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The director of my department has been talking to me recently about "climbing the corporate ladder". He said he sees bigger and better things for me than what I'm doing now, and I appreciate his vote of confidence.
While I do want to make a better salary and increase my responsibility and knowledge base, I don't feel positive towards accepting a position in management. For one, I have seen promotions corrupt too many people. They go from being kind, humble employees to self-centered, greedy ego-maniacs. They become so concerned with "their vision" that they lose touch with their employees and stop relating to them as people. Hierarchy takes over.
Secondly, I don't want my work to take over my life. I'm in a position now where I work 40 hours a week and can pretty much forget about work when I come home. My director, on the other hand, is obsessively driven to succeed, values image over substance, and is in the middle of a failing marriage because his wife says he's never home.
I guess I'm apprehensive about how a position like that would change me as a person. I've never been into things like status or office politics, and there is a lot of that in my current company. It seems like management is more concerned with winning and being "hungry" than with actually doing a good job or abiding by any kind of moral code. I don't want to deal with the corruption that I would inevitably face at that level.
I'll take that promotion off your hands for you. What industry is it in?
Have an honest talk with your boss about your concerns and what you're looking for. Companies can be understanding and work with you. A family member of mine was in the same boat. He took the promotion and then resigned two weeks later and went back to his previous hourly support position. He enjoyed it more than being a boss.
Who knows. Maybe your boss will work with you to find a promotion that keeps the life balance you desire.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I wouldn't address the issue at all until a firm offer is in hand. Talk is cheap--especially in the corporate world. There is no way I would talk to my boss now.
If the big promotion does come to fruition, given your feelings, I'd turn it down. Personally, I have never aspired to be a manager. I make way more per hour than my bosses do and I have a heck of a lot less stress. I also don't have any desire to manage people. There's just no way I'd want that responsibility. My job is really a small part of my life. I love having time for my volunteer activities, family, and friends. I know if I went into management that would change drastically.
My husband, on the hand, is in management. His life would kill me. Really. He works long hours. Everybody has a problem and he gets to hear all about them. His per hour rate is ridiculous.
A position at work doesn't define you as a person.
Maintaining a solid work/life balance is easier the further up the ladder you get, and anyone who sells themselves out once the get "power" was an ass to begin with - you just didn't notice it.
I'll let you in on a little secret- most managers second guess their career moves at some point and feel like failures at many other points. Show me a manager who doesn't fail, and I will show you a person whose future is likely in the unemployment line because they aren't making decisions.
There are times when I swear that I am only a day away from walking into that HR office and turning in my stripes in favor of just being a Joe Nobody working 9-5 in a cubicle, without a care in the world. However, those times are balanced by the fact that, as a manager, my purchasing power can afford me a lifestyle where I can live comfortably, hardly worrying about a personal budget, and still having plenty of money to spare.
The real question is: can you survive management without being canned? Is there even an option for you to turn back, or is it an up or out environment? That is the conversation you need to have with your boss.
From what I've seen, it is an "up or out" environment. And honestly, I don't want to move up in this company. The workplace politics are ridiculous, where brown-nosing and putting on the "image" of a star employee is valued over actually being a star employee and being authentic. It seems to me like a big popularity contest, and when people value image over substance, things get ugly. It has caused me to develop a serious distaste for people who are easily swayed by charm.
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