Ask HN: First-time EM, quite lost – what helped you?
2 comments
Without understanding the details around your goals and KPIs you’re measured against, how you work with a PM, relationship with your direct manager to lean on them, it’s hard to give concrete feedback.
But what I am hearing is a lot of overwhelm and a sense that you need to take this stuff on by yourself, which isn’t the case. You should find more ways to push work onto your engineers. Your job is to make sure the team is tackling the big challenges.
In big tech orgs, that comes through writing proposals and creating alignment between teams. When it comes to strategy, see if you can boil it down to the top 1-2 things you need to do to unblock the team. Write a proposal. Get feedback on it. Get it on the roadmap. And make sure your team is working towards that.
Also, use Claude. Tell Claude your problems and the AI will give you some decent feedback or resources to approach your problems.
If you need more specialized coaching, there are services that can help you get mentorship.
But what I am hearing is a lot of overwhelm and a sense that you need to take this stuff on by yourself, which isn’t the case. You should find more ways to push work onto your engineers. Your job is to make sure the team is tackling the big challenges.
In big tech orgs, that comes through writing proposals and creating alignment between teams. When it comes to strategy, see if you can boil it down to the top 1-2 things you need to do to unblock the team. Write a proposal. Get feedback on it. Get it on the roadmap. And make sure your team is working towards that.
Also, use Claude. Tell Claude your problems and the AI will give you some decent feedback or resources to approach your problems.
If you need more specialized coaching, there are services that can help you get mentorship.
Biggest thing for me was accepting that your job is no longer about writing code — it's about removing blockers for others. Calendar time > coding time was a hard mental shift.
- It's complete chaos for me. Days stuffed withh meetings I'm not sure I should be in, other days empty where I sit paralyzed not knowing how to start tackling the strategic things I know I should address. Also, compared to previous roles, I can barely recharge over the weekend, it's like a completely different kind of energy drain.
- One report of mine causes havoc in the department. Very well performing, individually, but at the cost of frustrating whole teams of fellow employees. Can't side completely with one party, need to somehow make sure the conflict doesn't escalate. No idea how to solve this. I have caught myself more than once to "dodge" this issue and hide behind some technical work instead.
Seems like I was not really prepared to transition from IC to EM. I'm willing to spend time and effort to improve, so I read some books and started listening to some podcast, with no big effect so far. Is there anything you can recommend me to get a good hold in the new role? Thanks!