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Indeed I have seen developers promoted to lead positions going back to non-leading positions. The "Rep" idea is a great one. Do you think the step back from lead positions is because some people lack the required people skills, on a position previously heavy on technical skills only ?

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I think the step back is mainly because people are overwhelmed, and suddenly lose their joy in work. For some people it's because they are not suited for the role, but some just need a bit of time to adjust.

I wrote this short quiz to help people figure out if it's for them :)

https://zaidesanton.substack.com/p/becoming-an-engineering-manager-is

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Feb 1Liked by Anton Zaides

This is so relatable!

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Amazing points! Thank you!

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Such a good read Anton!

I'm pretty sure literally everyone is going through this at some point in their career. It felt like it's a story about me back in a day.

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Thank you Eugene! Yeah, almost all team leaders I talked to had a similar experience.

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I shielded my team from initiatives to help them focus, but now I realize they missed opportunities to participate in some exciting changes. So, I'm budgeting time for them to work on initiatives next year. Thanks for sharing your story.

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Print(" great article 🔝")

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Loved the article as always, Anton. Amazing lessons learned and going to remember this one for when I step into a team lead role :)

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Thanks! Seems like that this day is growing closer and closer :)

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