About the transition from being an IC to a lead.
From Individual Contributor To Lead
You were doing great at your job, and now you’ve been offered the lead role. Congrats!
There are significant changes between being an individual contributor (IC) and being a lead. When before you were responsible for the job, now you’re responsible for the people who are responsible for the job. Don’t expect to be contributing as much as you used to before, many tech leads estimate their IC time to be around 20-30%.
This new role is something that you should want to do because you have an important responsibility, you have to care for humans, and if you’re reluctant about this part, then you might have to reconsider this role.
Most Leaders Don’t Even Know the Game They’re In | Simon Sinek
Getting Ready
Leadership is a new skill you have to learn and practice. If you’re lucky, your organization might have offered you support in this transition. If they didn’t, don’t be afraid to ask for it. The fact that you’re looking for resources to be ready for this role, proves that you care about it and sets you up on the right path.
Wanting to be ready when I started this role was something I struggled with. What I ended up realizing thanks to my peers, is that as much as you will want to be ready for this role, in the end, you’ll just have to do it. Because you will never be ready, there will always be situations that you never anticipated. That is the sum of all your previous experiences that will help you to overcome the next ones. It’s a never-ending learning process.
Should I Make What I Like Doing My Job? Passion + Purpose
Video with a timestamp, don’t let the video title fool you!
If you can, I encourage you to get a mentor. People have been there before you, they know, don’t be afraid to show your weaknesses and reach out to others to learn from them, help is OP.