Transitioning from Contributor to Manager – Accountability Without Control

One of the most significant challenges of moving from an individual contributor (IC) role to an engineering manager (EM) position is a shift in how success is judged. As an IC, your performance is tied to what you can personally deliver—lines of code, features shipped, or problems solved. As a manager, you’re assessed on your team's outcomes, even though your direct control over those outcomes diminishes. Instead of control, you are expected to influence.

The shift from control to influence can feel jarring. Where once you could work longer hours or develop new skills to improve your performance, you now rely on the effectiveness of your team, their collaboration, and sometimes, their adherence to a shared vision. Managers are often evaluated on:

• Delivery: meeting deadlines, staying within budgets, and achieving goals.
• Team morale and growth: ensuring that the team is engaged, motivated, and continuously developing their skills. (One company I worked for expected the folks on my team to be "happy," which is DEFINITELY not something I have a lot of control over.)
• Strategic alignment: guiding your team to contribute meaningfully to organizational goals.

The landscape of influence is fraught with external dependencies that can derail progress despite your best efforts. I have gone through torturous planning sessions to get a roadmap in place, just to go back to the drawing board after a reorg, a layoff, or a leadership change.

Building Your Influence Toolkit

A new manager has to develop many new skills to succeed, and fast. Your focus will always depend on what is the biggest need (often connected to where you are in the business cycle), though there are three broad categories:

Set Expectations

• Clearly articulate what success looks like for your team. Define deliverables, timelines, and quality standards.
• Set clear roles and responsibilities, so every team member understands their contributions to the bigger picture.
• Don't leave any assumptions unaddressed. 

Managing Up and Out

• Your team’s success often hinges on relationships with other teams and leaders. Align your team’s work with organizational goals by building strong relationships across the organization.
• Stay informed about company objectives, anticipate challenges, and create plans that align your team’s capabilities with business needs.

Managing Through Conflict

•  Conflict is inevitable in any team setting. Your ability to navigate it constructively builds your credibility as a collaborator, and ensures that outcomes triumph over egos.
• Foster an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing challenges and asking for help.

Coping with Undesirable Outcomes

Even with best practices, things don’t always go as planned. Perhaps a high-priority initiative fails to land, or team members underperform. You can navigate these challenges while maintaining trust and credibility!

Own the Process, Not Just the Results

Focus on what you can control—team processes, communication, and building a culture of accountability. When discussing setbacks, focus on the lessons learned and adjustments made for future success.

Positive Feedback: Celebrate Wins and Effort

Acknowledge the effort and progress, even when results don’t meet expectations. This reinforces a growth mindset and keeps morale high.

Communicate Early, Often, and Completely

The best approach is to ensure that the outcome isn't a surprise to any stakeholder -- communicate risks when they surface, and never ever bank on everything lining up perfectly. When projects fail, be transparent about the contributing factors and your plan to address them. Transparency and ownership fosters trust with leadership and your team.

Shifting Mindset

Becoming an effective manager requires a mindset shift from "maker" to "multiplier." Instead of asking, "What did I accomplish today?" you’ll ask, "What did I help my team accomplish today?" Success as a manager is no longer about your individual brilliance but your ability to enable the brilliance of others.

This transition can feel challenging, especially when your performance is evaluated based on outcomes you don’t directly control. By focusing on influence, trust, and strategic alignment, you can lead your team to success while growing into a confident and impactful engineering manager. 

If you’re an aspiring or new engineering manager, remember that you’re not alone in this journey. Many leaders grapple with this transition. Seek mentorship, lean on peers, and continuously refine your approach. Over time, you’ll discover that your impact as a manager is far greater than anything you could achieve on your own. For more insights like these, inquire about my 12 months leadership excellence program: From Engineer to Leader: A Program for New Managers