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Comment by tw04 | Hacker News Reader

I'd argue the biggest hurdle isn't even what you like or dislike, it's that when someone gets used to you being in a given position, that's all they see in you. I actually had that happen at one point in my career, kept getting an "I don't think you're ready". When I finally told them I'm leaving if it doesn't happen, they did the right thing. Afterwards I got a lot of "I'm sorry I pushed back, I couldn't see you in that role but you're killing it!"

I think sometimes management is their own worst enemy in not taking a chance on their own people.

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> I think sometimes management is their own worst enemy in not taking a chance on their own people.

I've seen it in start-ups where they are anxious about their own talent, and are somewhat desperate to 'level-up'.

The mindset is like 'I married the first person I kissed, but I get the sense I could do way better now.'

This often leads to overpaying for people who have had the director or VP title in a larger, but minor company, and being told by them that the solution is to hire 5 more people under them.

I'm absolutely convinced this happens -- with roles, with capabilities, with salary. It's got to be related to normalcy bias and other anchoring phenomenon. Probably less than half-conscious, too.

That’s a great point. I have seen secretaries take training after hours to get certificates and degrees. When finished they apply locally and perform well, since they already had an idea what the job is. Some employees who have known the person in the old role find it hard to treat the colleague equitably. In that situation sometimes the best way forward is to take the new credential to a place where no one knew you before you got it.

I worked briefly for a large grocery chain that had a policy of promoting to management internally where possible. However, accepting a management role meant you had to change stores, to break those collegial relationships and establish you with authority somewhere fresh.

The shiny candidate outside the company is always somehow more appealing than the candidate you know 99% of the attributes of.

That sounds like a failure of management, not a symptom of it.

I agree it’s a failure. On the other hand, they failed their way into eventually making the right decision, recognizing they had been wrong, and apoligized. I’ve seen worse!

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