From engineer to managing 40+ people

“Hey, Swanagan. Are you still at the plant? Good. Swing by my office on your way out.”

It was 5:15 PM on a Friday when I got this call from my boss.

Getting dark outside.

I was packing up my stuff, getting ready for the 45 minute (on a good day) drive home to start the weekend.

sigh

I guess I could walk the half mile to the other side of the chemical plant to my boss’ office.

Me: “Sure, I’ll be right over.”

Walking over, I was wondering the whole way what was up.

• Was I getting fired?

• Was I in trouble?

By the time I walked into my boss’ office, I was getting pretty anxious.

Boss: “Hey, Swanagan. Don’t let this out, but Mike the operations manager for the plant is retiring.”

Me: “Oh, good for him.”

Boss: “We are looking for a replacement.”

Me: “Is it going to be Adam or Ryan?”

Boss: “Well actually, I asked the managers here who they had the most respect for, and they all said you.”

Me: “…”

How did this happen?

As it turned out, doing my job as a control systems engineer for the plant (a total of 3 months), I had impressed the tenured guys and earned their respect.

And they recommended me for the job as their boss.

Over 40+ people, a 24/7 operation, in a OSHA high-hazard chemical plant.

With my 0 years of experience managing people.

My initial reaction was to say no.

• I had a ton of engineering projects underway

• It felt like I was leaving the older engineer I was working with hanging out to dry.

• Literally every person in the org I would be managing was at least 10 years my senior.

But at the end of the day, I was excited to stretch my limits and see what I was capable of.

So I said yes.

And I was in that job for 2 years.

I grew so much as a person and learned a ton while drinking from the fire hose that is managing an operation like that.

Wouldn’t change that experience for anything.

But it wasn’t on my radar at all.

And that’s the lesson.

Most transformations in your life are unexpected

That job totally changed the trajectory of my life and career.

I was not really thinking about anything other than a technical career.

But I found that people leadership was one of my superpowers.

I was really good at it.

Therefore, in my mind, I transformed from engineer to leader.

Each new experience and win in that position was another building block in this new identity in my psyche.

And it was totally unexpected.

That’s why I’m always preaching to be ready for anything.

You don’t know when the life-transforming opportunity is going to show up.

So, be ready.

Talk tomorrow.

Cheers,

Swanagan

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