Management - and by that I mean the management of people - is often at complete odds with the job we used to do as individual contributors. It is an entirely different career pathway, and often the tools, techniques and experience we build up in our careers don't always prepare us for what it is to be primarily focussed on the success and support of those around us.

In the same way that our growth was managed in our previous careers - active, deliberate practice, reading, practicing, talking, learning - continual improvement. The same is now true of our roles in management, though we have to accept that we have joined an entirely new career track as shown in the diagram below.

typical career ladder vs. real career ladder

The ladder on the left is typically what we see in people progressing into management. We take our most talented individual contributors and put them in charge of people. This is sometimes a perfect move, and sometimes the worst possible thing we could do. Great ICs don't always make for great managers, and indeed you don't have to be the best IC to be effective at management - as highlighted, they're often entirely different disciplines.