Managing managers
The move to leading managers, and the ways it typically goes wrong (skip-levels used badly, holding on to the old job, replacing a new manager who needed coaching). The people who report to you now need you to hold them accountable for their teams and to develop their judgment.
Evidence grade: practice A widely adopted practitioner model with clear provenance.
Use it when
The first year of leading managers, and whenever a leader notices they are doing a manager's job.
Where it stops working
The feedback loop is longer and the evidence arrives filtered. Practices that worked when leading engineers give false confidence here.
Where the standard uses it
- PL-6Leading through leadersSelecting, developing, and holding accountable the managers who report to you.
Sources
- Camille Fournier. The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change. O'Reilly Media, 2017. In the bibliography
Used alongside it
- Coaching managers through change practice
- Readiness practice
- Sizing teams and spans practice
- Task-relevant maturity practice
- The one-on-one as the report's meeting practice
- What good managers do research
Cite this model
Chicago, BibTeX and licence →Engineering Management Academy. (2026). Managing managers. In Engineering Management Academy Body of Knowledge (Version 3.1, TEC.managing-managers). https://www.engineeringmanagement.academy/body-of-knowledge/techniques/managing-managers