My friend in Chicago told me to stop chasing promotions and it actually made sense

We were having a beer after work and I was talking about my plan to go for the senior manager role next quarter. He just looked at me and said, 'Why? You hate managing people.' I was ready to argue, but he pointed out that in the last two years, I've gotten three raises just by getting really good at my specific technical work. He said I was trying to follow a path that everyone says is the goal, but it would make me miserable. He's been a lead engineer for like eight years and makes more than most directors because he's the guy they call for the hard stuff. It hit different because he wasn't just giving advice, he was showing me his own choice. It made me question if I was climbing the ladder just because it's there. Has anyone else decided to stay in an individual contributor role and been happier for it?

3 comments

3 Comments

foster.dylan2mo ago

But you lose all the real power to change things.

victor_butler502mo ago

All the real power" is a weird way to put it. Sometimes you gotta work from the outside. Change happens in weird ways.

aaron_flores841mo ago

Huh, that's funny actually my nephew runs this little community garden project in our town and he's always saying how much easier it is to get stuff done without dealing with all the official city hall stuff. I mean the guy just showed up with some seeds and a hose one day and now they have like fifty volunteers every weekend. Maybe it's just me but having that kind of freedom to move fast without asking permission is a different kind of power.