The traditional IT Career paths are flawed. Operator to programmer to analyst to team leader to IT manager to IT executive or similar doesn't work. The reason is that the skills carried between the roles often do not outweigh those that need to be learnt for the new role. Some HR departments now follow the idea that their needs to be a technical career path and a management one. That is only a half-way solution. One persons "technical" role is another's "people facing" role.
People with natural talents to interpret a pattern into the detailed code of programming may not have the talents needed for the analyst role that looked at the business processes and found the pattern. How many times has a good programmer floundered as an analyst? How many times has an average but reliable performer suddenly turned into a high flier when asked to look after a team while his manager is away?
The answer is to prevent some of these Peter Principle promotions. Learn your own natural talentsand strengths and build your career around these. Pay attention to talents when selecting people. Build organisations that value employees for their strengths and don't force people into positions just because that is the way the career path has always been. Grow people by creating opportunities for them to be excellent at what they do and benefit from their outstanding performance. Reward great performance in all types of roles (not just highly paid executives). That means you'll have people who are good at developing people helping build employees careers, techies performing at a very high level, project managers who really understand how to plan accurately and juggle priorities at the same time.
Discussion on:
View:
Show:
...but much easier said than done. You have done an excellent job of describing IT Utopia...but that's not the hard part. Please share "how" to make these things happen, and I'm certain a fortune in management consulting dollars would be yours forthe asking.
I see all the "how" anyone should need contained in the comment.
Let me attest to this: I took a manangement position because I thought I was supposed to. That's what you do, isn't it? I went from PC tech to net admin to Tech Department supervisor to Manager in less than 5 years. After three more, despite the support and praise my employees were giving, it was time to back down. I missed the tech side (and was dang good at it), and I simply had developed a distaste for the politics and the hoop-jumping that accompanies a management position.
One of the biggest failures anyone in IT makes as a manager is before they ever accept a position: thinking that your tech excellence makes you a good manager. One of the best managers I've ever known couldn't use a patch cable or write a stretch of code to save his life. Yet the department ran smoothly, simply because he knew what a good manager was before he went into it.
Here's some "how" for you: find what you like and do it. Find something that makes your brain go into overdrive simply by talking about it, and get a job doing it. It may not be in your city; you may have to move. You may have to get in with a lower-grade position. Are you expecting a huge salary? You'll be disappointed. Are you expecting a cushy job? Same disappointment. If you want a high-paying job you hate, go into sales or something. I've met more disaffected salesmen that make twice what I do than I care to count. I go home happy at the end of the day because I do what I like doing. I place a dollar value on my happiness, and it is quite high. And I'm not alone in doing this either.
** more in my own response to me **
Let me attest to this: I took a manangement position because I thought I was supposed to. That's what you do, isn't it? I went from PC tech to net admin to Tech Department supervisor to Manager in less than 5 years. After three more, despite the support and praise my employees were giving, it was time to back down. I missed the tech side (and was dang good at it), and I simply had developed a distaste for the politics and the hoop-jumping that accompanies a management position.
One of the biggest failures anyone in IT makes as a manager is before they ever accept a position: thinking that your tech excellence makes you a good manager. One of the best managers I've ever known couldn't use a patch cable or write a stretch of code to save his life. Yet the department ran smoothly, simply because he knew what a good manager was before he went into it.
Here's some "how" for you: find what you like and do it. Find something that makes your brain go into overdrive simply by talking about it, and get a job doing it. It may not be in your city; you may have to move. You may have to get in with a lower-grade position. Are you expecting a huge salary? You'll be disappointed. Are you expecting a cushy job? Same disappointment. If you want a high-paying job you hate, go into sales or something. I've met more disaffected salesmen that make twice what I do than I care to count. I go home happy at the end of the day because I do what I like doing. I place a dollar value on my happiness, and it is quite high. And I'm not alone in doing this either.
** more in my own response to me **
Sorry, when I get going, I can't stop...
How you do this is to always make yourself a better person: better educated, better attitude, more energy (exercise - the bane of IT workers:-), whatever it takes to get you going. I'm not talking about adopting the attitude of Richard Simmons - he's a great guy, but that's not most of us. I'm as cynical as they come. Just know thyself (quiz - said by who?) and you'll have all the "how" you'll ever need.
How you do this is to always make yourself a better person: better educated, better attitude, more energy (exercise - the bane of IT workers:-), whatever it takes to get you going. I'm not talking about adopting the attitude of Richard Simmons - he's a great guy, but that's not most of us. I'm as cynical as they come. Just know thyself (quiz - said by who?) and you'll have all the "how" you'll ever need.
I expecially like your statement, "Find something that makes your brain go into overdrive simply by talking about it, and get a job doing it." It is both simple and challenging. On the surface it is simple because I think deep inside, we all want to do that. It's challenging because it requires that we know ourselves well and because we have to overcome our fears to make it happen.
I'm currently in a job that I find "okay". I'm good at it, but then I'm good at a lot of things. It pays well and I get a lot of family time. It is also more challenging that the average person is willing to tackle, so it is not like there is a lot of competition for the position. On the other hand, I get no particular thrill out of the job. It is people and stress challenging, but not intellectually. I'm debating pushing for the next level up (I'm already high in the org), but I'm not sure I want to add to the stress without finding a niche that is intellectually stimulating. I'll be thinking of your advice.
I'm currently in a job that I find "okay". I'm good at it, but then I'm good at a lot of things. It pays well and I get a lot of family time. It is also more challenging that the average person is willing to tackle, so it is not like there is a lot of competition for the position. On the other hand, I get no particular thrill out of the job. It is people and stress challenging, but not intellectually. I'm debating pushing for the next level up (I'm already high in the org), but I'm not sure I want to add to the stress without finding a niche that is intellectually stimulating. I'll be thinking of your advice.
Bailing out might show you are not up to a serious challenge. Companies want problem solvers for leaders, not quitters.
I took a job with a Dot Com as an ASP programmer through an agency. I had never did ANY web programming before, and they knew it. However, the company kept me on, and later gave me a full time position, because I "only had to be told once how to do something." I am still honored that they took a chance on me.
My current supervisor (a CTO and the best boss I ever had) often tells me I constantly exceed his expectations, even though I usually think I am just barely getting by.
The point of all this is to say [1] tell your current supervisor you are overwhelmed with the new responsibility and [2] tell this person you are willing to try if they will let you.
Don't sell yourself short.
I took a job with a Dot Com as an ASP programmer through an agency. I had never did ANY web programming before, and they knew it. However, the company kept me on, and later gave me a full time position, because I "only had to be told once how to do something." I am still honored that they took a chance on me.
My current supervisor (a CTO and the best boss I ever had) often tells me I constantly exceed his expectations, even though I usually think I am just barely getting by.
The point of all this is to say [1] tell your current supervisor you are overwhelmed with the new responsibility and [2] tell this person you are willing to try if they will let you.
Don't sell yourself short.
There are leaders and there are leaders. There are few people who would turn down a promotion that uses their existing skills in new and challenging ways.
However, some jobs simply require more time. Others require managing other people. If you wanted one of those jobs, you would have applied for them. If you did not, then "promotion" to one of them is no good for you at all, no matter what money you get for it.
However, some jobs simply require more time. Others require managing other people. If you wanted one of those jobs, you would have applied for them. If you did not, then "promotion" to one of them is no good for you at all, no matter what money you get for it.
"Maybe you can?t put in the extra time it?s going to demand." That's not a good excuse for leaving a position. It's a good excuse for learning and practicing time management. Is there anybody left who doesn't understand that the quality of "knowledge work" drops precipitously after the 40 hour limit that it took the human race thousands of years to discover? The later you stay, the more mistakes you make, creating more work for yourself next week: a death spiral. In this situation the most important management skill is prioritization. Get the most important tasks done. As for the rest, delegate them, even if it means giving them to someone who won't do them as well as you would. They'll probably do better than you would if you're bleary eyed from overwork. Or renegotiate the due date, or do the most important parts of them, or just let them slide, or find a way to simplify some of your more complex tasks, or skip ten or fifteen of your most boring meetings. Didn't you always want to do that? Now you're a manager, you can say, "Sorry, I have a schedule conflict." If you cannot do any of these things and you find your only choice is to put in fifty hour weeks routinely, THEN you're right. You don't have the skills to be a manager.Too bad so many people don't realize this and set rotten examples for the rest of us by working themselves to death.
"Gnothe se auton," in the original classical Greek. The "famous quotation" sites list several possible originators, but the only ancient Greek on their lists is Diogenes, the original cynic. By process of elimination it must be him.
Stay with the job, don't step down. The tough questions indicate what even higher level management will scrutinize you for retaining you, even in a diminished capacity. Perhaps you were setup to take a project that was doomed for failure. I've seen some others advance just by sticking with it and showing the grit to stand tough to the challenge even when there was no hope of winning. If you are fired or laid off because of the failure, you were more than likely set up for that failure. I've hadbosses that even did that to lower level employees to get rid of them. Trust me, any successes and you'll still have to slay a lot of dragons just to get the credit you deserve, fail and you'll be castigated by those same people. It's almost a no win situation. That's why you should have been networking while you still have the job you have, never know when it's gonna crap out or when the better opportunity shows up in your life !
I beleive the author is way wrong on ME Campbell is correct. One needs to evaluate the corporate culture carefully before even thinking about stepping down from any promotion. In the 4 large companies I worked for over the past 40 years refusing a promotion or stepping down from same was career death. The only exception might have been in the 2 govermental entities I consulted with.
Gritting your teeth and making an ungainly promotion into a success presupposes a few things:
1) You have or can acquire the skills to do the job in a non-career-suicidal time frame. If you flounder too long in this market, you will quickly find yourself lacking any job at all.
2) You have any fundamental aptitude and positive orientation toward the work being done. If you hate your work, it will show, and at best you'll be able to fool upper management into thinking its the people you manage who are the problem. Good management is very hard work and you have to enjoy that work or you'll make yourself and those around you miserable.
3) You aren't being set up for that impossible project just to eliminate YOU for some reason. If the winds of change are a blowin', don't assist in your own firing by giving them cause. You don't want to go into your next job with a raised salary history or a last position that doesn't really match what you want to do (or what is available). I turned down a promotion to become the blame guy for a foundering dot-com for this very reason.
The key is to understand and know your company, your new role, and yourself. I've met far too many managers-by-default who took the advice to grit it out and are at best a handleable annoyance, and at worst are an actual drain on the company. If and only if you truly understand everything can you make gritting your teeth and toughing it out a virtue rather than a sign of bull-headedness.
1) You have or can acquire the skills to do the job in a non-career-suicidal time frame. If you flounder too long in this market, you will quickly find yourself lacking any job at all.
2) You have any fundamental aptitude and positive orientation toward the work being done. If you hate your work, it will show, and at best you'll be able to fool upper management into thinking its the people you manage who are the problem. Good management is very hard work and you have to enjoy that work or you'll make yourself and those around you miserable.
3) You aren't being set up for that impossible project just to eliminate YOU for some reason. If the winds of change are a blowin', don't assist in your own firing by giving them cause. You don't want to go into your next job with a raised salary history or a last position that doesn't really match what you want to do (or what is available). I turned down a promotion to become the blame guy for a foundering dot-com for this very reason.
The key is to understand and know your company, your new role, and yourself. I've met far too many managers-by-default who took the advice to grit it out and are at best a handleable annoyance, and at worst are an actual drain on the company. If and only if you truly understand everything can you make gritting your teeth and toughing it out a virtue rather than a sign of bull-headedness.
I'm not sure I can agree with the statement that you will know that it was not a good fit within a short period of time. I guess if it was that obvious in that short period of time, then yes, it is probably a good thing to step down.
However, what about the more typical person who just has higher expectations of himself than is really required? There are some people who don't want to work in the next level unless they can do it perfectly the moment they set foot in the new job. To them I would suggest that they stick it out for at least a year. No one can tell how far or how fast they will grow in a position. So it is not up to your own personal standards -- work on it. If you fail, you fail. Most of the most successful people were failures at one time or another. Failure is painful and humiliating, but rarely fatal.
However, what about the more typical person who just has higher expectations of himself than is really required? There are some people who don't want to work in the next level unless they can do it perfectly the moment they set foot in the new job. To them I would suggest that they stick it out for at least a year. No one can tell how far or how fast they will grow in a position. So it is not up to your own personal standards -- work on it. If you fail, you fail. Most of the most successful people were failures at one time or another. Failure is painful and humiliating, but rarely fatal.
As a software team leader promoted to software manager, and then subsequently demoted, I can only agree with the sentiments of this article.
Whilst I don't think that I knew within a few weeks, I certainly had an inclination after 9 months that Iwas not best fitted for the role. The Engineering manager I was reposrting to had started to take more and more interest in what I was doing to the point where I was being micromanged. Sadly I did not do what I threatened on a few occasions ie "I'll quit". It got worse from there on in. Nothing I did was ever any good, all of my decisions were scrutinsed with a fione tooth come.
After months of angry confrontations and mediation between me and my manager, I was queitly called into the HR managers office and told I was being demoted back to software engineer. Not even back to software team leader!
I was stunned! I did however take it on the chin and did not fight it. Best decision I ever made!
In my opinion I should have on the third utterance of "I'll quit" I should have done so and moved onto other pastures.
Where did I go wrong, how could it have all ended up so badly? Two very good reasons my manager did not trust me and I did not get the training and support I needed.Simply put I am not a good manager, but I am a good team leader.
Do I want to ever manage again, not so far and it's been over two years since my demotion. In that time I have once again returned to software team leader level where I seem to do the most good.
Whilst I don't think that I knew within a few weeks, I certainly had an inclination after 9 months that Iwas not best fitted for the role. The Engineering manager I was reposrting to had started to take more and more interest in what I was doing to the point where I was being micromanged. Sadly I did not do what I threatened on a few occasions ie "I'll quit". It got worse from there on in. Nothing I did was ever any good, all of my decisions were scrutinsed with a fione tooth come.
After months of angry confrontations and mediation between me and my manager, I was queitly called into the HR managers office and told I was being demoted back to software engineer. Not even back to software team leader!
I was stunned! I did however take it on the chin and did not fight it. Best decision I ever made!
In my opinion I should have on the third utterance of "I'll quit" I should have done so and moved onto other pastures.
Where did I go wrong, how could it have all ended up so badly? Two very good reasons my manager did not trust me and I did not get the training and support I needed.Simply put I am not a good manager, but I am a good team leader.
Do I want to ever manage again, not so far and it's been over two years since my demotion. In that time I have once again returned to software team leader level where I seem to do the most good.
Many years ago, when the company I was working at was considering putting in a data center, I was the one leading the charge. I hired an individual whom I later discovered was a vastly better manager than I would ever be and recommended to my boss that my hire and I switch jobs. He said since I make more than the guy I hired, he would ask him if he minded working for someone making more than him. He didn't and the switch was made. We kept that arrangement until I left the company for a more technically challenging role (consulting) and we both agreed the switch was one of the best decisions I ever made...
- Keyboard Shortcuts:
- Prev
- Next
- Toggle
