Half joke but half true.
IC —> management. how do you know when/if you're ready to make the shift? I love *The Craft* but I'm getting old, and there are so many better ICs out there now. I do have a lot of experience, though. maybe I could make a good manager?
Someone told me once to ask myself what I would feel okay not having control over in my work. So if you feel like you'd be happy not having control of the design but working more with the people creating the design, maybe that's a signal!
I would ask yourself what kind of manager you would want to be and whether or not you think your company will empower you to be that person.. And if you're ready for the kind of influence a manager can have over another person's job and broader career
For me, the turning point came when I realised during an annual review standardisation meeting that I could deal with the bureaucracy that comes with it.
Healthy to think that it is not a shift. That they are not similar jobs at all. Managership is more akin to janitorial work and serving. You will use your creativity to solve inter-personal problems rather than user problems. You must love people as they are and be invested 100%
I felt I was ready when I knew I could contribute more by guiding the structure of team, helping ppl in their own roles. But it is hard not being able to design