Management professor and author Ellen Van Oosten takes questions from listeners who are struggling to move into management and offers advice on how to make the transition.
She offers advice for what to do when you’ve been tapped for a managerial role, but you don’t want the job. She also discusses how to respond if your supervisor is blocking you from earning a promotion into management, and how you can make the move to manager even if you only have informal management experience.
ELLEN VAN OOSTEN: Management material to me is really about having what it takes to be effective and successful in working with others. The manager’s role, fundamentally, is about being able to connect with people, and lead them to accomplish something. ELLEN VAN OOSTEN: This is a great question, Dan, and it’s a great question because I think so many people can relate to being in this position. I’ve worked with others who are in sales positions and being asked to be the sales manager, or engineers who are being kind of pushed to take on the role of manager of the engineering department. So very similar, even though the specifics are different.
ALISON BEARD: I love the idea of trying to redesign the role because it seems like he’s not the only person who doesn’t want this job. So, talking with administrators, talking with the rest of the faculty, brainstorming ways in which this job can be made a better one for everyone. I like the idea of starting that conversation about how to make the job one that people will want to do or at least not hate doing.
You know, our letter writer assumes that there will be a lot of meetings and bureaucracy. How true is that? How many meetings is it a year? Is there any flexibility around that? And then, if you decide that ultimately you want to say no, you need to give a well-reasoned argument.
ELLEN VAN OOSTEN: I have a similar story, too. So there are often many benefits that are hard to see when you initially can’t see a lot of the good things. But if we could think more openly and more in a balanced way about what the possibilities are, then we might be surprised.DAN MCGINN: First, we think he needs to reframe the question he’s asking. He’s very focused on this as a yes or no, take one for the team, or just stick to my guns and decline the position.
ELLEN VAN OOSTEN: You know, I think, Alison, it always starts off with mindset. So, she’s very aware of her age. And age is kind of where we are. We can’t really change it. So, I would ask the question, how can you turn that into a strength? She has the maturity that younger professionals don’t from her experience. She’s also demonstrated her commitment and enthusiasm, which employers, you know, die for.
DAN MCGINN: Ellen, should she be spending more time looking outside of her own organization to try and find opportunities? DAN MCGINN: Is there anything else she can do to bolster her resume for this bid, whether it’s internal or external? ALISON BEARD: Yeah, so it’s interesting that you’re suggesting that, Ellen, because from my perspective, our letter writer is saying, look, I’ve already proven myself. I mentor, train, manage all these sales agents. I am a manager. And I want to be recognized for that work I’m already doing. So I get your point that he can’t just come in and say, I deserve a promotion, give me a promotion. It has to be a more collaborative conversation than that.
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