Are Management Careers Overrated?

By Marty Nemko

Watch what you ask for; you might get it. Many front-line workers aspire to be managers. They envision more money, more power. Fact is, in today's flattened hierarchy, managers may not get much more of either. They may, however, get more job insecurity--managers are eminently downsizeable. They're often caught between upper management demanding projects done yesterday and workers resenting their cracking the whip. Often even more stressful is dealing with weak employees. Workers' increased legal recourse is a Damocles sword hanging over managers' heads every time they want to poorly evaluate, let alone dismiss, an employee. Many managers come to realize that doing the work is more fun than managing it.