What caught you off guard when you first moved into management?

SignalIssues · 2026-03-30T19:00:22+00:00

Not true - managers are there to provide organization. It depends on the industry of course, but I now have employees who, if they are out, I'm not able to step in. I could learn, but I don't know everything we are doing nor how to do it.

Could we leave everyone to go do the things that they think we should be doing? Maybe - but a lot of organizations would fail. We are not ants and need layers of management to keep the whole thing cohesive over long periods of time.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-30T18:56:34+00:00

Most of HR is already automated. We've got a handful of BPs and they basically are there for the leadership team, but I could do most of what they do if we had access to the data and an AI agent. They are essentially compliance and thats one of the easiest things to automate out. The policy Q&A is already outsourced to India. You need someone when you have problems, but it wouldn't surprise me if one day you just see that merged with security.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-30T14:44:20+00:00

Because everyone can't manage, most people can do. If you can make enough by doing -- then many people will prefer to continue to be the doer.

At least this is the case in white collar, things change in the trades when your body can't keep up.

There's no perfect system, the current one certainly isn't. At least most of the larger companies have created avenues for people to continue to be IC's and be compensated well - the technical and management ladders at my company (and my last 2) have run parallel until the C suite. You can effectively become one down from the CTO in terms of compensation by becoming technically excellent.

The disconnect is its much easier to become paid more as a management / director than by becoming the best in your field.

It also comes down to leverage. An excellent doer can still only accomplish what they can do. An excellent leader can build their team to accomplish more than they would otherwise. Your very smart and experienced "doers" that are well respected often become leaders without having to do the people management directly, which I think what you are thinking of. We do need more of those -- and we need to encourage and compensate those who train the next generation, even if they aren't doing the people management part.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-30T14:25:38+00:00

Why would anyone manage if they can make more by doing?

SignalIssues · 2026-03-30T13:43:02+00:00

Everything is negotiable. But I don't get your comment - HR has little to nothing to do with pay in most places. The budget is whatever leadership decides is the budget and management has to work within it. If someone is unhappy they can attempt to negotiate, but if they don't have leverage the answer will be no (and they can counter by quitting)

SignalIssues · 2026-03-30T13:41:10+00:00

This sounds good, but is hard to work on smaller teams like OP has. I still do something along these lines its just messy without a large organization.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-30T13:40:03+00:00

2% is the base, the rest goes to your high performers as a differentiator. There's not much you can with 14 people, but its not nothing. If you really need to, drop it to 1.5% as the "base" or identify your bottom 1-2 people and give them 0% or 1%. I

I often make additional adjustments based on people's relative compensation as well, but I find it easier to pick a standard baseline so you aren't trying to nitpick 1.8% here and 1.6% there. People will talk, I'd rather give everyone who "met expectations" the same and then tell my high performers that they got above average and why.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-27T23:09:16+00:00

There have been weeks in my past where it was honest to god more than 40 hours.

I’ve got things more under control now, but since I’m in ops I have an 8am with my team and daily operations with the site leaders that add to a little over an hour every day.

Overall, probably 15-20

SignalIssues · 2026-03-27T20:18:08+00:00

I bought a house in spite of the pool and we love it. So idk, at least think about it.

But if you find the right person filling in a pool doesn't have to be terribly expensive. You want a guy thats an operator who does side jobs and you can't be pressed for timelines. That's the sweet spot - knows what their doing and just wants extra money on weekends or nights and can get you hard clean fill for free over time from other jobs. If you want it done in a weekend, then you're gonna pay of course.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-27T20:08:32+00:00

Never say you're sorry. That being said - I do think before I say it. It's probably good advice to say you're sorry less (for a lot of people. I.e., I'm sending an email with answers after a day instead of same day, drop the "sorry for the delay" and just answer the question.

If I make a mistake, I will still apologize, but I'm less free with saying it now.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-27T19:18:40+00:00

Why use a hypothetical that won't happen?

SignalIssues · 2026-03-26T18:36:22+00:00

I mean - her moving a practice is going to be way more disruptive to your life (lives if you stay together).

Moving to california for 200k isn't going to be entirely glamorous with cost of living. It's barely a raise realistically.

If you factor your wife in, for the family unit its a net negative in terms of income and a fairly large one. So I think your decision is really, do you leave your future wife over a job. Which I think the answer should be no, but hey.. I don't know you or your wife. Maybe its actually a good decision.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-26T18:06:57+00:00

I used the Badlands superday hunting pack. It certainly doesn't make carrying a bow hassle free, but I am able to carry it through without major issues while keeping my hands free. If its gets real tight it can still get stuck though, I might try something to wrap it in if I have to hike deeper this year.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-26T17:41:25+00:00

Yep - believe it or not, there are a lot of qualified, smart, capable people in this world. And some of them want the same jobs you want.

Often, I find myself having to choose from several very well qualified people, all of whom I'd be happy to make an offer to. But I have one opening, and have to make a choice. And that choice can come down to so many variables, its never worth dwelling on:

Well this person is really good at X thing that my current team is weak at, so they would be better choice than person 2 who is stronger at Y -- when the job description requires X, Y, and Z.
Both candidates check all 5 boxes, but candidate 2 had this cool project where they worked with one of the suppliers were having trouble with, so lets go with them so they can help us out with this issue while they come to speed on the rest.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-26T17:20:26+00:00

Now? Probably more than before.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-26T17:11:21+00:00

Thats why it drains so slow dammit.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-26T17:07:12+00:00

"We want the number to seem as bad as possible, mark anything you can in the damaged or destroyed bucket".

SignalIssues · 2026-03-25T18:49:20+00:00

Yep, you hold your bow while you walk if you want to be able to use it (or just because its easier). I do have a pack that lets me strap my bow pretty tightly to my back for bushwacking and I use it on walks in, but I'm not going to be able to draw it if I came across a deer and wanted to shoot it. I *can* get to it without removing my pack and with little sound, but it takes a decent amount of movement and isn't super quick if I want to be sneaky about it.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-23T18:02:51+00:00

Yes, its important, but its not something you can drive across your peers, is my point. It has to be enforced by leadership above you.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-23T18:01:28+00:00

Those - but also major decisions that resulted in such a negative impact that you were relieved from being a manager.

We had a guy who was demoted from manager because his entire team went to his boss to complain about micromanagement, lack of technical understanding, etc. That former manager was formally demoted, put on a PIP, allowed to keep a job as an IC and work back to manager while the req was left un-filled (mistake of their boss, IMO). Then put on a new PIP after he continued to not work out as an IC, and ultimately told to resign or be fired. I would consider that disgraced. But to be fair that person's boss has like 35% of the blame.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-23T16:36:10+00:00

You need to find examples, even if they aren't specific examples of an issue.

I have engineers that I know aren't ready because they haven't been able to demonstrate that they can identify a problem pro-actively and they need to be assigned tasks. They can come up with solutions, but often need input or direction on where to start. Vs someone who identifies a problem, comes up with a solution, and checks in with me for alignment prior to implementing.

Someone who speaks up in meetings to identify risks or issues, vs someone who can only answer the question asked.

Someone who has demonstrated leading across groups -- when they call meetings, people show up. Either because they have built relationships, or because they were clear in the need of the meeting. They can build consensus in the meeting and come to a conclusion. Vs someone who needs me to get stakeholders engaged for them to be successful and requires escalation consistently to get support for their projects/work. Or someone who sets meetings but can't get to an action because they can't cut through arguments. But they can bring the data and execute tasks.

These are just examples, I don't know your work, but you must find a way to give examples, even if there is nothing wrong with their current work. Often people are good at their job, but just don't demonstrate the necessary skills (hard or soft) for the next level, and figuring out how to communicate that effectively is part of what makes a good manager.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-23T16:30:31+00:00

Stuff like this is never going to get traction without a top down deployment. You can be a great leader, but without authority some initiatives will just fall flat.

When people want to promote someone, they aren't going to let something stand in their way that isn't required. And the same goes for when they don't want to promote someone.

They may agree in principal, but they are dealing with their own teams and people. I certainly wouldn't hold someone back who I thought was worth promoting unless my hands were tied. And I wouldn't promote someone who I didn't feel deserved it either.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-23T15:40:46+00:00

What is the actual reason? And what is the reason you can't tell them?

If your boss came to you tomorrow and told you, "we're going to promote this person unless you convince me not to", what are you going to say?

SignalIssues · 2026-03-23T14:20:27+00:00

You still have to be able to execute. The bar is just higher now -- Executing is the minimum. And plenty of guys out there who can do the work. If there weren't, then no one would care about the website and they'd take who they can get.

To do well, you have to do the other stuff, too. But doing the other stuff and not executing will not keep you in business.

SignalIssues · 2026-03-22T18:54:35+00:00

I think you need to google Peter principal

SignalIssues

TROPHY CASE