Forget that I ever existed

ushjr

Forget that I ever existed

TadleyBaggie

Managing people is over rated, I managed (almost) for my whole career to never have to manage anyone and ball ache that entails. During that time I worked for a couple of large companies and was paid sometimes in excess of my manager!

elsien

If you can’t switch off from your job as it is, then managerial responsibility is the last thing you need.

It sounds as if you care more about the status and title than the actual role itself.

I went up the management ladder then chose to come back down it again because managing people can be a PITA and I decided I was happier without it. I’m now never going to earn what you do, although I could if I’d continued upwards. 

I do my job for the hands on work with client - always said it’d be fine if it wasn’t for the staff. From your other thread, you’re stressed now. Believe me, you’d be a lot more so with a team beneath you. 

YBR

My manager, who is 10 years younger than me, is in reality an extremely well paid administrator.
He is no longer involved in projects, nor has he the technical expertise of his team. He has to deal with 20+ people's appraisals, development/training, resource planning, expenses, leave, sickness, I would not want to do his job.

Having said that, I respect his ability to do the job, and have quite enough responsibility in my role without being a line manager. I have lead teams within a project and would prefer not to do that again.

It's not necessary to be a Manager to progress.

elsien

You said in your first post that you’re in the 40% tax bracket. I’m not, and am never likely to be with the choices I’ve made. That’s what I was going off. 

theoretica

Have you ever spoken to your managers about this?  That you would really appreciate a job title change (do you have suggestions?) and would be interested in adding to your workload?

TELLIT01

There's no simple answer to the question. I have known lots of people who have never managed anybody and have been very happy in their job.  I have known people who have climbed the management tree and also been happy.  I've also known people in both situations who are unhappy about their roles.

Jude57

Some years ago I had the opportunity to apply for a massive promotion, to jump several grades. This was in the public sector where such promotions just didn't happen but thanks to my manager's support I was appointed. I had the job title, the salary plus lease car AND no staff to line manage and turned out to be very good at the job.

Unfortunately, I had to relocate so found a new job, lower 'status' job title, lower salary and a team to manage. It was then that I found out that I'm not cut out to manage people, some of us aren't and it's not a negative thing to admit that. The previous poster who referred to it being a ball ache was spot on. And if you're stressed and struggling to switch off now, people management will only make that worse IMHO.

lincroft1710

ushjr said:

 But I do wonder whether I've failed in my career because I've never managed anyone.

No

Non

Nein

Nyet

eamon

Its the oddities of business. Somebody is good at their job yet somehow to earn more money they have to climb the management/promotion ladder. Every so often there will be an article in the media bemoaning UK plc productivity compared to other comparable economies. Blame management (esp senior managers) for all that. I've had good & bad managers in the past. The good encouraged, the bad destroyed everything. Having staff means doing all the grim stuff. Think carefully before going down that route.

Jude57

I wonder whether some industry specific mentoring might help you @ushjr? I'm not asking you to be more specific about your situation, but are there any managers there that you admire or respect? Even if there aren't any formal routes for mentoring in your company, an approach by email (so as not to take up the person's time if they are busy) stating that you respect/admire/like their management style and asking if they'd be prepared to become your mentor, could bring the kind of support you're looking for. 

If the person agrees, be specific about what you want it to achieve - that's the first question I'd ask you, the next being 'how much time are you wanting'. It may be that, for example, you ask to shadow them for a typical day, or a specific meeting or presentation from setting up to finished job. Clearly, you'll need to OK this with your line management to ensure your own work doesn't suffer. I used to mentor over lunch breaks but that wouldn't work for everyone.

Mentoring should, ideally, help you develop your skills, not just about technical processes, but in how you manage. By that I mean manage yourself, your time, your learning and development, your interactions with colleagues at all levels because a good manager manages up, down and sideways. It's also an ongoing process so you and your mentor need to agree about timelines; a half hour, one off meeting isn't what you're looking for.

Reading this forum, I'm sure there are posters who have been/are mentors to colleagues (some might not have known they were doing it until afterwards!) but it may be that without industry knowledge, there's a limit to what we can do to support you, although you already know we'll happily help if we can.