The Boss Trap
Karen is caught in the Boss Trap. Her company promoted her to Team Leader because she was a top performer in her marketing analyst position. But she hates the job and wants to get out.
It could be too late. Too many companies promote people to management based on their performance as something else. Then they don’t allow the promoted person to return to the ranks if they find they don’t like their new job.
That’s the Boss Trap. You can’t do a thing about the way your employer promotes people. But you can figure out in advance if it’s a good thing for you.
The best way to find out if you like being a boss is to be one for a little while. Temporary assignments as the head of a task force are great for this. So is filling in for a boss who’s on vacation or medical leave.
Analyze the particular work that bosses do. Here are some specific things that people responsible for group performance do that others don’t do.
Bosses are responsible for group performance. Your evaluation depends on their work. If you’re not comfortable with that, being a boss may not be right for you.
Bosses are responsible for team members. If you don’t like helping other people succeed, being a boss may not be the right job for you.
Bosses have to confront team members about behavior or performance. If that makes you uncomfortable, being a boss may not be right for you.
Bosses have to make decisions and then live with the results. If you have trouble coming to decisions and then being accountable for them, being a boss may not be right for you.
If being a boss is not the right career choice for you, don’t despair. There are other career paths that you can take. But it’s way easier to seek them out before you’re offered a “promotion” that may not be good for you and catches you in the Boss Trap.
March 5th, 2009 at 3:50 am
Hi
So true what you say. I know that in the world of engineers this is a common problem. The only way up is management and engineers typically aren’t managers. They move out of their area of passion.
But, one can’t progress salary-wise or status-wise as an engineer.
It’s a great pity that these skills aren’t valued enough and, as a result, the industry loses some good skills.
Juliet
March 5th, 2009 at 7:15 am
You’re right, Juliet. It’s a common problem in technical fields, too. But there are companies such as HP, 3M and IBM (wow, all letters) that have career paths for people who want to pursue their passion, even if it’s not management.
March 9th, 2009 at 12:45 am
This is so true. We know of a very good project manager who got promoted to managing director and did not do very well in it. Unfortunately, the fact that he had already sat on a managing director’s chair made it very hard for him to get back into project management: he was viewed as overqualified for the job.
We also agree on your point about management promoting good performers. There is nothing wrong with this per se, and is in fact a good approach. What is wrong is management often neglects or takes for granted the training requirements for the next job – especially when the new job requires being the new boss. We have recently posted about this very topic in our blog.
March 9th, 2009 at 9:06 am
The 16th Internships & Career Blog Carnival: Brand New Links…!…
Welcome To The 16th EVER Carnival of Internships, Careers, & Employment!
For March 9th, 2009
*Blogs presented according to subject*
Careers
Silicon Valley Blogger presents How To Work Full Time While You’re In College posted at The Di…
March 10th, 2009 at 6:46 am
[...] isn’t the only career path. Last week I blogged here about “The Boss Trap.” The fact is that leadership is a bad choice for a lot of people. And the fact also is that many [...]
March 10th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
[...] isn’t the only career path. Last week I blogged here about “The Boss Trap.” The fact is that leadership is a bad choice for a lot of people. And the fact also is that many [...]
March 29th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
[...] In fact, some people – and some are very good performers – dread becoming “the boss” (see “The Boss Trap” for a good and concise case [...]
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:54 pm
hi there. just subscribed to your rss feed, thanks bro
October 21st, 2010 at 10:06 am
Just what i needed. Thanks for writing, I really liked your most recent post.
November 30th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Keep it up