Management Careers: The Torturous Top Ten

"He who builds upon the people, builds upon the sand."

---Roman Maxim

Management, especially middle management is most likely THE most thankless job there is. Yet there are millions of poor slobs out there who are aspiring to become management someday---the question is WHY?

In case you are one of the millions who would like to be a manager, but have never had the 'pleasure', here are the Top Ten "perks" that go along with your dream career:

1) Low pay for LONG hours

2) All the responsibility and none of the authority

3) Staff will hammer you from below and your boss will hammer you from above

4) 99% of your day is occupied by refereeing arguments

5) The other 1% of your day is establishing new policies that will hopefully stop the arguments

6) Your staff looks to you for 'leadership' when they don't want to do any work

7) Answering hundreds of emails, memos and voice mails consist of your 'challenging' work

8) Putting out fires and baby-sitting your problem employees are not company goals, so good luck with making an impact and getting promoted

9) Every decision you make is a no win situation

10) When things go bad, you're the first to get fired (which might actually be a blessing); when things go well, you're so insignificant, everyone steals your credit!

Is it any wonder why its so hard to find a good manager/supervisor? The majority of my clients who complain about their bosses tell me that they're inept, stupid, poor leaders, etc., etc. Of course they are! Why would anyone with any skills at all want to subject him/herself to the Torturous Top Ten? It's the petty things that grind on managers the most because the petty crap never goes away. If it were occasionally bad, that's one thing, but every minute of every day just grinds the best people with the best intentions into a fine powder---and there's nothing left of their minds, ambitions or souls. Then they chuck it all away and stock shelves at Walmart.

That's not what you want from your career is it? Of course not, but read about this real life experience then make up your mind:

Clyde was a new middle manager who was proud of himself because he felt he was on the fast track toward becoming a corporate vice president. He thought he would 'wait out the storm' as a middle manager for 3 or 4 years, then make his move to one of the corner offices.

After a few months on the job, he felt pretty good about his career, then the Torturous Top Ten took over---his large scale, visionary plans for developing new program and services were pushed aside because he had to listen to incessant complaints about how some employees were able to park closer to the front door than others and it wasn't fair.

Other employees would take up Clyde's time complaining because they worked at their desks during lunch but not everyone else did, and that wasn't fair. Still more employees complained because Clyde was making decisions about policies, programs and services without including ALL 29 of his direct reports in the decision making process. Clyde was inundated with whining, crying and complaining.

After 3 years of this, he was burned out and fed up. He quit his management job and went into a career in oil drilling and surveying (with the same company). Today, he's making $235K (plus 30% commission), which is 4 times more than he made as a manager! He sets his own schedule, manages his client base, reports to only one boss and has NOBODY complaining to him or crying at him about how life is unfair.

Before you look into becoming a manager, REALLY explore the typical day, examine the job description and thoroughly interview those who will report to you. It might mean the difference between a job that is 'tolerable' and one that is a living hell. Because the reality is, the best management job, with the best company, and the best people will be 'tolerable' at best.

What was true thousands of years ago is still true today: building a career upon people leads to an unstable & frustrating career path built on sand, but building a career upon tangible & solid services/products usually leads to greater satisfaction and profits.