Management Isn’t the Only Way Up

Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of the podcast.

Today we are going to talk about moving up in your career without taking on direct reports being a people manager.

I’ve worked with some clients who felt their career was stalled because they didn’t want to manage others but that was the only option. To get to the AD level they had to have direct reports.

That can be so frustrating right – like you have to sacrifice and do something you wouldn’t like, that you might even dread in order to get promoted.

This is really common in the corporate world and in Pharma and Biotech the advantage you have is the value in technical leadership.

So if you’re someone who wants to advance, get to higher level of leadership but don’t want direct reports now or ever, and instead want your leadership to be based on your technical expertise, then this is for you.

Now before we do that, can I celebrate with you?

If you are connected with me on LinkedIn, you already know this news.

I am still on cloud 9 about this and can’t believe it.

So LinkedIn has a badge called the Top Voices badge.

I honestly thought this was a badge to identify celebrities, #1 New York Times Booksellers because I noticed that some of the people I follow have this little blue linkedin badge next to their name and a “Top Voice” blue label on their profile. People like Brene Brown, Adam Grant, Simon Sinek, and so on.

I saw LinkedIn had these gold community voice badges for contributing to a lot of collaborative articles on LinkedIn, that based on how valuable your comments are to your peers or the LinkedIn community, that overtime you could be voted on that….but that was it.

Which by the way, if you want to get a gold community voice badge you can! It will elevate your profile. You can get this for technical expertise and professional topics so you can look into that.

Anyway, I received an email a couple of weeks ago from LinkedIn saying I was designated a Top Voice for the platform.

It was this simple email and I honestly thought it was a mistake.

I looked at my profile when you searched my name you could see a blue linkedin badge but it wasn’t on my profile when you looked at it so I thought this clearly must be a glitch in their system.

I don’t have millions of followers and honestly, most of my clients don’t ever like or comment on my posts – they just tell me how much they love them but are more hesitant to comment or like them and I get that. If I’m posting here are the signs you have a toxic boss and you are liking it, you might be like well I don’t want my boss to see I liked that, you might overthink it.

So anyway, thought it was a glitch.

But then I got another email with more information about what it meant to be a Top Voice for LinkedIn and then my blue badge showed up on my profile.

So LinkedIn says only 0.0004% of LinkedIn users receive this badge.

Here is how they define it.

Top Voices is an invitation-only program featuring a global group of experts on LinkedIn covering a range of topics across the professional world, helping members uncover valuable knowledge relevant to them.

Top Voices are vetted to ensure that they meet high trust standards, are consistently active on the platform, and share valuable expertise through content that demonstrates their unique, original contributions to a topic. 

I’m not kidding, I got a little teary eyed about this.

Here’s why. It’s not the vanity of the badge, it is what it represents to me in my journey to be a bold voice for you.

When I started my business, I knew I knew how to coach, the insider secrets, what HR really thinks, and how to really help women overcome the negative thoughts and overthinking, that they really could have it all, and that I could help them have the career they truly wanted while feeling respected and recognized for their expertise.

And when I was passionate about something, I wouldn’t shut up about it. One time Ellen and I went to an all inclusive in Mexico and met this couple who became friends. They said they were considering this other resort that Ellen and I happened to have been to so I was telling them how amazing it was, all of the reasons they should go, how it was worth they money and so on. I think they booked a trip there before we left. LOL.

But here’s the thing, I realized really quick that I felt more confident promoting my service when I had a big company like AstraZeneca, or really any company behind me.

When I had my boss, leadership team, and company saying Melissa is great. Here work with Melissa. It was easy. I didn’t have to work or promote myself.

But when I started my business I had to be visible in a way I never have been. I had to stand by my ideas even when other people disagreed. I had to get stronger in my values and convictions moreso than ever.

Whether it was being on video the first time, daring to offer a training to a bunch of people online and hoping they sign up, or knowing how to get my message out there, it was all new to me.

I was flooded with advice and algorithyms of what to do and what not to do.

Early on I was fortunate because my business was successful because of my showing up but moreso the relationships that I built. When my colleages found out I was going out on my own, many of them became clients.

But after a few months I had to branch out farther.

And my voice became more important.

You might be surprised to learn it wasn’t always easy, I was uncomfortable. It felt very vulnerable.

You know I share insider information, stories, and strategies to advance your career, and I think some leaders and companies want that to stay quiet because it doesn’t always help them to have such empowered employees.

So sometimes it felt really scary to be posting on LinkedIn so frequently.

But guess what.

I always stayed true to my voice. I have experimented with different things but I always did what I felt was right for you and for me.

When I felt vulnerable I told myself, I go first. I speak up and I do the uncomfortable things to pave the way for you.

I do it so you can see you can do it.

A while back I decided to shut out all the outside voices. I stopped caring about other people’s input and I just went all in on my voice.

So you might notice I post at pretty consistent times. I’m reliable.

And this is what was important to me. That I’m authentic. Bold. Provide valuable insights and strategies and that you can count on me.

I don’t care about dance videos although I’ll do one if I feel like it.

I don’t care about what the internet says is the best time to share on LinkedIn. I care to be reliable to you.

So you know what to expect from me. You know Mondays at 830 I’m going to have a new insight for you.

Because that is why I’m doing this. I’m in this business for you. It is my calling to make a difference this way.

Long backstory I know but listen, this is why it was so meaningful.

Because I stayed true to you and to me and I did the vulnerable things and I was consistent for over 4 years now.

And LinkedIn noticed.

You can’t buy the badge, apply for it, express interest in it. Organically you have to get on LinkedIn’s radar as someone contributing thought leadership in their expertise – new perspectives and valuable insights.

It means so much to me. If we are connected, thank you for being a part of my network.

If we aren’t connected, by all means, send me a connection request and say hi!

The other thing I want you to take a way from this is that I also encourage you to keep going. To stay true to your voice.

You don’t need to be like the broskys, be a manager like everyone else. You don’t need to sacrifice who you are.

That is connected to our episode today too – a different way to advance, to get ahead and pave your own path.

And maybe you won’t get the recognition today but it feels so good when you get the recognition knowing you were true to you. That the job you got was the right job for you. The promotion you got was the right promotion for you.

When your boss recognizes your thought leadership when you show up in each moment being authentic to yourself.

So let’s talk about the way to do this with moving up without being a people manager.

I was working with a client who came to me and said she wanted to get promoted to Associate Director but the only way to do that was to be a people manager so she felt stuck.

What we did is we created her Career Protocol, my process for at a micro level, defining your zone of genius and best role for you.

What we discovered is that there were some really unique problems she wanted to solve for her department. These problems were actually critical to her business unit and there wasn’t anyone as skilled as she was to solve them.

Because we knew with such detail what her strengths and talents were, the problems she wanted to solve, and how they related to the pain points her group was experiencing, it was easy to create a business case for a new Associate Director that was technically based and without direct reports.

Her level of scope and influence was going to increase and her technical acumen was going to solve a problem for the business.

For her to deliver, she didn’t need direct reports. They just needed her to be at an elevated level.

Now when I say create a business case, this isn’t a pitch deck.

It’s knowing what you want and having a win-win reason for getting it that benefits your company.

Then we execute on it one conversation at a time.

Within just 2-3 months she was promoted to an Associate Director.

And mind you when we started coaching she was emotional, ready to leave her company, and felt lost. She was questioning if her area of expertise was even something she wanted to do anymore.

And this is really common.

When we get so stressed about something, our judgement gets clouded, and confusion increases.

This is why coaching can be so helpful to have someone observe what’s happening from the outside and help you strategically move forward.

This happened with another one of my clients.

She was a people manager of a large team for several years.

But she wanted to help people in a new way. She wanted to solve problems that would help the employees have a better work experience and making productivity more efficient.

She pitched the idea and was turned down for months. She did a business case. She did stretch projects to demonstrate the value. She worked with her boss, HR, the leadership team.

They all said, thanks but. no thanks.

So she felt her career was stalled. She wanted to advance in her skills and contribute differently.

When we started working together I was able to identify the flaw in her business case and her delivery.

She had a blind spot in her communication skills and the angle she was taking with her request.

Once we cleaned those things up, she was able to move into a new role, let go of her direct reports and be a technical leader solving the problems she wanted to solve.

Both of these clients moved into new leadership roles without direct reports.

One of them didn’t think she could be promoted without a people manager and we changed that.

The other let go of people management to get to her next level.

And here’s the thing.

Just because you are good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it.

And just because you wanted something before, or now, doesn’t mean it is always going to be what you want.

My client wanted to a people manager, and then she wanted to serve in a new way.

My other client didn’t want to be a people manager, but she might want to years from now.

I have another client who is a Senior Director in her technical expertise, no direct reports.

That’s what she wanted.

But then she came to me and said, I want to explore people management now.

So then we used the best strategy to get direct reports added to her roster.

Now she’s on the succession plan to lead the entire department.

So management of people isn’t the only way up.

Technical leadership isn’t the only way up.

You can decide what you want and create it.

You can get that now and move into something later if you choose.

You get to define your career at every stage.

For you, think about what you really want for yourself right now at this time in your career and your life.

Consider if a lateral move or non-managerial leadership role could better align with your strengths, talents, and the problems you want to solve.

Let go of the judgement and expectation of what you think you should do.

Instead be authentic to what you want to do.

Because that’s what it’s all about right?

If you’re going to speak up, be vulnerable, make a difference, spend 8+ hours a day in your expertise, why not have it be what you truly want to do?

Because the limits you have, they are just problems to solve.

And some of them, you’re putting on yourself.

I truly believe in your potential and I know, you can create the career you want, whatever that looks like.

Alright, have an amazing week.