How I Transitioned Into People Management Twice

Becoming a manager, particularly in PM, can be difficult. I made the move from individual contributor to manager twice. Once at a series C/D startup, and then again at Meta. Here's how I did it.

People management is one of those circular logic problems that is super frustrating to break. It’s difficult to get a manager job (particularly a PM manager job) without having managed before. There is such a thing as a “management checkbox”. And yet, how do you get management experience if no one is willing to give you a chance to manage?

I grappled with this frustrating question for years in my early career. I knew very early on, maybe a year into my PM career, that I wanted to manage. And so, I sought out and took on every opportunity to move toward that goal.

From IC to Manager at Thumbtack

I joined Thumbtack post series A as their 1st PM. The goal was if the company did well, then my career would grow with it. Fortunately, with hard work and luck, the team grew quickly over the next 2 years, reaching over 60 total and 5 PMs. I wanted to be a PM manager, and so I made sure that I covered all the checkboxes so that when the “business need” finally arose, I would be first in line.

I helped onboard new PMs to the company as the 1st PM, I mentored colleagues in other functions (e.g. PMM, Data Science, engineers, designers) who wanted to become PMs, and I made it a regular topic of conversation during my 1-1’s with the VP product, CEO, VP engineering…anyone who asked me what my career goals might be.

I asked every mentor or senior product person I met what was their journey into management — how it happened, and what they learned. I knew from these conversations that it was going to be difficult and that I had extra challenges stacked against me as a double minority. But I was going to do it on the fast track.

Here’s what I learned needs to hold true for an individual contributor to move into a management position:

1. You are a high-performer as an IC at an equivalent level to the manager: This sometimes surprises people: doesn’t an IC report to a manager? Yes, but often ICs can have an equal if not larger impact on the business as a manager since they’re the ones driving the work.

2. You have a strong level of influence across the organization: Performing well in your role is necessary but not sufficient. People who have high potential for becoming managers work on their influence:

   1. Ability to influence and mentor others around you (e.g. they come to you for questions, feedback, and support with their work)

   2. Ability to influence leaders on other teams (e.g. they support your ideas, they enjoy collaborating with you on projects)

3. There is a business need: The company must need a new manager for a particular area or at least have the ability to add a management layer to the organization.

   1. The company must have a scope large enough for the new manager. This can be from someone departing, the business growing and hiring, or team consolidation.

   2. Different leaders have different philosophies on when a management layer should be added, and some prefer to wait until there is a span of control of 3-4 people before adding a layer.

   3. In PM/Eng/Design, leaders like to keep the number of layers consistent — e.g. VP of PM/Design/Eng, Director of PM/Design/Eng. So if adding a layer will create a mismatch, then it can be more challenging.

4. A leader needs to sponsor and support your transition: Learning how to manage takes time and an existing leader or manager needs to put her hand up to guide you through the process.

As with any set of “rules”, there are always exceptions and biases. If a company is growing like a weed, they’re going to promote based on business needs anyone who seems like they could do well as a manager. If you’re a white male, you’re more likely to be promoted based on potential rather than proven expertise. If you’re a great relationship builder but a not-as-good executor, depending on the culture of the company, it can help or hurt.

In my first two years at Thumbtack, I focused on delivering great performance and impact, increasing my sphere of influence (this one was “easier” since I had the benefit of being one of the longest-tenured team members"), and getting a sponsor.

And then I got stuck. I got stuck on “business need”. Frustratingly for me, PM teams tend to stay small. A team of 60 engineers needs only 6-8 PM counterparts. So while there may be 7-8 management roles in engineering, there could be 0 in PM. In addition, my manager thought it was important for me to have a peer as a manager, particularly because this would be my first time managing, so that meant waiting until we needed TWO PM managers.

While I did not agree with this logic and would’ve been thrilled with being the only PM manager on the team, there wasn’t much I could do to change their minds. And so, I did the only thing I could — help the business grow faster…so the team grows faster!!

Finally, I transitioned to a manager role in 2016 when another more experienced PM manager joined the team. Funny enough, in the 3 additional years as a PM leader at Thumbtack, I did spend short periods of time as the only PM manager — but by then, I had already proven myself as a manager and leader, and the rules were different.

From IC to Manager at Meta

After I left Thumbtack, I turned down other manager roles to join as an individual contributor on the PM team at Instagram. I wanted to build a product again, and I could not find a better team to build with than the one I was getting the chance to work with at IG. However, a year in, I was itching to get back into a manager role again.

At Meta, and many large tech companies like it, there’s a formal leveling system. In generally M1/L6 and M2/L7 are considered “the same level” in terms of compensation. However, culturally, managers tended to have a bit more sway than ICs of the same level, and it is considered a “promotion” to move from IC to manager.

For this transition, I had the benefit of having already been a manager. But I had a new set of hurdles:

• “But you haven’t managed at Meta. And it’s different to manage here.”

• I need a new sponsor for my transition

• My existing team at Instagram did not have a need for another manager and likely would not.

Since Meta is an established company, and Instagram was not growing headcount in the near future, I decided to try and network my way into a manager role in another part of the organization. I heard through the grapevine that the PM teams on Facebook App and Messenger were larger, and so I began my searches there.

The process was not unlike looking for a new job, but perhaps even more ambiguous. The first step was to network with potential hiring managers and see who has or will likely have open roles. Then I had to go through a subjective multi-round interview process with the manager and the team and provide “references” from my current team. I started with people I knew from Instagram who had moved into manager roles at Facebook App or Messenger, asked them if they knew people hiring for manager roles, and followed an ever-broadening circle outwards. I also regularly checked back in with managers in case anything had changed.

My biggest hurdle was sponsorship. My previous manager and manager of my manager had left the company, so it was difficult to get trustworthy insights from leadership on my work. While everyone in my leadership chain said they would support me, no one was going to go out of their way to find me a role. And so, I slowly built a loose circle of people who were willing to put in a good word for me and go back to some of my former PM team at Thumbtack who can speak to my leadership and manager style.

I was also somewhat picky about the type of manager I wanted to work for and learn from — someone who believes in empowering teams and had political sway at the company. So there were teams where the manager was new to the company, or where it felt like a bad culture, that I turned down.

After about 3 months of searching and talking and planting seeds, I finally met a senior product leader who had been at FB 10+ years and was willing to take a chance on me. We had not worked together but overlapped time at Instagram. In addition, he trusted my original hiring executive. He was assembling a new team for a new initiative at the company (business need!). We talked a few times, and after a few conversations with him and the future team, I was in. I wasn’t particularly excited about the product area, but the scope was good and I was super excited to work with this new manager. When looking for tie-breakers, I almost always bet on the manager more than anything else, and it has always paid off.

So there you have it. Those were my two transitions. Very different scenarios, yet similar in requirements— business need, sponsorship, and high performance.

Have you made the transition? What was your process like? Comment below!