The Non-Categorizable-INFJ

I ended up in management. .seemed like a good idea at the time. One book I would recommend is:


it tells in fable style of how to become better at and ultimately win in the leadership game. almost turns it into a spiritual pursuit, and that is perhaps what drew me to it. The biggest problen I had was my tendency to rely on intuition to resolve issues. . the corporate world doesn't work on intuitions,even when you are right, which I always was. .

And welcome to the forum. .may you find something of worth in the words written here

 

I want to get into management.

I'm a damn site smarter than the clowns I've worked under before.

I can talk 'management-ese' but also thoroughly likeable with the hoy-poloy. And I'm not afraid to make the hard decisions for the greater good (of the business).

English charm in an American Establishment might help as well.

Gonna make myself a King using the system, then I'll rule the Kingdom my way. Better, efficient. But above all, profitable.

 

I understand where you're coming from, but aren't you afraid this kind of cynicism would work against genuinely good leadership?

 

I've come to find that I'm not suited for management and it's not because I'm not smart enough. As I've gotten older and presumably wiser, I've come to find that management positions aren't an advancement. They are just another type of job. More often than not, a manager ends up not only managing the day to day tasks of the business but everyone's egos and personalities and somehow making it all work to the benefit of the team or business. As an INFJ this already sounds exhausting and hopeless to me. Like trying to herd cats. It also entails having a certain type of personality and charisma that people will follow that I gather many introverts like myself just don't have. I've learned the hard way already but have come to realize that its ok. Management just isn't for everyone and its alright if you aren't good at it. Lots of other tasks out there in the world to succeed at.

 

That's a very healthy level of self-awareness and self-acceptance, Sidney. I agree with you completely.

 

Personally, I haven’t had a vast professional experience, but after working at the same area for a really long time I finally came to realize that I love what I do.
Education. It doesn’t have an strict hierarchy, neither a fixed job routine and I got to get out of my comfort zone, since I get to work with lots of people, at different ages.
At first, I was the only judgmental one and towards my own self, I’m a perfectionist myself, but I’ve set my own limits.

As for the effects of my job on me, it reassured my insecurities, even though it wasn’t the cause of them. However, after learning little by little with myself, I could become a better professional and consequently, a more satisfied one.
Since it may be interesting to others, I’ll mention a book highlight, which helped me not only with my own struggles but also when dealing with people:

 

A regular job sounds frightening for me. I studied Business as well. In my last year I noticed that's an unalterable huge mistake. It's not because of I cannot do. I don't want to spend my life in a meaningless job. My mom is not an ambitious woman. She makes do with what life brings. When I was a child, she always told me I was living in a dream world and I believed her and stopped dreaming. I understood this is wrong after my graduation (2019 June). I told myself "Girl, you can't change the past but your future will be consequence of your decisions." Then I started to work as a Barista. People around me got shocked because my university and department are great to find a corporate job but I asked myself what I want to be and where I want to be.
Still I do not know... Sometimes to get the answer you should eliminate what would not you do. Then I've decided to do masters degree in abroad and to make it happen I should learn a back up job. According to my plan I will get close to my best possible option. Due to Corona, I have started questioning myself again.
To sum up, I took a huge risk for me. If I fail, proudly I will say at least you tried and I will make a new plan. I have learnt that being perfectionist is mostly heaviness for our souls. Maybe can be sounds impossible but trying to unloose that boss can make our lives easier. We should listen our instincts.

 

+1 good book

She also did a TED presentation if I recall:

 

I can see where he's coming from... All those swell human flaws like biases, hesitation, selfishness get in people's way on the path to becoming a strong leader. We're left with management that doesn't really give a damn about the big picture or the people that work under them. Someone that is willing to come in and declare the status quo bullshit is an opportunity for positive change... it doesn't necessarily ensure it, but at least it gets people talking and trying to provide solutions to problems that were previously ignored.

Unfortunately, I think being the "King" in this case is more like being the president. You have to be willing to get blamed for anything, and you can be impeached if they don't like you (much easier to do to a manager than the president, so the analogy kind of fails).

It's not hard to be liked by management, but when you actually lead and are accountable for things pretty much out of your control, it can feel like you're less in charge than if you weren't a leader at all... just my opinion/experience.

 

I agree with you, but that's not what I intuited from RE's post. He refers to the people that work under managers as the "hoi polloi", which is more or less equivalent to "the plebs". It seems to me this is a replication of the problems you highlight in your post rather than a rejection of it. If you think you're good at interacting with "the plebs", well, you still think they're plebs, and that's not a good basis to start from.

 

This is one of those things that isn't going to last forever as it is like a house of cards but more so being one built on shifting sand. These sort of jobs are not only soul draining they are proving to be unsustainable as nearly 40 million people over the last couple of months have learned the hard way. This fall going into winter and into 2021 is going to be one to remember.