Why should I become a manager?

Question

The original reason I wanted to become a manager was because I'd worked at companies where if you weren't a manager, you were treated like a piece of ****. I wanted respect, and saw being a manager as a way of getting it.

Now I work at a company where you don't have to have that position to get respect. You can still make more money as a manager, but I'm not really that greedy.

So, a pillar of my motivation is toppled. I was set to go out and get an MBA, even though I'm more right-brained, because I saw it as a necessary means to an end. If I step back and just focus on my true interests, is that better, or should I go ahead with the MBA/management track stuff? Because I could always end up working at a different company, where respect for all employees isn't the case.

Answer 1

The grass is not always greener on the other side. You might think that is where all the respect is but when you get there it could be different. I believe where ever you go you take yourself with you, so if you want respect you must earn it. And you can earn that in any position that is your path in life. You need to follow your own goals. Know what you want and go foreword. Don't be distracted with an emotional reaction such as feelings of self loathing. One day you are going to look over and see the janitor gets more respect then you and then what are you going to have to say for yourself?

Answer 2

Great question. Managers are people who get work done THROUGH OTHER PEOPLE. That's it. They aren't smarter or better educated or more qualified or anything else. It's just that their job isn't getting work done, it's getting work done through other people.

If you would prefer to get work done yourself rather than through other people, then you probably ought to stick to what you enjoy doing. Too often people who are good at their jobs get promoted to management because they are experts at the function. However, being an expert at the function is not the purpose of a manager. Thus, many valuable employees are taken out of doing something very well, that they enjoy doing, and put into doing something not as well, that they don't enjoy.

I've been a Fortune 500 executive, a manager, and a member of the assembled maggotry. I was a good manager and executive, but honestly I most enjoyed being one of the maggots who did his job very well. I've now retired, and am doing solo consulting work. Couldn't be happier. I don't want to manage anything except my time and my clients' expectations.

Good luck!

Answer 3

American and European corporations have far too much management.

If you have someone who is motivated, and is competent (in other words, they do the job that you hired them to do) then you really don't need a manger for them, do you?

I got tired of being "managed" by people who had no clue what I did, but thought that they were smarter than me and knew how to do my job. I'm now self-employed.