[CLUE-Talk] Promote yourself...

[Kevin Cullis]

Jeff,

Jeffery Cann wrote:
> 
> Grant
> 
> Have you talked with your boss about your unwillingness move into a manger
> slot?   Most managers do not want to train their replacement and then promote
> that person if the candidate is not interested.  The result will be an
> unhappy and unproductive new manager.  If the new manager is hard-core tech,
> they will often just leave the company because they want to remain technical.
>  So, then the old manager has to return to his previous job until a new
> candidate comes from outside, or he trains another replacement.  A savvy
> manager want to avoid any of this BS, so this is why it's important to
> communicate your career goals.

I agree totally!!

> 
> One of the problems we have at S&P is that few techies want to move into
> management.  At such a large company, the softer skills (aka people skills)
> are important and most techs want nothing to do with it.  In fact, I have
> seen two excellent engineers get promoted and then squashed because they
> could not deal with the politics.  They had little interest (or the people
> skills necessary for the job), became totally unhappy and then left the
> company.

It's not unusual that this is the case and happens most of the time. The
sad part is that management allows this to continue to happen and kills
people's chances of making it.  Not only do most techies NOT want to be
in management, but there are great people who would love to manange
techies, but senior leadership doesn't get it.

A friend of mine is an architect techie and has told me of a non-techie
that has worked great as a lead/manager where he works, but management
recognizes this and promotes it.  Too bad most don't see past this
issue.  Jim Collins states in his new book "Good to Great" states that
good people don't always rise to the occasion, but great management puts
them where they prosper, not out the door like most companies.

> 
> Personally, I would rather have a few senior engineers on my team that I
> trust and that have a good track record and tenure with the company.  A
> manager is only as good as the talent of his team, so a smart manager will
> horde guys like you who are good techs and want to stay that way!  It will
> only keep your boss in the enviable position of having 'too much talent on
> the team'.

However, hording good techies can limit learning something new.  I know
of another friend that was told that they needed him where he was and
there were no promotions so that he could learn more. He finally left
the company.

It's just poor leadership.

Kevin