This is From The Balance Beam

[TheBalanceBeam] - Climbing the Right Ladder

======================================================================
THE BALANCE BEAM
Ideas and Inspiration for Creating a Life that Works
Vol. 2 No.16, August 4, 2000
Published by Success Builders, Inc.
http://www.SuccessBuildersInc.com
======================================================================
"He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened."
Lao-tzu
In this issue: CLIMBING THE RIGHT LADDER
====================================================================== Dear Friends:
As with any business, my coaching practice goes through cycles in terms of the kinds of clients I'm attracting and the nature of their needs. Lately, it seems that a lot of my newer clients are in the throes of career decision making. It certainly drives home the fact that transition has become the norm. In this issue of The Balance Beam, we focus on one aspect of career choice: the issue of what "ladder climbing" really means in today's business arena.

If you want to check out earlier editions of The Balance Beam that you may have missed, you can easily retrieve them by clicking on http://www.successbuildersinc.com/newsletter.html and going to the Archives section. If you are not yet a regular subscriber to The Balance Beam, you can also enter your subscription information at this location.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Topic: CLIMBING THE RIGHT LADDER

Tom, a gifted young software developer in the telecommunications industry, was at a crossroads. "It's time for me to make my next move," he told me, "And I'm already feeling the pressure to go for a management slot." This was one of those pivotal moments of truth for Tom. All the signs around him were telling him that if he really wanted to grow his career, it was time to take the plunge into the management ranks. And everything inside of him was saying he didn't want to go there.

Despite the shock waves of change in the business world, one traditional pattern has hung on with a vengeance: the notion that if you want to get ahead, you've got to climb the ladder. Discussion of flat organizations aside, it's still true that in many environments, you earn your stripes as a function of how many layers are below you in the structure, and how close you are to the top of the pyramid.

Now, don't get me wrong. Ladder climbing can be a very good thing, especially if you're turned on by the challenge of overseeing a group of people, inspiring their performance and leading the way into the future. The business environment needs people who are motivated by power and influence to shape the directions in which organizations go. But what if that's not your thing? What if what you really want to do is crack the code on complex technical challenges, or apply your talents in a brand new area, or simply maximize your own productivity?

I once worked for an organization that was in the business of selling and servicing office equipment. This was a high growth and a fairly high turnover industry, so management positions opened up rather frequently. Time and time again, I saw the same phenomenon happen: When a position for a sales manager became available, the tendency was to take the best sales reps, the people who were reliable, consistent producers, and promote them into the job. All too frequently, these new managers would lose momentum, become frustrated by the requirements of the new role, and miss the freedom associated with individual production.

What went wrong? Didn't it make sense that these high potential sales reps would want to grow their careers, take advantage of promotion opportunities, and climb the proverbial ladder? What went wrong was simple. The decision-makers had failed to acknowledge that management was a completely different job from sales, not simply the next level up in a progressive career. What made these reps successful in sales roles, i.e., their orientation around individual production, freedom and personal best, were precisely the factors that made them unsuccessful as managers.

Beverly Kaye, author of the book "Up Is Not the Only Way," advocates lateral career moves as a solid and valuable way to grow professionally. Technology advances require unprecedented depths of knowledge and expertise, a trend which lends itself to professionals adding value through lateral movement, not just the upward variety. "Besides," says Kaye, "even the fastest-growing companies cannot put a vertical move in every deserving person's hand." Practical and personal reasons may also contribute to this trend. Promotability often requires relocation. For many dual-career families, this is not always feasible. Sometimes the solution is to look at a lateral move rather than a step up the ladder, even if only for the time being.

The decision to consider alternatives to traditional vertical movement ought to be a joint decision between the individual, his/her manager, and the organization's human resources or career development professionals. It's up to the company to create a system that values and rewards lateral moves and skills expansion; and it's up to the individual to do the soul-searching around what the next "right" move really is.

So what if the idea of growing laterally seems appealing to you? What are some of the issues to explore as you consider whether to step sideways on the ladder?

1. Consider your interests and talents. Are you fascinated by what motivates people, what makes teams work, and how to maximize the talent pool? That's the job of management. But if your primary interests lie in figuring things out, in solving technical problems, or in drilling down to really expand your knowledge in a particular area, you may be better off as a member of the team rather than the leader of the team.

2. Make sure you understand what the jobs are really about. Being brilliant at mentoring others does not necessarily mean you will be a good manager or that you will enjoy it. Most managerial jobs require a fair amount of administrative responsibility, as well as the requirement that you be able to juggle a lot of things simultaneously. In some organizations this dovetails with the role of the master. In others, it does not.

3. Be realistic about how YOUR organization views lateral movement. A company's career development philosophy reflects its values. It is still true that in some environments, vertical movement is the primary avenue to getting ahead. Does this mean, then, that you should abandon the option of lateral expansion? Not necessarily. But get clear on the measure of value and the rewards associated with lateral movement. And if all else fails, you may want to move laterally to another organization.

The exciting thing about today's business climate is that there are more options than ever. Traditional ladder climbing will continue to be the right choice for many people as they consider how to grow professionally. But it's nice to know that you don't necessarily have to move up to get ahead anymore. You may simply want to move over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Words to live by:
"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.' "
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end in life."
- Robert Louis Stevenson