Seniority and self-management: you don't have to do this alone October 4th, 2023

At a certain level of seniority – typically the Staff level for ICs, and the Director level for managers – you’ll be expected to fully own huge areas of responsibility without detailed guidance. The mistake that many people make when they’re new to this level of autonomy is believing they have to do it all themselves. It is absolutely true that, once you reach this level of seniority, you are responsible for a very broad scope of responsibilities, skills, and tasks, but you don’t have to do this alone. At this level of seniority, you have to recognize your weaknesses, figure out what kind of support you need, and take steps to get yourself that support.