Moving and making a career change are two of the events most universally ranked as stressful in the average person’s lifetime. And while these two events may not directly correlate, a common thread does lie between them: change.
There are multiple reasons that major shifts in our lives are so taxing. According to the NeuroLeadership Institute’s 2019 research, uncertainty registers in our brain much like an error does. It needs to be corrected before we can feel comfortable again. People also fear change because we are afraid of what we might lose as a result; rather than taking a chance, our brains would rather we avoid the whole situation entirely.
But in order to excel, we can’t always succeed. When Choozle Vice President of Engineering Justin Johnson transitioned from individual contributor to manager, he had to make a drastic shift in his relationship with failure by becoming comfortable with the responsibility for his team’s efforts, rather than just his own.
“As a leader, you can create an environment and structures that allow for your team to identify failure and learn from it,” Johnson said. “These small changes allow your team to create a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”
Built In Colorado sat down with Johnson for additional advice on evolving from an individual contributor to an engineering manager, including his biggest challenges and even bigger rewards since making the switch.
What was the single biggest challenge you faced during the transition from individual contributor to engineering manager?
As you transition from an individual contributor to a manager, you experience a drastic shift around the fear of failure. As a manager, you are now dealing with the experience and anticipation of failure as the royal “we” — your collective team. You are now accountable for the work but your team is responsible for execution. This is a radical shift from being an individual contributor where you have a little bit more control over your exposure to failure. This not only changes your comfort level with failure but also forces you to navigate these experiences and how you respond to them.
How did you overcome this challenge, and how has it shaped your approach to management?
I’ve become comfortable with failure. Allowing for failure can be hard, but as a leader, you can create an environment and structures that allow your team to identify failure and learn from it. This environment starts with you as a manager. I am open about my own failures and how I’ve learned from them. Showcase these failures as a way to learn from them and grow as a team. Most importantly, talking openly about failures gives your team permission to fail.
When you refer to both the successes and failures as a ‘we,’ you are creating an environment of psychological safety.”
What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to someone who is transitioning into their first engineering manager role, and why?
It might seem small, but how you speak about the team’s work is important. Taking the “I” out of your vocabulary allows you to focus on the “we.” I have found that when you refer to both the successes and failures as a “we,” you are creating an environment of psychological safety.
 (1).png)
