Meatloaves, Gardens, And Other Reasons To Become An Engineering Manager

There aren’t enough engineers shifting to engineering management (EM) roles.

If you’ve ever worked under an EM who wasn’t formerly an engineer, you know how much they struggle with understanding the technical side of your work. But many engineers also avoid engineering management, thinking it’ll be too difficult.

You might even be one of them.

And the role is difficult, especially because your responsibilities are more people-focused than when you were an engineer. But engineers are also more primed for the role than they think.

It does require:

The right mindset
Plenty of practice
And a willingness to struggle at first

But for those who are willing to take on the challenges, they also get to enjoy its benefits, of which there are many.

1 - Increasing your market value

You can be a very good engineer (and probably are if you’re still in the role), but staying relevant becomes harder as you grow older. Maybe you’ve already experienced this yourself:

Your brain doesn’t work as well as it used to
The work keeps changing
And new people come in with fresh ideas

That’s not to mention the rise of AI as well.

In short, staying on top of your game until retirement is very difficult, even for the best engineers.

But as an EM with an engineering background, you become less replaceable. Unlike non-technical engineering managers, you:

Can connect the dots
Communicate with technical and non-technical stakeholders
And build stronger relationships with your ICs

Add onto this the amount of soft skills you’ll develop, and you have a recipe for a truly valuable person. You also won’t lose as much of your technical edge as you think, meaning you could also return to engineering work if you thought it was necessary.

2 - Understanding why you cut the meatloaf

Imagine an old woman always cuts a slice off the meatloaf before putting it in the oven.

One day, her daughter asks her why. The woman replies that she learned this process from her mother, who did the same. Still confused, her daughter again asks her why.

Not knowing the answer, the woman calls her mother to find out. Her mother explains she used to cut meatloaves because her oven was too small to fit everything. For years, the woman had followed this step while owning a bigger oven than her mother because she’d never thought to understand its purpose.

As an engineer, you focus on your part of the process – the steps you need to take to get from A to B. This is, of course, valuable in its own way because you’re not bogged down with irrelevant details and considerations.

But when you become an EM, you see everything:

How teams work together and why
The reasons behind upper management decisions
And so on

Even if you returned to engineering, you’ll more quickly and deeply understand why you’re asked to do certain tasks in particular ways with tight deadlines. And if you don’t, you’ll be able to better help your engineers to understand why.

3 - Building a dream garden

Imagine you’ve always dreamed of having a garden in your backyard. And now you’re moving and looking for a new place.

One of your conditions is obviously having that dream garden. But you’re having a hard time finding a house with one because people don’t plant gardens unless they’re planning to stay long-term.

So, you have three options:

You can give up on your dream and choose a townhouse with a concrete backyard, settling for less.
You can spend time finding a house with the perfect garden. It will take time, but eventually, you might find the right one.
Or, you can buy a house with some adjacent land and grow the garden yourself. It will take effort, but the garden will be yours. You’ll learn what the process takes, and your friends and family will enjoy the end result.

Becoming an EM puts a similar choice in your path. You can settle for the way things are or start making changes.

The point isn’t the changes themselves, though, it’s the fact that you now have the chance to build the kind of team, environment, and process you think is best for you and for others.

For example, many engineers complain about having too many meetings, and for good reason! They’re distracting and interruptive when they need to focus on the deep work required for their role.

Unfortunately, they don’t have a choice but to attend them. Sure, they can suggest improvements, but they don’t have the final say.

You’ve likely suffered a similar fate, but as the EM, you have the power to actually change meetings:

Cutting the time in half
Promoting more async communication
And ensuring everyone sticks to the agenda

Upper management may not be on board immediately, but over time, you can convince them with improved results and morale.

4 - Becoming a bard

If you’ve ever played Dungeons & Dragons, you know there’s the bard character who is pretty successful and powerful because he can persuade others. In real life, we call that superpower empathy.

When you lack empathy, you don’t understand how to create win-win situations for everyone involved. But in the EM role, you have to develop this skill.

Let’s imagine you stepped into a meeting with the CEO because you want funding for a new project, and the CEO gets frustrated that you’re even asking. They don’t see the value in your request.

With empathy, you have a chance to change their mind. You can determine what’s pushing them to respond this way, and you can respond in kind. You might even walk out of that meeting with the CEO backing whatever you want to do!

But becoming your better self isn’t just about empathy – it’s also about:

Improved clarity in your communication
Better expressing yourself and your needs
Greater self-awareness
Solving conflicts through mediation
And creating meaningful change through coaching

Even better, you can use all of these skills and abilities in your personal life, too. While you can develop these areas as an engineer, the opportunities are far fewer than when you’re an EM.

5 - Making more money

This one is self-explanatory, but you’re going to make more money as an EM than as an engineer. Plus, if you want to make even more money than that, becoming an EM puts you on the path to that goal as well.

Of course, it doesn’t have to just be about the money. Think of the change as a natural transition that gives you more options and improved control over your future. It’s similar to former athletes becoming coaches – no one can stay on the field forever, but they can extend their time near it by following the natural course their career is taking them on.

The short version: it’s time to make the leap

Shifting from engineering to engineering management is difficult and scary, no matter how much you want to make the transition. For these reasons, many don’t even try.

But it’s worth considering the benefits of changing from the first role to the second as well:

Increasing your market value: it’s hard to stay relevant as an engineer, but you improve your value by becoming an EM
Understanding why you cut the meatloaf: you’ll see the big picture you didn’t before and be able to share it with your team
Building a dream garden: you’ll get the chance to create for others the team and environment you’ve always wanted to be a part of
Becoming a bard: you’ll gain valuable skills such as empathy, communication, and so on
Making more money: you’ll improve your salary and also your future options in the industry (and out)

In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to become the kind of manager you’ve always wanted to work for. And you’ll get the joy of giving your team that very thing.