Thinking About Careers
I am kamo, a 43-year-old video creator.
The other day, I touched briefly on the trend of people moving away from management roles.
I would like to think about the phenomena currently occurring because of this, and where those aiming for career advancement should be looking.
▼ The culture of "I'll get promoted eventually"
I feel that in Japanese organizations, there is still an implicit culture that if you work for a long time, you will eventually get promoted and become a manager.
Even though there should be differences between the conditions required by the company and the way individuals want to work, in many cases, they try to put everyone on a standardized track.
I myself held a management role at my previous job, and now that I am an individual creator and operating as a business owner, I think I can see that gap from the outside more calmly.
People who were excellent in the field are pushed up into management roles via an escalator-like system. As a result, they move away from the practical work they were originally good at, and end up exhausted, caught between the field and upper management.
Then, the younger generation, seeing them, avoids management roles, thinking, "I don't want to end up like that."
Isn't this the true nature of the negative loop occurring in many workplaces today?
▼ The prepared track and your own aptitude
Under these circumstances, when thinking about career advancement, I don't think it is necessary to force yourself onto the single track of "management" prepared by the company.
In the first place, management (managing people and organizations), leadership (driving things forward), and professional skills as a player are completely different things.
The structure where the destination for an excellent practitioner is a "position to manage people" may also be creating distortions in the current era.
▼ Where should you look when working?
So, where should people who want to advance their careers look? It might start with clarifying not just the titles prepared by the company, but the substantive roles within the organization, such as "what responsibilities can I take on?" and "where can I demonstrate the most value?"
For example, not the top leader who stands at the front of the team and pulls it along, but a position that translates the top's ideas for the field and implements them into practical work.
Or perhaps a driving force who doesn't manage people but sees specific projects through to the very end.
There is certainly more than one way to fight, such as working behind the scenes to ensure team quality through technical expertise and specialization.
For those aiming to advance their careers, I think shifting your perspective slightly and building solid trust is a shortcut.
As I wrote in my previous article, I feel that what you want to do and what you are best suited for are not necessarily the same thing.
▼ Define your own career
It is not that everyone wants to avoid responsibility, but there are things that become visible by breaking down the responsibilities you want to take on.
From an era of entrusting your career path to the company and automatically riding the rails, to an era of identifying for yourself the areas where you can take responsibility.
To those who read this and thought, 'I'll do my best!', I send you my heartfelt encouragement.
kamo