The transition from individual contributor to manager is one that many people struggle with. They understand that they now work with and through people. What they’re often not told is that their output is now something different. Instead of producing a product, you’re producing a better professional (that produces a better product). Those two things are vastly different. If you skip the professional and go straight to the product, you may get results in the short-term, but you’ll either stagnate or outright fail in the long term.