"I was an individual contributor (IC) for over 20 years before moving into management. Even then, I was reluctant to take the job because I enjoyed doing the work so much. So I'm familiar with ICs, how they think, and what sorts of things they think about. Things like craft, product quality, three-month timelines, career development, and recognition. Now that I've been in management for a while, I also see how leadership thinks too. They're thinking about strategy, year-long roadmaps, revenue, and the overall health of the organization."
"Being realistic about bandwidth and not overcommitting folks. I sometimes have to talk someone out of saying "yes" to something when they don't realistically have time for it. Encouraging experimentation and making room for failure as folks drift into adjacent roles. Especially now as research, design, product, and engineering move closer together. Being vulnerable myself: sharing a past failure with the team, saying "I don't know the answer", or admitting when I'm struggling."
An individual contributor with over 20 years' experience transitioned into management and now bridges IC perspectives and leadership strategy. The bridging role helps ICs adopt more strategic thinking while keeping leaders connected to the work. Team health is prioritized because stress, burnout, and fear inhibit performance and honest feedback. Practical practices include providing both asynchronous and live contribution channels, normalizing early sharing for timely leadership feedback, being realistic about bandwidth to avoid overcommitment, encouraging experimentation and safe failure, and leaders modeling vulnerability by admitting uncertainty or past failures. These practices build trust and improve collaboration across disciplines.
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