Not interested in promotion or leadership

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FunkyPunky
Deinonychus
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18 Feb 2018, 9:27 pm

It seems like everyone is trying to get promoted to where they can be in charge of other people. I don't want that. I just want to keep the job I have now and get my yearly raises. Is that okay? If I tell my manager I don't have any real ambition in the company will it make me look bad?



Fireblossom
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19 Feb 2018, 5:17 am

I think it's completely fine. To me it sounds like that for you, a job is simply a way to make money so that you can get the things you need and also some things you don't need, but want anyway. In other words you work in order to afford the kind of life you want. That's completely fine and if you're fine with the money you're already getting, would the extra a promotion would bring be worth the extra responsibility and possibly stress that it would most likely also bring? If yes, aim for a promotion and if not, focus on staying where you are. There's nothing wrong with working just in order to afford a life and focus your passion and ambtion to other things.

However, your boss and coworkers might not think the same way, so straight out saying it to your manager is something you probably shouldn't do. After all most people prefer coworkers who can put the job first when needed.

Are you actually looking for a way to tell your bosses that you don't want to get promoted or are you just wondering about these things in case you'll some day need a way to tell so?



FunkyPunky
Deinonychus
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19 Feb 2018, 8:41 am

I'm just wondering. Like what do I say if he ever asks me "where do you see yourself in five years?" That i want to gd ezaxtly wherr i am now witj no advancement?



Embla
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19 Feb 2018, 3:05 pm

I'm the same. My boyfriend keep telling me that I should take up a promotion with the leadership of my workplace, but I have no interest in that at all. I would love for someone else to take the place of my boss, but I certainly don't want that person to be me.

I agree that it might be a bad idea to say straight up that you don't want a promotion. In my experience, that is taken as a sign of having no ambition, and that is undesirable. Also, saying that your ambitions are not related to your job might be a mistake too, as many see the workplace as an important part of their lives, and especially a boss would probably want you to be more invested in your career. I think a lot of people would see working hard for a promotion as a good reason to do your very best, while only working hard for the sake of doing a good job is seen as unlikely. As if when you're not striving to reach higher, you have no reason to do your best, and probably aren't.
I do as good as I can at my job, even if I don't want a higher salary or more responsibilities, but people might struggle to see the motivation behind that.

If my boss asked me where I see myself in five years, I would probably say something like; "I haven't given it that much thought. I'm just so happy to be right here at the moment, and things are going really well, so I haven't been making any plans for moving away from it yet." I think that works, because it's not saying that I don't have any ambitions, just that I'm happy to be working there, and to add a "yet" implies that I may move forward in the future, but am not in a hurry. That gives me good reason to do my best work, even if a potential outcome of my efforts might not be immediate.



Esmerelda Weatherwax
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19 Feb 2018, 3:35 pm

Nothing at all wrong with what you want, funky.

I've been a department head, also been a lower level manager, and it was not at all a happy thing. Once was in the private sector, once was in the public sector. No real difference in the bottom line, which is that as far as the organization is concerned, management exists mostly to hurt employees and hold them down. (And HR exists only to enable this.)

I was actually told I had to meet quotas for DOWNRATING people I managed. I was asked to fire people without even the pretense of due process merely because some manager above me disliked them. I didn't do these things, I found another job.

(My most searing memory of all this was the management training I was required to take by a public sector employer, in which a department head whom I'd always respected - til then - actually told us that if we didn't have staff filing EEO and union complaints against us, REGULARLY, we weren't "real" managers. That pretty much capped it for me.)

This is not something to tell your management, what I've shared here. It's something for you to know, so that if you are pressured to change your mind, you know why it's good to stay exactly where you are.

Here is a script for when you're forced to do professional development or "career path" nonsense. When they ask what you'd like to be doing in X years, pick the part of your job that you like best, and say you would like to be the company expert, the go-to person company wide, about that part of the job. When they ask how you'd like your career to advance, tell them you'd like there to be "expert" positions for people who are super knowledgeable about specific things, and you'd like to hold one of those expert classifications.

It's honest enough, and it makes you look both thoughtful and dedicated, without pushing you into management.


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Embla
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19 Feb 2018, 4:10 pm

Esmerelda Weatherwax wrote:
Here is a script for when you're forced to do professional development or "career path" nonsense. When they ask what you'd like to be doing in X years, pick the part of your job that you like best, and say you would like to be the company expert, the go-to person company wide, about that part of the job. When they ask how you'd like your career to advance, tell them you'd like there to be "expert" positions for people who are super knowledgeable about specific things, and you'd like to hold one of those expert classifications.

It's honest enough, and it makes you look both thoughtful and dedicated, without pushing you into management.


Genius! The rest of it was a very discouraging read, but this is great and will be very good to remember!

You seem like a really great person. I admire you for prioritizing your integrity and good heart over a corrupting job.