Understanding First Time Manager’s Misery through the lens of Math and Physics

Why engineers who are promoted to become managers for the first-time become miserable and what they can do about it

I run into lot of first-time engineering managers who become miserable within a few months of getting promoted.

It is a bit of a gut punch for them to be in that emotional state after working hard and dreaming about that title for a long time.

The trajectory is similar — show good engineering skills, write clean code, ship successful products, learn to communicate well, and boom, get promoted to be a manager.

But, the happiness of your promotion wanes within the first few months. Not because the engineering manager position isn’t exciting, worthy or valuable. It is all that, and maybe, more.

But maybe you did not comprehend what you have to learn and what you may have to give up to succeed in your new role.

You see, a good engineer doesn’t necessarily mean a great engineering manager.

The skills required to be successful in the new role are completely different. What is now needed is an ability to learn new skills — especially soft skills — which help you influence, and…