There are three states a leader can be in relative to people management:
🔧 The Builder
This is the Individual Contributor (IC) track. Builders go deep on the T, C, and B parts of Customer, Business, Technology, Organization: they write code, close deals, publish policy, and drive execution. Their leadership shows up through ownership, influence, and follow-through. Their product is what they ship.
Builders can and should influence the entire company. This is why engineering job ladders include rungs like Principal Engineer and Technical Fellow.
🧪 The Apprentice
A time-boxed phase—ideally 9–12 months—where a Builder tries on the role of people manager. Apprentices intentionally try to discover if a focus on the O is fun. Apprentices are evaluating “Do I love this work?“ while the company is asking “Are they growing into it?” If either answer is no, that’s not failure—it’s clarity. Back to Builder. No harm, no foul.
⚠️ But only if the org is designed to support that.
Without psychological safety and leadership buy-in, the “no harm, no foul” frame collapses. Too many leaders stay in limbo because stepping back would look like failure. That’s a systemic failure.
🎯 The Steward
This is the People Manager track. Stewards don’t dabble. Their product is the people, the team, and the org. The engineering they do is the engineering of the O; People, Culture, and Scale. Stewardship means hiring as the highest priority, designing orgs, aligning humans, and driving accountability. Any IC work is extra credit—done only when it reinforces the core job of leading.
The Dangerous In-Between
What’s not allowed?
Some vague in-between “I’m still mostly doing IC work but I have a few directs” state.
That’s how you get the Pointy-Haired Boss from Dilbert: a confused middle-manager who never really wanted the job and won’t treat it like one.
Being a great People Manager isn’t a promotion. It’s a profession.
And like any profession, it requires focus, discipline, feedback, and reps.
What to Focus on as an Apprentice
When you’re in the Apprentice phase, IC work should fade into the background. Instead, you’re leveling up across these core skills (or discovering you hate the work involved):
- Influencing Without Authority – Lead through alignment, not title. See Lead Without Authority.
- Giving and Receiving Feedback – Learn and practice frameworks like SBI (Situation–Behavior–Impact). Make it safe and actionable.
- Coaching vs. Directing – Know when to give answers and when to pull the answers from your team.
- Delegation – Don’t just hand off tasks—hand off ownership. See Dive Deep != Micromanaging.
- Running 1:1s – Build trust, unblock work, develop people.
- Conflict Management – Don’t avoid tension. Step into it and resolve it productively.
- Communicating Up, Down, and Across – Match your message to your audience. Keep context flowing. Become excellent at clear Lexicons and Taxonomies.
- Ruthless Prioritization – Discover and master the skills that enable teams and individuals to stay focused. See One-Way and Two-Way Doors and The Shocking Truth About Prioritization.
- Recruiting, Interviewing, Hiring, and Onboarding – Learn to raise the bar, not just fill headcount. Master.
- Performance Management – Setting and holding a high bar. Recognizing excellence and celebrating victories. Addressing gaps quickly. Practicing the skills that ensure employees are never surprised by a bad review.
If the answer at the end of this is “Yes, I love this” and “Yes, they’re thriving”—great. You’re ready to become a Steward.
If the answer is no? Great. You’re a Builder. Now with better self-awareness.
The Attributes of a Great People Manager
Here’s my ordered list:
- Treats People Management as a Profession
- Has High Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
- Has Exceptionally High Standards, Especially Regarding Principles
- Can Carry a Vision and Leads From the Front
- Continually Hones Conflict Management Skills
- Is Biased Towards Teaching to Fish vs. Fishing
- Is Positive and Optimistic
- Advocates for People
- Loves to Learn, Is Curious, and Adaptable
- Is Problem Oriented, not just Results Oriented
- Is More than Technical Enough
I scoured the internet—and yes, even asked the AIs—for lists like this. Most get 2 through 11 right.
But almost no one puts #1 first.
Treating People Management as a profession is the foundation. Without it, everything else is just a hobby. Or worse, theater.
I’ve seen firsthand how organizations fail when they treat people management as a checkbox instead of a craft. I work with senior leaders and execs to fix the underlying systems and incentives that lead to mediocrity—the cultural rot that lets the Pointy-Haired Boss archetype persist.
If you’re building a company—or rebuilding one—and want a world-class people management culture, I’d love to help.
My office hours are free and open. Let’s talk.
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