Dennis Dietrich is a manager at Phoenix Contact's Industrial Cabinet Solutions (ICS) business unit where he leads a software development team. He holds a master’s degree in Advanced Software Engineering from the University of Leicester and has over 20 years of industry experience in various roles including testing, development, and technical leadership.
In early 2023 I made a decision. I vowed to quit being an individual contributor (IC) and finally make the transition to engineering management, something I had been interested in for a while. To my surprise, it only took a couple of months from me publicly declaring said goal on LinkedIn to my first day in my new job as the manager of the software development team of Phoenix Contact's Industrial Cabinet Solutions business unit. Taking on this challenge with limited previous leadership experience meant drinking from the proverbial firehose. It wasn't until the first four of five months had passed that the water pressure finally started to go down. This talk is for new managers, ICs considering moving to the management track, and anyone else curious about what's been like for me. It's not a masterclass (or any kind of class for that matter), but merely a glimpse into my very personal journey from engineering to engineering management.