Brian Walsh focuses on managers and people moving into management because the transition is brutal. You build technical skills, enjoy the work, then life changes push you toward management. The hard part isn't the promotion—it's letting go of what you loved, navigating new relationships, and figuring out if the role actually fits your life.
Chapters
I wanted to make a video to share a little bit about why I'm focusing my work on management and specifically those leading a small team or individual contributors that are looking to move into management. I know what it's like when you find something that you enjoy and you build some technical skill and experience in it, and then you find a job where they pay you to do what you enjoy doing. It's rewarding both personally and professionally. I also know what it's like to develop a technical career and then also want more. Sometimes life just gets a little more complex. We get a partner or a family, we want to buy things. Maybe it's just a car that doesn't break down. Maybe we want to move into a house or take a vacation. All good things. But they just start changing our career motivation a little bit. Sometimes it's because we are doing well at work and we've built up a reputation and others tell us that we'd be good at management. Or there are needs like our team needs some leadership and we're willing and interested in stepping up and filling those needs. But moving into management is hard. We have to wrestle with our own conflicting feelings about leaving some of the technical work and expertise we've built up and moving into a new career field. We have to navigate changing relationships with our co workers and with other managers. And let's face it, often we didn't speak in the most endearing terms about management. We also may feel less secure in this new position. And in many ways we may be less secure as we step into a new role. And often companies don't do a good job supporting managers. Some do, some are wonderful. But often companies take a bit of a sink or swim methodology. It is hard, but I do think that a career in management is an awesome opportunity if you're thinking about it. I want to encourage you that you should spend some time putting your needs above company needs. Now, that's kind of a weird thing to say. But when we align who we are with what we do, that's when we experience personal and professional rewards. It means prioritizing personal development over professional development. If you don't do this, what happens then is you get to a point in your career where you're frustrated, where you're discontent and you've hit barriers and the extrinsic motivation that's gotten you there isn't enough to pull you across. You have to have some intrinsic motivation. You have to know the reason why you've stepped into this career path. My work Living life integrated is all about bringing your whole self to everything you do. I think when you do that, then you can experience personal and professional reward because who you are is aligned with what you're doing. If this interests you, I would love to hear from you. I'd love to hear about your experiences in management, your interests in moving into management, and if there's anything I can do to be of service. Thank you.
