I was a people manager of a team of nine at a software company. We were responsible for training and certification across five different enterprise software suites. During my late 30s and early 40s, I was sure I wanted to be a manager. I felt like I had worked hard and had proven myself capable of that position. I was ready for it!
Boy, I had not one clue what I was getting myself into. The job I had loved and done for so long suddenly turned into my worst administrative nightmare. All the manuals, tutorials, and training classes suddenly had to be delegated to people who worked for me. There was no time to worry if my employees were doing it right. If they did it and it wasn't incorrect, it was good enough.
In the end, I discovered that I didn't like the changes that having that job made in my own personal behaviors and actions. I didn't like that I had to compromise. I also didn't like feeling like a mom to a bunch of people who just didn't care the same way I did about the job. My phone would start to buzz around 6:00 every morning with someone telling me they were sick or had car trouble. Your dad and I used to joke about it and he would try and guess who it was.
In the end, I had to quit. I wasn't happy being a manager and that was the bottom line. I took a job where I am now an individual contributor and I feel like I can breathe again.
