By Barbara Poole
Contributing Writer

Joe, a client of mine who works in the pharmaceutical industry, is one of the most dedicated and talented employees any organization could hope to have. He has been with his company for 18 years.

Despite having begun his career as a retail pharmacist, he has moved steadily up the ranks and recently landed in a high-profile management role.

Joe is a quiet sort, bright and considerate, and he’s miserable.

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 is 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 good thing, especially if you are 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 who influence the directions in which organizations go.

But what if that’s not your thing?

What if what you really want to do is focus on a specialty area or work with creative projects 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 high turnover industry, so management positions opened up frequently.

Time and time again, I saw the same phenomenon happen: When a position for a sales manager became available, they would take the best sales representatives, 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 demands 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 sales representatives 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.

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 is up to the company to create a system that values and rewards innovation, lateral moves and skills expansion.

And it is up to the individual to do the soul-searching about 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?

Consider your interests and talents. Are you a strong generalist who enjoys shaping and guiding the work of others? That’s the job of management.

But if your primary interests lie in figuring things out, solving technical problems or specializing in a particular field, you may be better off as a member of the team rather than the leader of the team.

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 ability to juggle a lot of things simultaneously.

Some people thrive on that kind of activity. For others, it is excruciating.

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.

Traditional ladder climbing will continue to be the right choice for many people as they consider how to grow professionally.

But it is nice to know that you don’t necessarily have to move up to get ahead. You may simply want to move over.

Barbara Poole is a leadership and career development coach with Success Builders Inc. E-mail her at CoachBarbara@SuccessBuildersInc.com.

SUBSCRIBE | REPRINTS | CONTACT US

Phone: 843-849-3100    Fax: 843-849-3122