I started off my career as a software developer, my main measurement of output being the product of hours in a text editor. Even as I took on management and leadership roles in the early years, writing code was still a substantial portion of my day. But as Contactually took off, I needed to have more leverage, so my time allocation previously spent with my hands on the product was better served bringing on new customers and growing the team.
However, I missed it.
Recently I’ve been inspired by a number of people on my team who have dipped their toes in, or switched fully to, being people managers, only to return back to their roots as individual contributors. While the extrinsic marker of career progression is the number of people working for you, I’ve increasingly gained respect for those who hold on to their ikigai, their “reason for being.” If one feels that the intersection of skill, passion, and impact is an individual contributor, I’m fully in support. Even me, more recently I’ve had the ability to devote time back to creating in personal projects.
Going from a maker, to a manager, back to a maker again can be a rewarding journey.
