Moving from tech to management

rwmidl

There have been a few threads around lately with subjects such as "What are your certification goals for next year" and the like. While I have responded to those, and I do have some certification goals for myself for '11, one thing that I've gotten interested in is moving from the "tech" side of things over to the "management" side. I'm talking like a team lead, project lead/project manager and eventually on up the ranks to ISSO, CISSO, or CIO.
While I doubt there are many CIO's hanging out around here (I could be wrong), what I am curious to hear is those who have made the switch, how did you go about doing it? Was it serving time in the field and moving up the ranks? Was it changing jobs/employers to make that move? Did you take any "business" courses along the way (maybe get your MBA, PMP, do something with Six Sigma)? I'm curious to hear from you? I'd also be interested to hear from people who are interested in moving to the management side of things?

LTParis

I did this at my previous job and it was horrible. I was originally hired as a Sr. Engineer but quickly became the Lead/Manager. My job became over 95% administrative, and it was just not a great fit. Top that off that the fed.gov person above me was a micromanager, and his managerial style was very contradictory towards mine which is I had a great team so I was hands off, I just wanted a quick daily brief on projects, where the boss above me wanted a direct feed on all projects literally by the minute.

Maybe if I could find a managerial role that was more 50/50 then it would have been much better.

I know a lot of people moving up to this positions have a business education background, have gone to places like Dale Caranagie, do PMP and ITIL certs.

Again it's what you want to make out of your career. I know I want to stay equal or more tech focus if the opportunity ever presents itself again.

NinjaBoy

It was a combination of moving employers and doing entry level "management" qualifications, like Six Sigma, ITIL as well as time served.

Now I'm working to get to the next level, for that I've done/earned more management qualifications like the NVQ 3 in Management, LCGI level 4 in Management, FITS levels 4 (Practitioner) & 5 (Manager). Currently working towards my level 6 qualification (comparable to a Hons Degree).

LTParis said, a management role in IT is different from a techie role. Even though I still have my hands in the techie side, my role has changed (more paperwork, doing apprasials, etc...).

-Ken