Trapped into Leadership

I have a friend that has worked for the same (stuffy, old school) firm since graduating college over 10 years ago. He worked in the same department for years and at one point managed a few people and that was OK. He wanted to move into another position and the obvious choice was to be a location manager. He said it is what he wanted and moved out of state to pursue the opportunity. I have watched him in this position for the past 1 ½ years knowing all along he was not happy. Noticing he is disengaged, my husband often gives him a hard time that he doesn’t read his industry’s news and blogs to keep up. I don’t. Clearly, it doesn’t interest him or he would naturally be drawn to it.

He wasn’t content in his last position and he is not happy managing the people in the very same position. He approached his boss and asked about moving into another role entirely. He feels it is a better fit to make that change. He was told he would have to step back into his last position and remain in that position for 2 years before even being considered for that new role. Stepping back into the last position would be a substantial pay cut for only a chance to move into this other role. His only other option is to stay where he is.

Of course, he is going to leave eventually. He feels trapped and has already sent me his resume to look over. We have sat down a few times and discussed what is important to him in a career. Not once has he mentioned leading people. He is great one on one and really enjoys directly advising one client at a time. He was forced into managing a whole office, including all the administration and due diligence that comes along with it. I am sure he is good at his job but he is not passionate about it. I hate that. I don’t think he actually knows how it would feel to really enjoy what he does for a living.

This friend is great at managing processes. This friend was forced to be a leader. If he reads this he may even take offense to this post not realizing that I only wrote this out of my own concern for his happiness. No wonder he is confused. He was conditioned to believe stepping back is failure instead of a redirect into what really may be a great fit and a place he can be successful and happy.

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Do you need a leader or a manager?

Let’s face it, not everyone is cut out to “lead” others. We have all witnessed people in and promoted to positions in which they are just not a fit. Personally, I have been “managed” or should I say victimized by this more then once in previous jobs.

I worked for an IT company years ago. My boss was a programmer and a really great guy. I was hired to develop and manage a few processes. (Of course, recruitment was one.) I quickly fell into leading several departments. My boss made sure we had the processes and I made sure the team was supported and processes were implemented.

My boss would come in the middle of the night to reboot a server and end up writing code for 10 hours without a thought. Ask him to handle an employee issue and he would hide in his office until I settled it.

It worked out beautifully for both of us. Our roles fit. We were both pretty young with a lot of responsibility. Our balance just happened, it was not intentional, and it fit. I look back now and I understand. He was a great manager and not a leader and that was OK; we complimented each other.

Just because someone is a top programmer and manages his processes well, doesn’t automatically make him good at leading other programmers. In most companies to get ahead a person must be promoted to a leadership role even if it not the best fit for them. They may not even want it and look at it as the only way to move into new challenges. Managing things is important. Leading others is its own skill set.

When you are interviewing “management” candidates remember to look at the candidate and ask yourself “Do you need a leader or a manager for this role?"

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Are they a leader or are they a manager?

We have all managed something at one point in our lives. Maybe it was an entire company or maybe it was just managing to get out of bed that morning.

Saying you manage people does not necessarily mean you lead them.

Here is an easy example. I work for a large multinational retailer. We have “Store Operators” or more commonly known as “Store Managers.” They do manage stores. They manage the ordering, financials, employee schedules, etc. Our most successful store operators have in common that they manage the administrative part of the job and lead their team.

Leading a team means investing in the team’s growth and meeting their needs so they can do the job successfully. Leading others is its own skill set.

When you are interviewing management candidates remember to reach beyond the scope of the administrative list on the resume. Look at the candidate and ask yourself “Are they a leader or are they a manager?”

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