It happens in almost every company.
You have a brilliant engineer, an outstanding salesperson, or someone who consistently delivers better results than everyone else.
So what do we do?
We promote them to manager.
It feels logical.
But sometimes we’ve just made two mistakes at once:
We lost our best performer… and created an inexperienced manager.
Because being excellent at your job and helping other people become excellent at theirs are very different skills.
The best salesperson knows how to close the deal.
The best sales manager must know how to help someone else close it.
The best engineer solves difficult problems.
The engineering manager must build a team capable of solving problems without depending on them.
That requires a different skill set: listening, coaching, delegating, giving feedback, handling conflict — and sometimes watching someone do something differently from how you would have done it.
Promotion shouldn’t simply mean:
“You’re great at your job. Now manage people.”
Maybe the better question is:
“Do you actually want to lead people — and can we prepare you for it?”
And perhaps companies need career paths where becoming more senior doesn't automatically mean becoming a manager.
☕ A thought to take back after lunch:
Are we promoting people because they can lead — or simply because we don’t know how else to reward excellence?
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