When Connolly offers advice, take it
Despite the Wednesday night fun at Flannery's Pub ... and then the Winking Lizard ... and then the hotel lobby, I managed to register this morning and make it to the first session on time. I went to "Do You Really Want to Be the Boss?" with William Connolly, Marlene Bagley, Sara Hendricks and Scott Toole.
They laid out some pros (pay, prestige, a bigger chance to make a difference) and cons (longer hours, meetings, putting up with cranky underlings and overlings). Connolly made the point that you may lose friends once you become a manager: He had a friend once, he said, who thought he was a genius when they were peers. But once he became that friend's boss, he became the stupidest man alive.
Another suggestion: Don't holler and lose your cool. And if you do have to lose your cool, do it behind closed doors.
The main message was that a good copy editor who gets a promotion won't necessarily be a good manager. My thought: Taking promotion for promotion's sake could end up hurting your career in the long run if you're no good at managing.
And, Deirdre, my feet hurt, too. Is it wrong to switch to flip-flops midday?
They laid out some pros (pay, prestige, a bigger chance to make a difference) and cons (longer hours, meetings, putting up with cranky underlings and overlings). Connolly made the point that you may lose friends once you become a manager: He had a friend once, he said, who thought he was a genius when they were peers. But once he became that friend's boss, he became the stupidest man alive.
Another suggestion: Don't holler and lose your cool. And if you do have to lose your cool, do it behind closed doors.
The main message was that a good copy editor who gets a promotion won't necessarily be a good manager. My thought: Taking promotion for promotion's sake could end up hurting your career in the long run if you're no good at managing.
And, Deirdre, my feet hurt, too. Is it wrong to switch to flip-flops midday?
posted by Nicole at 4:21 PM
3 Comments:
I liked this note a lot. I just started working as News Editor here in Laredo. It's the first mid-leadership position I've had in my over 20-year daily newspaper career.
I'm grateful for the challenge and welcome it. For the most part, I have been a copy editor/page designer throughout my career. I've had the great blessing of having people outside of the newspaper business model ways to be a leader and help show me a different way to lead others.
I admit that I do and will make mistakes. Yet I hope I have learned some things along the journey in newspapers as well as outside newspapers, too.
Thanks for the new Web site. It looks great .. and thanks for blogging away from Cleveland.
Nicole, I'm envious of your flip flops! I just switched to a different pair of clogs and felt a lot better. :)
Joe, it's interesting that you mentioned how much you've learned from other good leaders. So many people mentioned that at the session. You can learn a lot by copying what others have done -- and learning what *not* to do, too.
Deirdre, I am impressed that you have two pairs of clogs along.
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