How to Self-Manage Even if You Have a Manager (Your Future Self Will Thank You)

A deep dive into the career benefits of self-management + how to build self-management skills

Reading time: 8 minutes

My career at Google had a rocky start. My first manager left the company a few months after I joined, which led me to have multiple interim managers, and ultimately change orgs after 9 months.

On top of that, my very first L3 to L4 promotion attempt was denied for “not demonstrating enough impact”, even though I did everything my new manager wanted me to do. In hindsight, even though it was a very disappointing experience, that rejection became a major catalyst in my career.

Throughout the next year and a half, my career skyrocketed, getting promoted twice and switching to a Tech Lead role shortly after. How did I do that?

After my initial disappointment, I took charge of my own career and started focusing on being autonomous, taking initiative, and seeking out impactful work and growth opportunities. I no longer waited for my manager to do that for me.

What enabled my rapid growth was doubling down on my self-management skills.

In psychology, self-management is “our ability to manage our behaviors, thoughts, and emotions in a conscious and productive way.” In the workplace, self-management is an employee’s ability to solve problems independently, show self-awareness, and operate autonomously.

In my previous article, I talked about why it’s important to balance the trifecta of getting managed, self-managing, and managing up. You can find it here:

The Dance Between Getting Managed, Self-Managing, and Managing Up

In today’s article, we zoom into self-management discussing:

• How self-management can help your career too

• 8 skills needed to master self-management

• Why self-management is crucial for remote/hybrid workers

Let’s dive in!

Why should I self-manage, isn’t this my manager’s job?

In theory yes, in practice things are a bit more nuanced.

We sometimes forget that we’re not the only report our manager has. Besides managing multiple people, a manager’s plate is filled with a myriad of behind-the-scenes duties that are often unseen by their teams.

Your manager is busy building relationships, both within and outside the team, mediating conflict, advocating for the team, securing resources, and planning the long-term strategy. They have a limited amount of time and energy they can dedicate to you.

Managers cannot afford the time to handhold everyone

It is not a scalable management strategy, plus it takes away time that could be spent solving bigger or more difficult problems — such as figuring out a vision for the team that will bring you that promotion. Even if you’re a junior and need handholding, you might not get what you need.

When you self-manage, your manager trusts you more

If you show you can consistently solve problems and make progress independently, your manager won’t need to worry about you. When your manager trusts you, you get them on your side, which is essential for optimal career growth.

When you self-manage, you and your manager can focus on strategic guidance

When you self-manage, you're not only lightening your manager's load but you’re also positioning yourself to receive more strategic and high-level guidance.

That way, instead of discussing tactical things you can figure out on your own, you and your manager can spend your precious time together talking about where your career is heading, and how to get to the next level.

Before we talk about the skills involved in self-management, here are some things you should be aware of.

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Things to be aware of when self-managing

If you are excellent at self-managing, don’t forget to let your manager know about the issues you overcame on your own. Yes, brag about it!

Your manager needs to know about the problems you solve on a daily basis so they see how independent you are. This will increase your visibility and will make it easier for them to assess whether you are ready for the next level.

If you spend most of your time self-managing, make sure you’re not dismissing input from your manager suggesting different approaches. Don’t ignore your manager’s help or input, even when you think you got it.

Okay, I’m convinced! What are the skills I need to self-manage?

The essential self-management skills revolve around the same themes: ownership, accountability, responsibility, and autonomy. Here are, in no particular order, the 8 key skills that will help you master self-management: