How to Get Ahead at Work Without Being a Manager - The Muse

How to Get Ahead at Work Without Being a Manager - The MuseHow to Get Ahead at Work Without Being a Manager While its tempting to measure career growth and success solely according to the number of rungs we scale on the corporate ladder, management isnt the only path to a satisfying career. Being a manager comes with responsibilities that dont appeal to everyone. Even worse, managerial work could take you away from the aspects of yur job you love most. But just because you dont have any interest in presiding over a team doesnt mean that youre destined to stagnate- or that you have to grudgingly heave yourself up to the next level. In other words, you dont always have to move upward to move onward.We asked professionals whove blazed a trail off the management track to fill us in on four ways you can continue to evolve professionally- minus the supervisory duties.1. Look for Opportunities That Offer In-Role AdvancementNot all growth involves taking a step up. Certain roles offer opport unities to stretch yourself within the same position, through a greater variety of projects, mora prestigious assignments, deeper work, or mora responsibility. When hunting for your next non-managerial job opportunity, consider point-blank asking about what growth looks like within the role rather than whats beyond it.While working as a media agency VP, Nathanael Yellis realized managing a team came with some emotional costs. Being on-call as a resource for his direct reports- as well as being beholden to his own managers schedule- took away from the time and energy he welches able to spend with his family. So he platzset out to find an individual contributor role that still offered in-role growth. Not having to make the emotional commitment to managing people frees emotional bandwidth I have at home.Nathanael YellisYellis ultimately found it within his current position as an Inbound Consultant for HubSpot. There, not only does he have more direct control over his time, but he can s till develop his career without stepping up to a managerial role. I have promotions available to me that come with increased position or customers who are more critical to HubSpots success, he says. As I continue to grow in the role, Ill have the opportunity to work with larger companies in a wider variety of industries.Because hes customer-facing, hes able to establish clear boundaries for when and how he interacts with clients, such as deciding he isnt available for conference calls between 5 and 8 PM. Beyond that, he says, not having to make the emotional commitment to managing people frees emotional bandwidth I have at home.2. Make a Lateral Move Somewhere Bigger or More PrestigiousIf youre not interested in becoming a bigger fish in a small pond, consider bigger ponds, whether that means a larger company, a greater swath of sale territory, or a more prestigious brand. In the case of Danielle Radin, the digital correspondent for NBC San Diego, the puddle-to-lake leap meant a big ger broadcast market.If youre not interested in becoming a bigger fish in a small pond, consider bigger ponds.While Radin had a masters degree that primed her for the managerial track, she found that she liked being a reporter, and didnt want to deal with the office politics that came with managing others in the newsroom. Instead of hopping up the ladder, shes been hopping to larger markets. In broadcast the goal is to move up to bigger markets, which are ranked by population from 1 all the way down to 209, she explains. I started in one of the lowest-ranked markets, 195, and was able to jump to San Diego, ranked 28.Of course, few fields offer quite the concrete ranking system by which to measure your growth, but other indicators, both quantitative (think company size and potential number of clients) and qualitative (think influence or reputation) can be your guide when youre looking to make a lateral move.3. Go Solo as a ConsultantOnce you become an expert in your field, you can de ploy your skills and experience in a consulting role. Thats what Stacy Caprio, founder of Accelerated Growth Marketing, an SEO/SEM consulting company, did.Caprio previously worked as the search marketing manager for a finance company, but didnt like the idea of having to be responsible for anyone elses work but her own. She tested the waters by consulting as a side hustle and eventually made it her full-time career. When you go it alone, you can chart your own career growth with the same metrics you use to measure your consulting business success, such as reach and revenue.I like that it has given me the opportunity to learn so much and be hands on in what I do.Stacy CaprioThough the freedom of consulting is a huge perk in itself, Caprio says its also been more financially lucrative than her previous position. I like that it has given me the opportunity to learn so much and be hands on in what I do, instead of just a supervisor who has no idea what her employees are doing, she says. It has also allowed me to make a lot more than I would have been able to make in a managerial role.4. Deepen or Broaden Your Skill Set to Become an ExpertIf youre not devoting time and energy to cultivating managerial skills, you can focus on honing other skills, whether that means perfecting your sales pitch, becoming a financial-modeling wizard, or mastering every project management tool under the sun.In addition to having the tangible metric of market size by which to gauge her growth, Radin says her non-management path has given her the opportunity to improve her writing, editing, shooting, and presenting abilities on a daily basis. Find a niche in your job that you truly thrive in, and improve it as much as you can so that you are considered one of the top in that skill set, she advises.Find a niche in your job that you truly thrive in, and improve it as much as you can so that you are considered one of the top in that skill set.Danielle RadinWhile a deeper skill set is satisf ying in and of itself, you can also establish a few key performance indicators to assess growth more objectively. Alex Tran, a digital marketing specialist, opted out of management to focus on the more hands-on aspects of her career. Instead of measuring her performance according to how close shes getting to a head-honcho title, she uses other metrics relevant to her industry. In marketing I am measuring our brand visibility and reputation. If we are getting more leads than we can handle, that is great, she says. That means we will need to expand and hire more, which is what every growing organization wants. I am a grower, not a leader.Stepping outside of management may give you a chance to expand your skills outward as well. When Caprio made her move to consulting, she found that she was able to extend her expertise beyond the parameters of her in-house role. In those 9-to-5 jobs she held, my focus was 70% running paid Google and Facebook ads, she explains. Once I was consulting fu ll-time, I really dove into more than just theoretical SEO, which enabled me to develop a new skill set driving more unpaid traffic to sites. she adds. I used this to further expand into buying my own sites and growing them, so one thing led to another.