Good days and Bad days: the good, bad, and ugly aspects of being manager

Leading can be a daunting task. In some ways it can be positively thrilling. In other, it can be old pain in the ass. Just as the freedom, responsibility, and respect starts to lift you to cloud nine, the paranoia, fear, and anxiety can bring you crashing back down to earth. Like all things, being the recognized leader can have its heights and lows. Here’s look at the lawns on both sides of the fence.

The Good:

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!!!

We might be dreaming, but if you’ve gotten, we’d like to assume a nice, whopping raise came along with it. Hopefully you will never again have to struggle to make ends meet and face your credit card bills at the end of the month in tears. Even if the new job doesn’t mean a giant windfall, being the boss should put you in a better financial position than you were in before. Ultimately, if you succeed, the prestige and glow of success will make all the mistakes and missteps worthwhile. There is no greater feeling in the world than a job well done.

The Bad:

TRAINING ANYONE?

The sad reality is there’s never enough training offered to employees. Even among the companies that have well-established training programs, there will be plenty of times when you just don’t know what to do. You would think that when a new person is hired they would be handled all the necessary tools to do a job effectively. Maybe the person before you fled the job or was fired, and the people who remain don’t really know what she did. Perhaps everyone is too busy to sit and go through your job in details. Whenever the reason, your training will probably consist of “Here’s your office Good luck.” It’s up to you to figure out how to achieve your goals using the best resource you have-your staff.

The Ugly:

NOWHERE TO GO BUT DOWN

With each step you climb up the corporate ladder, the farther down you will go if you fall if you fall off. You will exist in constant fear of living up to expectations (although the rest of the group shouldn’t know it), getting the job done effectively, and accomplishing the team’s goals. The higher you go, the more you’re under scrutiny from the ones beneath you who think they can do your job better and the ones above you who think they are paying you too much. If you don’t create positive relationship from the get-go, those go-getters will take every opportunity to prove that they are more suited to your job. We’re not suggesting you become paranoid, but suggest that you remain aware of the changing dynamics of your senior position.