From Contributor to Manager

I still remember the evening in 2006, sitting in our offshore delivery center in Chennai, when my manager called me aside and said, "Girija, you will be leading this team going forward."

At that point, I had spent close to five years solving complex production issues and building a reputation as someone who could be trusted when things got difficult.

So this felt like a natural progression.

But within a few weeks, something started to feel wrong.

My work hours increased. My involvement in everything increased. And strangely, my team's dependency on me also increased.

Whenever there was a difficult issue, I would step in. Whenever a deadline was at risk, I would take control.

One late evening in the same office, long after most people had left, I sat staring at my screen and realized something uncomfortable:

I had changed my role. But I had not changed how I worked.

I was still behaving like an individual contributor. And that was the problem.

Until then, my success came from solving problems faster than others. But now, my success depended on whether my team could solve problems. And I was unknowingly becoming the bottleneck.

That realization forced me to change.

I started stepping back. Instead of giving solutions, I started asking questions. Instead of taking over, I started delegating. Instead of being the hero, I started building capability in others.

It wasn't easy. There were moments when jumping in would have been faster.

But over time, something changed. The team started taking ownership. They started thinking independently. And that's when I truly became a manager.

If you are transitioning today, remember this: Your growth is no longer about how much you do. It is about how much your team can do without you.