Nobody wants to be a middle manager. I’d be concerned if anyone ever wanted to be a middle manager.
If you’re not C level and somebody reports to you, you’re a middle manager though.
Conscious unbossing
11–20 of 125 posts
Re: Conscious unbossing
#12This is presented as revolutionary, but it’s not clear to me that the results would’ve been any different if they’d surveyed the older generations at the same age.
The middle manager, by some corporate career paths, is the top of the IC food chain. Ergo managers are usually paid better than the top IC. This is, of course, stupidity at it's finest, draining top IC talent into PHB mediocrity. A few companies don't do this, they are the smarter ones. My impression is that this is not typical.
Re: Conscious unbossing
#13This is presented as revolutionary, but it’s not clear to me that the results would’ve been any different if they’d surveyed the older generations at the same age.
I started as a developer at the age of 21 and in the next few years moved up a few levels until I wasn't developing any more. I decided I didn't like it and so left the company for a dev role somewhere else. Same thing happened again until I realised that I just want to be a dev. I'm 52 now and loving being a dev.
Re: Conscious unbossing
#14Clearly the workforce couldn't support a situation in which almost half of everyone was a manager, so...
Re: Conscious unbossing
#15Does anyone really aspire to be a middle manager? That's like the worst spot in the hierarchy
People with self-esteem issues who want to fill a deep-seated insecurity about social status find the org-chart as an adequate way to fill up their needs. The other is MBA grads/project managers who paid big bucks to be able to get a high paying job producing nothing but need a place in the company.
But why wouldn't they aspire to be upper management?
Re: Conscious unbossing
#16Nobody wants to be a middle manager. I’d be concerned if anyone ever wanted to be a middle manager. If you’re not C level and somebody reports to you, you’re a middle manager though.
Middle manager is not a precise term so opinions on what is and is not a middle manager differ but in larger companies there are definitely senior managers and executive management.
Re: Conscious unbossing
#17Does anyone really aspire to be a middle manager? That's like the worst spot in the hierarchy
One meets people who are really trying to look important by having more reports than the other managers. People who use Linkedin, say “best practices” without irony, and like to tell stories about what programming was like 25 years ago when they were a junior engineer shipping Windows software.
Then, mixed in with those folks, are a few people who are good at working with upper management, understand how the machine works, and build a pipeline of projects.
And a few rare people who fix departments, create long-term programs, and know how to train managers. You don’t meet many in this last group, though.
Re: Conscious unbossing
#18From knowing a few swe/sysadmin people who have eventually ended up or choose the management path in team lead/middle management, most of them didn't plan to become managers but it more less happened to be a natural career progression at some point. In my experience these people also mostly are effective managers because they have practical domain knowledge on the projects/teams they are managing. I see it as a norma…
They go for the $. Or else they figure that they'll "be their own boss", get to push their opinions on others (not realizing that this is a difficult position, and you might have a bias towards your own answers even if they're not the best outcome), and get paid more.
Even if "they are the most effective managers" initially, it won't last.
As the pressures to sit in endless meetings, tow the upper management line, create endless spreadsheets, they become less and less knowledgeable in their domain. I've had great managers who were "hands on" domain experts, and some who weren't. Luckily, the corporate trend seems to be towards so-called "flat hierarchies" and to fire these chair warmers.
I for one welcome our AI middle manager overlords.
Re: Conscious unbossing
#19Nobody wants to be a middle manager. I’d be concerned if anyone ever wanted to be a middle manager. If you’re not C level and somebody reports to you, you’re a middle manager though.
Typically “middle manager” means you’ve specifically got managers reporting to you - you’re a manager managing managers reporting to a manager: “middle manager”
Re: Conscious unbossing
#20Clearly the workforce couldn't support a situation in which almost half of everyone was a manager, so...
Geez, did we work at the same companies?