“My long-term professional goal is to lead product organizations. I’m newly in a management role, but am not happy with my current company for a variety of reasons. Leveling in Product is very different at other organizations. When is it beneficial to take a step back in title (in this case to an individual contributor role) in order to reap long-term gains? Is it ever helpful to do so?”
-Mulling Over Management
Hi Mulling. The path to leading organizations is typically paved with management and incremental responsibility along the way. However, if you want to make a pivot to a different organization, this might be a time to secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others.
What do I mean by that? Managing other people takes a lot of mental and emotional energy, particularly if you are new to a management role. Moving from individual contributor (IC) to management is one of the biggest shifts in your career because it requires a whole new mindset and skillset. What makes it particularly challenging is that many companies don’t have a strong infrastructure in place to support people through this change. The prevailing wisdom is: if a person is good at doing thing X, then they will be good at managing people who do thing X.
What’s missed here is that management is about knowing how to get great work out of all kinds of people - not just people who think and act like you (a.k.a. the one person you have successfully managed to date!). So, as managers we need to get inside the mindsets of others, meet them where they are, and understand their needs and motivations. This takes trial and error as you build a toolkit of things that work not just for you, but for a variety of people. In my experience, it takes about a year for people to get their feet under them after making the jump from IC to management. The process requires introspection, reflection, vulnerability and more - in essence a whole truckload of your emotional energy.
Assess what is most pressing for you
I think the big question for you is: should you ride out the change curve of becoming a people manager in your current role, expecting it to take about a year. Or should you cut bait and try to find an organization that is a better fit for your career path, make the switch, and then re-embark on the people leader journey.
If you lean towards making another life or career change - either within your organization or to another company, it may be helpful to conserve your emotional energy and use it to manage the stress and uncertainty that come along with those shifts. If you try to do both at the same time, you run the risk of burnout or exhaustion, in which case you aren’t showing up well for your team or for yourself as you figure out your career path.
I stepped back and it was the right call
Personally, I did make one of these reverse moves during my career and it was the right decision for me. I switched from managing a team to an individual contributor position at a time when my personal life was challenging and I needed to focus my energy differently. Two of my family members were dealing with serious health issues and even though I was across the country at the time, it took a high emotional toll. I realized after several months of trying to balance that I didn’t have the capacity to be the manager I wanted to be and take care of myself as a human. I moved into a Chief of Staff role where I reported to an executive but had no direct reports of my own. It was exactly what I needed at the time. I did a mental reset, and, when I was ready, moved back into managing a team and had the right mindset and energy.
If you do choose to move back into an IC role at your current company, you could find or create an IC position that gives you the space and solid footing to figure things out, like when I moved into the Chief of Staff role. Or you could have a frank conversation with your manager about what you need right now and ask for a temporary change in responsibility to keep doing your current work but in an IC capacity. I wouldn’t go as far as to tell them you are thinking about external opportunities until you are further along in the decision making process. Figure out what you want first, making sure you have a clear head space to make big choices.
Careers are not one-size-fits-all!
One final note: don’t worry about career trajectory being a linear up ladder. In reality, most paths are winding and zig-zaggy. Ultimately, you get to be the one shaping your career story and resume and can frame this experience in a positive light.