days of opportunities to show up and showcase your skills.
To unlock this massive opportunity, you need to visualise possible areas to invest your efforts and energy:
Company Culture: Are you living the values?
Relationships: Who do you relate with?
Company Ecosystem: How to get things done.
Reputation: Who other people see.
These four areas are primarily net positive regarding effort invested and the return you'll get from it.
Let's double-click on each.
Are you living the values of your company?
Every company has a culture.
They might not put it into words or values, but the company culture exists. It's there.
And often, it's different from what CEOs and other leaders want you to think it is.
Everyday actions speak louder than written and marketable values.
You'll see glimpses of it in the harshest of times, where teams rally to help one another or how by providing candid feedback, teams inevitably grow and outperform themselves. You'll hear whispers in the halls and a lack of governance in everyday practices.
This is all part of the culture.
And throughout your first year, one of two things will happen: you'll either fit in or go into a massive culture clash.
What actions can you take?
Outline the visible and invisible company values.
Assess if you're compatible with all of them.
Understand how you can double down on each of the values you identified.
Execute weekly and assess how you showcased the values.
What's your circle of influence?
Let's not kid ourselves; we reflect the 5 people we spend the most time with.
For some, that's a fantastic insight, whereas others are getting rightfully scared now.
Within the corporate space, this is also true and important.
Having great connections allows you to see further in the company strategy, giving you extra leverage when it comes to decision-making.
But time goes by, and as you climb the corporate ladder, always remember the people who helped you along the way. You may pass them quickly on the way up, but trust me, you'll pass them much faster on the way down.
Always remember to be kind.
What actions can you take?
Identify key people in the company and around your scope.
Drop them a message to understand their availability for a 1:1 session.
Pay closer attention to those meetings with lots of people. Who's talking and why?
Shut up and listen. Learn and take notes.
How to go from A to Z
Every single company has its quirks.
And navigating the intricacies of your company is a special form of art.
I know so many people who spend years at a company but still don't know what makes it tick.
I found "getting to know the insides of the company" to be trickier to master during the pandemic.
I remember going on long walks during the onboarding phase, introducing new leads to everyone and explaining who's who and who they needed to talk to depending on the situation.
What actions can you take?
Start creating a simple database of who's who and what they do.
Draw out a golden path for specific tasks you need and tie each part to a specific person.
Keep refreshing that list to stay consistent with people who have left the company.
Make sure you maintain a relationship with these key people (even if slim)
What do people say about you?
Whether you want it or not, your reputation speaks for itself.
And similar to the company culture, you too have a reputation.
It's up to you to manage it, not through wishful thinking but through daily actions.
Everyone has the right to make mistakes, but making them recurrently will get you a nasty reputation.
I find reputation to be one of the most essential parts of my job.
What actions can you take?
Lead by example: If you want a team to display a certain trait, you must be the first to display that trait.
Stop being a know-it-all: You have a team of highly knowledgeable individuals. Don't try to solve everything on your own. Rely on your team.
Keep learning: The world keeps turning. Keep an open mind and ensure you're up to date with technologies.
Kindness: It's easy to be a grumpy lead. It's even easier to create siloes. Don't follow the easy path.
Always remember that this is a more than one size fits all solution.
There's nothing as a silver bullet.
Consistency and pristine goal-setting is going to be the key.
What else would you add?
See you next week!
Here are a couple of other topics you might be interested in:
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Have an incredible week! 💪🏼
Parada 👊🏼 A Leader's Mindset