{"id":3959,"date":"2025-04-23T17:34:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T17:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=3959"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:37:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:37:32","slug":"a-problem-with-top-performers-becoming-managers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/a-problem-with-top-performers-becoming-managers\/","title":{"rendered":"A Problem with Top Performers Becoming Managers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Managers may be excellent performers in their particular profession, but few have had formal training inleading teams, boosting performance, or dealing with a range of other human-resources issues they often face. That can be a problem given that line managers are a key link between rank-and-file employees and senior management and leadership.<\/p>\r\n

Academy of Management Scholar Carol Kulik<\/a> of the University of South Australia notes the irony of the fact that management roles are crucial for organizations, but it\u2019s a job that most people don\u2019t aspire to.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI often ask my students or audiences, \u2018What did you dream about your future job being when you were growing up?\u2019 and as kids, when an adult would say, \u2018What do you want to be when you\u2019re an adult,\u2019 nobody says, \u2018A manager;\u2019 nobody aspires to that role,\u201d Kulik said. \u201cIf you become a manager, it\u2019s because you\u2019re really good at something else.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe sometimes use the term \u2018accidental manager,\u2019 because it\u2019s a role that people fall into, as opposed to aspiring to, and if you don\u2019t aspire to it, then you don\u2019t get trained in it, and you don\u2019t even have that identity,\u201d she said. \u201cSo a lot of people step into the manager role but didn\u2019t anticipate it, so they haven\u2019t sought out the opportunities to develop management skills.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd as a result, they don\u2019t even know what they don\u2019t know about being a good, effective manager<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n

A sample of Kulik\u2019s AOM research findings:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n