Nurturing the IC habit in a Manager.

Are you an experienced manager, struggling to define your identity?

Do you miss that adrenaline rush of creating something new?

Do you sense a lack of purpose in your role?

You are not alone. During my interactions with many managers in the IT industry, there is an anxiety around the impact one can make and the personal satisfaction one can expect from the manager role. As a manager, we all dedicate most of our time for our people and their success. This by itself is highly satisfying. However, we can’t ignore the underlying burning desire to create something new and make a bigger impact. How about getting that IC (individual contributor) role back in the game and merge it with our manager role?. This time with a twist, a new definition to the IC role. The managers were once the shining stars in their teams. Their individual contributions, coupled with leadership skills, helped them to gain this important title. So we are not new to IC role. What we need is a brand-new way to integrate and rekindle the IC role in a manager. I have seen many leaders unconsciously doing it and reaping the benefits. It is a choice. Let us dive in and decode the underlying steps.

Our need for self-expression:

• Maintain an identity: An identity is how we view ourselves. It matters and directly impacts our self-esteem at work and in society in general. We desire to radiate this identity in all aspects of our life.
• Room for creativity: The human brain craves novelty and creativity. It is fulfilling and gives us a sense of purpose. We can create something new only when we have avenues to express our innate talents.
• Find the flow: A flow is when we immerse ourselves in an activity with focus and enjoyment. We are at our personal best when we are in the flow. Our work satisfaction is directly proportional to the opportunities of flow we achieve. We can be in a flow only when our core strengths are in play.
• Serve the team: When we are service-oriented, we look beyond our own problems and find ways to create value for others. If our innate capabilities can be of service to others, it has a multiplier effect and results in profound satisfaction.

How to rekindle the IC in you?

All of us were individual contributors at some point. We used our knowledge and talent to make our individual contributions meaningful for the company. So when we decide to rekindle the IC in us, we need to dig into the current landscape of our knowledge and talent. The below steps could help you to get started.

• Assess your current strengths and passions: After being immersed in managerial highs and lows, many people can’t easily list down their new passions and strengths. So spend quality time thinking about it and put it down. It could be technical, leadership, customer impact, industry engagement, or a desire to change a process to reduce the organizational pain.
• Map to organizational needs: This is the most critical step. Our passions don’t have a home if it is not mapped to the current organizational needs. So a conscious effort is needed to study the organizational goals and their well-known pain points. Find out one or two areas that align with your strengths.
• Create big goals: We need to convert these potential opportunities into tangible goals. Look for the target group of beneficiaries, possible impact and build a SMART goal statement. The goal should be audacious enough and potentially can be scaled to the entire org or company at some point. So keep the bar high.
• Aim to be world-class: We might feel that we are ready to jump into execution. Hold on. This is the mistake most of us do, and we end up facing hurdles, and subsequently surrender our goals without a good fight. To develop our goals into a world-class one, studying all relevant programs/ideas across the industry is an extremely important preparation step . This will help us to equip with the required tools/skills to manage any hurdle on the way.
• Engage allies: We can’t achieve anything significant without the help from others. Especially in the organizational context, it is important to rope in the right partners who can challenge us and share our vision. We need to be patient enough to have them see the big picture and get their skin in the game.
• Course correct without ego: The new IC goals may not be as easy as those in our earlier innings. We will need to course-correct, reinvent and sometimes let go of the goal if it is not making sense. The experience and personal momentum we gained will help to open up new windows of opportunities soon. The key success is in creating a habit of keeping an IC goal and being comfortable with it along with your primary charter.

Fundamental skills to harmonize IC and manager roles.

• Own your time: The fear of managing time effectively will be the most significant entry barrier for us in this endeavour. Let us accept it, and it is real. Remember, we are choosing to do it for a bigger purpose. To express our true selves and make a major impact to the organization. We need to use every available tool on time-management to discipline ourselves and dedicate a time slice per week on our IC goals. Sometimes it might need our personal time too. It is a choice.
• Be a perpetual learner: We can’t attempt to make a major impact without knowing what the industry and the world is conspiring on the specific topic. So developing a habit of structured learning is vital to make the IC goals successful as well as to define new frontiers.
• Embrace a new work canvas: All these can overwhelm our days and our thinking patterns. We need to reframe our work canvas and build new skills to manage it effectively. Learn to use the PAUSE button for your IC goals when needed. Your primary role always takes priority. Create timelines for your IC goals, but be flexible.

We all have an intrinsic need to maintain an identity matching to our core strengths and values. We might have to run projects, drive monotonous meetings, handle customers, do market research or manage factory floor as part of our primary responsibility, but never lose sight of the potential “Individual Contribution” that we can make beyond these seemingly run-rate work. Our reason for existing and passion for performing depends on our ability to integrate our idiosyncrasies into our chosen vocation. As managers spend more time in the role and start getting comfortable with the expectations, remember to listen to the inner voice and rekindle our passion. Start today.