What possessed me to be a manager?

At times as a manager, I would think to myself, "Why in God's name would any sane person want to be a manager or a business owner?"

It is amusing to me that this most recent trip down memory lane was triggered not because of my personal situation, but because I happened to witness someone else's situation recently. I am willing to wager that is exactly what was going through that person's mind on the particular day when I saw him or her last.

So why do we become managers or owners?

The reasons are as different as the grains of sand on the world's beaches. Common motivators might be ego, money, power, control and the pressure of peers or superiors.

No one item is probably ever the primary motivator.

In most of the more unfortunate cases, a person becomes a manager by default or by the Peter Principle, an axiom that states that a person rises to their highest level of incompetence. Some of the most unsuccessful managers I have known have been those who were promoted to manager because of their technical skills or because the alternate choices were totally unacceptable. Those individuals became really miserable in a short time and their misery only increased with time.

Most of us have been brought up to believe that rising as high on the organizational chart as possible is an indicator of achievement and success. However, if doing so makes a person miserable in their job, than have they succeeded in nothing more than playing the game.

For those who are able to reach the status of manager or owner and are comfortable in that role, it is a great achievement. The problem then often becomes one of determining how satisfied and happy the person really is in that position. Many of those individuals project a public image of being positive, happy and optimistic. Behind the scenes, however, they are completely different people.

They often rage in private about the people they work for and the people who work for them because the position has lost that magical appeal that drew them to seek attainment of the title in the first place.

How do we get sucked into positions that appear to be a perfect step up the ladder and then become a nightmare?

More money, a more prestigious title, more power or a con job by someone else are most likely parts of the costume hiding a monster lurking within.

I believe there have been individuals who have intentionally portrayed a position as perfect for me simply so they could escape to a better rung. I take solace in thinking that possibly they were scammed as well.

Regardless of how much training, education or a combination of those two you might have, the task of being a manager or owner is a heavy burden to bear. In these days of economic difficulty, the problems can be compounded as well.

The average employee merely has to worry about job security as it pertains to the individual whereas the manager must worry about job security for all employees in a company or division.

When choices are made to cut positions, most often it falls to a manager at some level or other to determine who must go and who is allowed to stay. In the case of unionized shops, there are additional difficulties for management who must adhere to any contract agreements made with the union.

In my experience, not all management or owner positions have been two-headed monsters. However, they have all brought forth at one time or the other the thought, "Manager smanager! What was I thinking when I got myself into this position."

I hope your Memorial Day was safe and fun.