When I talk with women about their career ambitions and a lot of them are ambivalent about becoming managers, I find myself unsure of how to support them. This is because I think the question of whether or not we want to be managers is the wrong question to be asking. The point about getting more of us in management is a little bit about our interests in being supervisors, but more so I’m realizing, it’s about the limited power we have when we’re not managers. 

While I think managers should have an interest in being managers, the emphasis on a question like, “Do I really want to supervise people?” is missing the most critical parts of what we gain when we become managers: the power to create and influence culture, policy and experience for our organizations. 

If you have opinions about how you think your company could be run more efficiently or more ethically, moving into management will give you some power to see the fuller picture about why your company’s limitations exist in the first place—is it because of market issues, a poorly equipped leadership team, or just a few bad actors in middle management spoiling it for the majority of the staff? From there, you can devise a plan about how to make a change. 

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

When Ghandi (or someone else) said this, they meant that if you can see problems and you have ideas about how to fix them, you should go do that. My plea to you is that you can fix a lot of the problems you see (or at least try and learn a lot of lessons from that experience) when you move into management. Making such a move is a really hopeful act—you’re saying that you believe there is something worthwhile in an institution and you are interested in making it better. If you make the move, remember that you’re not alone. I’m here and this site is here to show you how to supervise a team effectively. But we’re also here to help you get comfortable with growing into your power as a change-maker.