On becoming a manager

I like this description of becoming a manager from Rands in Repose. If you're thinking you might want to be a manager, this gives you a pretty good idea about how you would spend your day if you're doing it right.

Your job as a manager is to scale the skills that got you the gig in the first place. You used to be the guy who did the impossible when it came to fixing bugs. Ok, now you’re the guy whose entire team does the impossible bug fixing.

One thing to keep in mind is the purpose of a manager. It's important to ground your daily maneuvers in a larger, meaningful plan.

I would summarize a manager's duties to the team as "empower, motivate, and mentor". It's that simple. Make sure your team has the tools. Remove obstacles. Find out what motivates each of them individually and figure out how to supply it. Personally train them. Use mistakes as moments for expensive learning, not prosecutions.

If you focus on these things, you will succeed. In focusing on these things, you will find yourself doing many of the items on Rands's list.