When people don’t want to be managers

Not everyone wants to be a manager, and this is what we're going to be talking about today on how to lead the podcast for CEOs, founders, and leaders who want to find the perfect balance of empathy and authority.

I'm Kate Waterfall Hill, and I'll be sharing some ideas from over 30 years of working in business and leadership development. I'm really excited to be able to share with you my wonderful podcast listeners that my new group coaching program has now been revealed and will be available for booking shortly if it's not already, by the time you listen to this.

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Now let's get on with this particular episode where we're talking about people not wanting to be managers. And let's take a look at what my alter ego, Linda, the bad manager, has to say about people not wanting to be promoted.

“I just dunno what motivates people these days. I mean, when I was coming up the ranks, I couldn't wait to show my bosses how keen I was to work hard. I mean, I did tasks completely outside my job description, sucking up to the boss at every opportunity, and I was desperate for promotion, wanting that new job title, more responsibility, more power, more money.

But people just don't seem to be motivated by that these days. They seem to just, I don't know, want to do a job and go home again. They don't seem to want more responsibility, more stress, more having to work really long hours, not see their family and friends. I mean, admittedly, there's slightly dodgy mental health that goes within potentially even physical health issues that go along with going up the ladder.

But, um, anyway, it just doesn't make sense to me. I mean, what is it that motivates people? I don't know. I've got no idea. Haven't asked them.”

That skit from Linda might have seemed rather painful, but perhaps it's something that you're actually going through because it is becoming increasingly common. Your star performer declines a promotion to management. Perhaps your team leader has resigned after six months in the role. Maybe your director of operations wants to step back into an individual contributor position.

What's going on? Well, we're facing what might be called a management resistance crisis, a growing reluctance amongst high performers. To take on leadership roles, and if you are a business owner or a senior leader, this trend has serious implications for your succession planning, growth strategy, and organizational culture.

Let's take a look at why this is happening.

The reasons might surprise you and they're not perhaps what most people assume. Firstly, there's a skills mismatch. We've created a system where technical excellence is the primary path to management, but the skills that make someone an outstanding software developer, accountant, or designer, are fundamentally different from those required to lead people effectively.

Many potential managers recognize this gap and would rather continue excelling in their area of expertise than struggle in a role that doesn't play to their strengths or in which perhaps they feel out of their depth.

Second, there's the loss of autonomy and craftsmanship. Many professionals derive deep satisfaction from producing tangible work code that runs, reports that inform decisions, designs that delight users. Management by contrast, often feels like endless meetings, email chains, and putting out fires. I was talking to Andy Bigwood recently on his show, business Secrets for Architects, and he confirmed that many architects who start their own businesses are frustrated when they often have to swap the joy of designing for the frustration of navigating bureaucracy.

Third, and perhaps most significantly as what you might label the empathy tax. Good managers tend to absorb the stress, anxieties and challenges of their teams. They become emotional shock absorbers often without adequate support for their own wellbeing. In our always on digital workplace, this burden has become increasingly heavy.

Many high performers look at their stressed, overwhelmed managers like Linda, and think, why would I sign up for that?

The problem is compounded by how we typically structure management roles. We load them with administrative tasks, reporting requirements and metrics, tracking that drain time and energy away from the meaningful work of developing people and facilitating great outcomes. So what does this mean for you as a business owner or senior leader, and more importantly, what can you do about it?

Well, let's start with the implications. I. If your best people consistently refuse to move into management, you face several challenges. Firstly, your leadership pipeline weakens forcing you to rely more heavily on external hiring, which carries its own risks, and of course costs.

Your organizational knowledge becomes concentrated in people without decision making authority.

And thirdly, you risk creating a two tier system where management is seen as a necessary evil rather than a valued career path. But this crisis also presents an opportunity to fundamentally rethink how we structure leadership in our organizations. Here are some practical strategies that you could try.

Firstly, create multiple career paths. Not everyone who excels should become a manager. Develop technical leadership tracks that allow people to grow in influence compensation and recognition without taking on direct reports. companies like Google do this really well.

They have a technical fellow track and project management software. Basecamp have a focus on small autonomous teams. They've really pioneered this approach with great success. I looked at their website and they gave this explanation. They give full responsibility to a small, integrated team of designers and programmers.

They define their own tasks, make adjustments to the scope, and work together to build vertical slices of the product one at a time. This is completely different from other methodologies where managers chop up the work and programmers act like ticket takers.

They go on to say that these concepts form a virtuous circle. When teams are more autonomous, senior people can spend less time managing them. With less time spent on management, senior people can shape up better projects. When projects are better shaped, teams have clearer boundaries, and so can work more autonomously.

Second of all, we need to look at the redesign of our management roles. Take a long hard look at what your managers actually spend their time on. Are they buried in administrative tasks that could be automated or delegated?

Are they given enough time and resources to focus on developing their people? I've heard of companies being able to reduce their manager's reporting requirements by up to 40% and see an immediate improvement in team engagement and innovation.

Thirdly, how about providing genuine management training? I would say that wouldn't I? I'm a leadership coach, but most new managers receive minimal preparation for one of the most challenging transitions of their careers.

Effective management is a skillset that can be learned, but it requires dedicated time, practice, and feedback. I really urge you to invest in your new managers the way you'd invest in any critical business function. And dare I say, you could take a look at my website if you want to discover engaging ways to invest in leadership development.

the fourth thing you could try is acknowledging and addressing the emotional burden of management. Create support systems for your managers, peer groups, mentoring relationships, external coaching. Normalized discussions about the challenges of holding others' careers in their hands. Some organizations have monthly manager circles where leaders can speak honestly about their struggles and receive support from colleagues.

And lastly, please model healthy leadership yourself. If you are consistently working 70 hour weeks appearing, stressed out and overwhelmed, and if you fail to set boundaries, you're really setting a powerful message about what management looks like in your organization. Be the kind of leader others would want to become. Now let's talk about what happens when organizations get this right. When companies create thoughtful, sustainable management structures, several things start to shift.

First of all, reluctant managers become engaged leaders. When people can lead in ways that honour their strengths and values. They bring their full creativity and commitment to the role.

if you grant your leaders permission to lead differently, then they might well go from considering resigning to actually reinventing their department's approach to team development. Secondly, the artificial divide between management and real work begins to dissolve. Teams start to see leadership as a service function that enables their best contribution rather than a control function that constrains them.

Thirdly, organizational resilience increases with multiple leadership pathways and a more distributed approach to decision making companies become less vulnerable to the departure of key individuals and more adaptive to changing conditions.

Let's consider some specific scenarios where addressing management resistance makes a crucial difference in fast track startups. Three things. Create leadership structures that scale with your growth. Secondly, identify and develop potential managers before you desperately need them.

And thirdly, consider alternatives to traditional hierarchical structures whilst you have that flexibility to experiment. If your organization's more established, another three things you could try, audit your current management roles for unnecessary burdens. Create opportunities for people to try management temporarily before making a permanent switch.

And thirdly, look for signs of management burnout and address it proactively if you are in a knowledge intensive industry. Another three things you could try. Recognize that your highest value contributors may never want to manage others. Design collaborative structures that don't require everyone to move into management, to have influence and invest in developing facilitative leadership skills across your organization.

Remember, the goal isn't to convince everyone to become a manager. The goal is to create an organization where leadership is distributed appropriately, where management is a valued and sustainable function, and where people can contribute their best work in roles that energize rather than deplete them.

In summary. Then here are the key points. Take some time to understand why high performers resist management roles. Create multiple pathways for growth and influence. Redesign management positions to focus on meaningful work, provide genuine training and support for new managers, and address the emotional burden of leadership.

And lastly, don't forget to model sustainable leadership practices yourself. The management resistance crisis isn't just a staffing problem. It's actually a signal that our traditional approaches to organizational leadership need to evolve. By responding thoughtfully, you can turn this challenge into an opportunity to build a more resilient, engaging, and effective organization.

That's all for today's episode of How to Lead. Until next time, keep leading with clarity, care, and curiosity. If you've enjoyed this episode, please do follow for more leadership insights and remember. If you'd like my personal support, do take a look at my website, www.waterfallhill.co.uk.

For more information about my one-to-one coaching and the newly accredited Leadership Accelerator premium program, there's never been a better time to take your professional development seriously than right now. I'd be delighted if you would like and leave a review and share with your fellow leaders to help spread the word about the How to Lead Podcast.

The best leaders are clear on their vision, care about their people, and approach interactions with curiosity, not judgment. Until next time, thanks for listening.