Career Advancement: Would You Make a Good Manager?

If you aspire to climb the career ladder, most likely you will at some point need to be in a supervisory role. And while it’s easy to focus on the perks of reaching that point—such as the resume boost and higher salary—many people often fail to consider exactly what will be involved in a management role, and whether it would be a good fit for their personality.

For example, if you are the type of person who likes to work independently and tends to enjoy solitude, that might be a problem. A management post by definition involves working with other people on a regular basis. You also may have to do a fair share of nurturing and mentoring, which might make you uncomfortable of you aren’t a people person.

Along a similar vein, managers often must be high-profile and engage in a lot of public speaking or take a visible and vocal role in projects. If you are an introverted type by nature, this might take some practice. This doesn’t mean shy types can’t make good managers—it’s just something you need to consider and prepare for in advance.

As a manager, you will also need to have lots of patience and tolerance for other people’s work styles and speed. Everyone learns at different rates and works with different levels of urgencies. Most likely, your staff will have working styles that differ from your own, and you must be able to handle that without getting frustrated.

This article has more tips for determining if you’d be a good manager.

What traits do you think would make you a good manager? Share in the comments.

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