11 January
Desire and opportunity finally coincided at work, resulting in my first foray into a leadership role. As of December, I've been leading a team of 5 people testing the Javascript APIs in HD DVD. I've been one of the technical leaders on the HD DVD test team since joining it last summer, so some of this isn't new. People already came to me often for advice, my voice was often heard in larger group discussions, and for many things I was calling my own shots. I've been interested in trying out a lead position for a while now, but hadn't gotten the recognition or opportunity required to take the step. I'm not sure yet whether management is for me (I will give this at least a year and probably two before deciding), but I've seen the following pros and cons so far:
Pros
- Responsibility and influence in the team increases
- You are directly responsible for overseeing others' work. This is important because I can now tell people to do/fix/change things with direct authority, instead of as a strong suggestion.
- For people like me who are smart but not uber-technical, it is a quicker and more effective way to expand your scope of influence than technical leadership
- You learn things earlier and are generally less "in the dark."
Cons
- Your schedule gets packed with meetings. More planning meetings, more 1:1 meetings...it's really quite a lot. My mouth gets very dry on Wednesday especially due to all of the talking!
- You have a lot more on your mind. As an individual contributor, you can sometimes bury yourself in a single project if that's required (even if you generally need to watch out for other stuff). As a lead, you can't afford to do that. Thanks you Outlook and OneNote for helping me stay sane!
- Recruiting. I haven't yet gotten the hang of having other peoples' future employment on my conscience.
- Review time is very busy. So much to read and write!
Overall it's been a good and definitely informative experience so far!
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