Managing a sports team and managing an engineering team share many similarities. Leadership lessons from sports can be particularly insightful and are often easier to grasp. One common observation in sports is that legendary players frequently struggle as coaches. They become frustrated when their teams fail to meet the high standards they set as players and these gifted athletes often struggle with teaching and motivating others. For instance,Β https://bleacherreport.com/articles/520877-magic-johnson-wayne-gretzky-and-13-great-players-who-couldnt-coach The key takeaway is not that top performers cannot become great leaders or managers, but rather: - Being a high performer does not guarantee becoming a good manager. - Managing an engineering team is a completely different task from excelling as an engineer. - Effective management requires preparation, study, and research. - Emotional intelligence and empathy can be more important than technical expertise in management. Have you ever seen a high-performing IC fail as a manager? Or the opposite?
I have seen a few high performers or those who believe they are high performers become managers always doing micromanagement.
More example: https://www.thesportster.com/entertainment/14-legendary-players-who-failed-as-coaches/