I find it an extremely rejuvenating and healthy process to look back at how my life, career, and health is progressing, or better yet, has progressed and where my trajectory is headed. It is a fascinating process, writing your thoughts down on paper, pondering every angle of every decision you have made, debating if you made a correct decision, regrets, successes, and everything in between. Within a month I turn 30 years old, entering what I believe to be some awesome years; and while I always tout to people that I have still yet to enter my “prime” years, I think it is a worthwhile exercise to describe to my colleagues and friends some of the challenges I have faced in entering what I consider to be a more mature point in my career.

Within the last year, I went from an individual contributor role, obsessing over technologies, protocols, workflows, engineering principles, etc. Obsessed may not even be the proper word, as I toe the line with my coworkers of hitting “manic states”. I described these states as Friday nights where I would be researching a concept until the late hours, completely captivated by the chase of learning, understanding, that “aha” moment where ambiguity meets clarity.

I described these states as Friday nights where I would be researching a concept until the late hours, completely captivated by the chase of learning, understanding, that “aha” moment where ambiguity meets clarity.

In late February of 2022, I accepted a job offer at ISO New England as a Supervisor of a cross discipline engineering team that manages some of the most critical IT assets of the New England power grid. I call this the great leap of faith in my life and career, as I embarked on a journey within myself that challenged everything, including my goals, aspirations, skills, and ultimately what I wanted out of my career.

Would I trade this for anything? Most likely not. I have zero regrets on this decision, but this is a vital self-reflection for an individual contributor looking to get into the management space, the rewards, challenges, and change in thinking you will face that is not for the faint heart. That “aha” moment I talked about? Throw that all away. Nothing will be clear in a managerial role. You will have ups, downs, insecurities, and everything in between as you navigate this skillset that is an art opposed to a science.

Nothing will be clear in a managerial role. You will have ups, downs, insecurities, and everything in between as you navigate this skillset that is an art opposed to a science.

You are not managing technology and protocols anymore, you are managing human beings with emotions, desires, development needs, and the entire spectrum in between that comes with people. You are the voice of these people. You represent their needs, the technology they work with daily, their expertise, their livelihoods, even some of their personal decisions outside of work. You represent the ability to squash their ideas, to reinforce their ideas, to challenge them and tell them why they are wrong, to provide feedback whether good or bad, and to even act as a mentor or coach. This is a responsibility you cannot take lightly and is something I think about often. You are the heart of the team, full stop.

Now that it is a year after the “great leap of faith,” I find the role to be a level of satisfaction you will not get as an individual contributor. Seeing a project or idea come together that you and your team put together, influencing the management chain to make sure it gets done and is seen through, fighting the battles of scarce resources between departments is a level of fulfilment that is hard to put in words. Developing bonds amongst the team, trusting your team members on something you do not fully understand, watching members step up when you admit you're underdeveloped in an area or are not quite sure how all the pieces interact is truly a beautiful thing to watch unfold, and I do not think I would trade it for the world or my previous role.

So what is the point I am trying to make? The whole point is that this career pivot can act as a cautionary tale for someone on the fence about a big decision in their career with an opportunity into management. It is not something to be taken lightly, and it is not something that will have measurable successes like you will when you act as an individual contributor.

You will need solid support between family, friends, and coworkers, and you will have a lot of days and nights where your deepest insecurities will become known. Take a deep breath and fight through it. The next time you do it will be that much easier. You will develop the skills and the emotional intelligence to teach and develop people, and you will have to fight through tough conversations and even disappoint people for variables they cannot quite understand. But the one thing I can guarantee is that the highs will be highs that are difficult to put into words, as will the lows.

You will need solid support between family, friends, and coworkers, and you will have a lot of days and nights where your deepest insecurities will become known. Take a deep breath and fight through it.

It is a job that has developed me faster in the 30 years I have been alive. It has given me a perspective of deep maturity about what I want out of both my career and life, and given me the confidence to lead people, projects, and parts of my life outside of work. With everything I know now, and the choice to make the decision again, I would choose the “leap of faith” without a second thought. You will catch yourself, trust me.