Why more and more employees are turning away from management positions and why we need precisely these people.
Who wouldn't want to be a boss? A few decades ago, this was certainly still a rhetorical question. In previous times the privileged executive floor seemed like a dream: brought to the company by a chauffeur, you walk past the receptionist with her typewriter to finally settle down in the office on a leather chair behind a mahogany desk. It was probably never like this in the 1960s either, but the idea of the respectable person with a briefcase was often portrayed in the media. Being a boss had a pleasant image (at least for men, even if the topic of gender is not the focus of this article).
Today, the image is different. In conversations with acquaintances and also in public discourse, people often articulate their reluctance to "be a boss". You talk to people who resolutely reject offers of a management career. Studies also show that the proportion of employees with management ambitions is low: Only less than one in seven would like to climb the career ladder to the level of personnel responsibility.[1] Is it possible that, in the wake of this development, the very potential managers we need most urgently are running away from us? And if so, how can we still manage to convince them?
Is leadership scepticism a special quality?
To be honest, I'm in two minds: On the one hand, I take my hat off to people who turn down a management career even though it has been offered to them by their superiors. After all, it's hard to say no when another person has confidence in us and projects a positive image of us, isn't it? Ultimately, we are all receptive to praise. Even the first ascent of the north face of the Eiger was undertaken because someone in the mountain hut proclaimed: "Anderl can do it!"[2] So Andreas Heckmeir set off regardless of all the previous deaths. This mountaineering anecdote is just one small example of how effective the trust of others in our abilities can be.
If a person nevertheless sticks to their no, I have full respect for this self-determined decision. On the other hand, from a business perspective, I find it very unfortunate that a leadership paradox is emerging here: Those who choose not to lead a team may actually be the ones who could do it best, for a number of reasons. How do I arrive at this hypothesis?
Distance from the role: If a person is skeptical about a promotion, it is at least ensured that they are not accepting the position for the wrong reasons – power, status gain and egomania do not seem to have corrupted the decision. Of course, there are still opportunists for whom the executive suite is an end in itself. However, it is questionable whether they have the necessary empathy for employee management.
Empathy: Because when it comes to empathy, we can give our leadership sceptics a lot of credit. They prove that they perceive themselves as people with personal needs. This makes it all the more likely that they will treat their team in the same way.
Self-reflexion: And thinking about their own wishes shows that they can reflect on themselves. For me, this is the most important point: self-reflection is not only crucial for shaping your own leadership role towards your employees in a meaningful way, but the ability to reflect is also worth its weight in gold in the other direction. If you question yourself, you can also challenge strategies and provide constructive input to improve business operations.
How can we motivate potential leaders?
Every person who rejects a leadership role has their own individual reasons. But if we really are dealing with a trend here, we should pay particular attention to the following possible motives:
Lack of role models: We are guided by what we see. If you experience your own superiors as dissatisfied or unpleasant, perhaps even as powerless and overburdened, this feeds the fear that you will become a "dogsbody" yourself.
Work-life balance: The debate on how to reconcile work and private life began several decades ago and has not lost any of its topicality. Work-life balance is important to many employees,[3] which they could see threatened by a management position.
Doubts about meaning: Another trend highlighted by the discourse surrounding Gen Z is the desire to find self-effective meaning in work.[4] With regard to a management position, I suspect that many do not see any perspective for themselves as to how they can make a meaningful impact in their organization as a manager. In personal conversations, it came up that people do not assume they can change anything.
It will certainly be difficult to change the minds of people who have already said no to team management. You probably won't be able to attract them with the offer of a higher salary alone. Much more decisive for all three points mentioned is the corporate culture that is lived out.
If middle management in particular has been brought up to be say-yes, who do things by the book, this will not go unnoticed by critical employees. Instead, it must be visible that your own superiors can, should and must also talk to their bosses at eye level. A good leadership role model must exist at all levels and can therefore start at the very top. Transparent framework conditions can be helpful in allaying fears that team leaders are losing their work-life balance: clear rules on time recording, working from home and meeting times at leadership level have a reliable effect and can provide the necessary security for those who are undecided. And in my opinion, the third point is the most important lever that can be used: the meaningfulness of leadership responsibility. In a modern organization where feedback is welcome and strategies are not set in stone, potential leaders will have a much clearer idea of what they can achieve. Agile methods can contribute to a climate of lived effectiveness, but they are not the only possible way.
Ultimately, it must be clearly recognizable in the organization that managers can contribute effectively - not only in the context of personnel management itself, but also professionally and strategically. But of course, the least that can be achieved is not to try it out. That's why my appeal is also directed at the leadership skeptics themselves: Have another think about the team leadership career path. Enter into a dialog with your superiors and HR about how you imagine successful leadership. And also talk to your team and get feedback. You are sure to find out that your critical spirit would enrich the organization.
[1] Boston Cosulting Group: Human-centered leaders are the future of leadership (2021), https://web-assets.bcg.com/b4/67/551c4d9340a78a15ad08db02cf15/bcg-humancenteredleadersarethefutureofleadership-20210204-vf.pdf, p. 10 (status 1-28-2024). It is admitted here that the low desire of "non-managers" to hold a management position has been stable for 5 years. Unfortunately, there are no comparative figures for previous decades. In the podcast Rethink Work, Julia Beil and Charlotte Haunhorst also refer to the figures from the Boston Consulting Group and assume that the number has fallen even further in recent years. Cf.: Warum immer weniger Menschen Chef werden möchten, in: Handelsblatt: Rethink Work, 1-2-2024, ca. minute 2:00 to 3:00 (status 2-3-2024).
[2] This is how Andreas Heckmair explains it in an interview with Hansi Schlegel: https://youtu.be/4MNppboGckY?si=ZO9lcp5yj_dKET0r, ca. minute 1:00 to 3:30 (Stand 3.2.2024).
[3] Janina Mütze: Purpose ist für die Generation Z mehr als nur ein Schlagwort, in Annahita Esmailzadeh et al.: Genz Z. Für Entscheider:innen, Frankfurt/New York (2022), pp. 92-95, here p. 93. Surveys are cited here according to which the younger generation in particular attaches great importance to work-life balance (49% approval behind 64% for salary).
[4] Ibd. 34% cite meaningfulness as a criterion for choosing an employer.