Moving up from an ordinary individual engineer to an engineering manager is equally exciting as it is nerve-wrecking. You have more opportunities, get paid higher, and are the leader of a lot of new projects and responsibilities. That last part, however, is the part that truly makes us anxious. After all, being a leader means working with other people who may or may not receive your messages well.
So, as a new engineering manager, how can you send the right leadership signals, so as not to let everyone think you’re the run-of-the-mill, mean and bossy manager? Well, here are 4 simple ways you can do so:
Set a leadership values-based goal
Good leaders not only set goals for others, but for themselves as well. Choose what your new goal as an engineering manager will be, and base it off of values. Something like “my goal is to be a genuine and emotionally intelligent manager who inspires others to excellence” is a good place to start.
EQ is just as important as IQ
Source: Bodycare
As a manager, you also have to be emotionally intelligent. That means understanding that not everyone handles situations the way you do, and not everyone is motivated the way you do. It is now your job to learn and observe how others do these as well, and adjust the work assigned to them to fit what you see is best for them. Learn to adapt to your team members and find what drives them the most.
Be clear, direct, and respectful
Source: Interview
This ties in with the point above. Your new job will involve interacting with new people, all of different personalities and styles. To avoid conflict between all these different people, the best way to handle them is to be direct and straight to the point, but also keep it in a respectful tone, no matter how many positions they are above or below you.
Be stable and grounded when faced with challenges
Source: YourDOST
Finally, being a manager also means being a role model. And if those working under you see you crack under pressure, they will either lose respect for you as a leader, or follow what you do. You want neither to happen, so you have to train yourself to stay calm and grounded, even in the most stressful of situations. Learn to avoid showing any signs of excessive anger, impatience, or insincerity. Learn to break down and handle the situation. Once you get the job done, it’s all going to go away. It may be hard to learn how to do so, but it is your responsibility to learn how, for your team members and coworkers, and for yourself.
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