Should I become a manager?

This question is lingering in your mind. Should I become a manager? Is this path for me is something you're trying to really unpack? I'm Claire. I'm the CEO of Canopy, a leadership improvement app that gives you everything you need to be the best leader possible. These manager tips, by the way, are tips that we give away freely as a way to really give back and support our leaders like yourself.

The first question you're going to want to ask yourself is, how much do I in fact, enjoy being in a flow state at work? You may be familiar with the concept of a flow state. It's something that was coined in the 1990s by a very famous, positive psychologist. He famously described flow as an optimal state of consciousness in which you're really enjoying the activity for really the activity's sake in itself.

Now, what's interesting about the manager role is that as a manager, the reality is, is that there are few times in which you will in fact, be in this flow state because your role as a manager is to now enable other people to be in a flow state at work. And so if you love being in this flow state, if it's what you look forward to every day, you may want to deeply consider whether or not the manager path is really the one for you, or at least reconcile that the flow state may come in much smaller chunks or look a bit different in your new manager role.

The second question you're going to want to ask yourself as you think through, should I become a manager or not? Does repeating yourself drive you crazy? Now, what I mean by this is famously and notoriously, we as leaders oftentimes have to communicate a message, and sometimes it's the same message over and over.

And if you're thinking to yourself, well, yeah, I think that kind of frequency and repetition would drive anyone crazy, you may be right. But again, it's important to consider over the past decade of us working with thousands of leaders, whether it be CEOs, VPs, frontline managers, you'll find that a common theme that they'll surface is, wow, I didn't realize how much I have to over communicate in this role. And I do feel like I sound like a broken record a lot of the time. For some of us, that may feel like not a big deal and a pain that's worth internalizing for others. And for some of you who are watching this, you may go, oh my goodness, that sounds like absolute torture. And it's truly, truly okay. If that is how you feel in your answer. It's again, important to incorporate and take into mind that the reality of the role of a manager is someone who will be finding themselves repeating communications over and over into a frequency that you may not always enjoy.

So again, something to keep in mind. Of course, no role and no job will have absolutely no downsides. And so there are just simply trade-offs here. You want to keep in mind as you think about whether or not the manager role is really for you, ask yourself that question of how much you really enjoy being in a flow state and recognize that you may be needing to repeat yourself more than you want to, and how much will you in fact embrace that as part of your role?

Now, if your answers to these questions weren't exactly what you expected, if you find yourself a little nervous, a little wary now of entering the manager role that was laid out in front of you, it's okay. Know that not all of us as leaders had immediate certainty or answers going into the role, but use this as an opportunity to really take stock of what the reality of this role entails, that you may not always be in flow, and that you may be repeating yourself more and more and ask yourself if those trade-offs are things that you really could see yourself internalizing well.

And remember, the answer doesn't have to be yes, it is okay to always choose a different path. Now, as you think through this question more deeply, know that we have so many resources in canopy itself to really help support you as an aspiring leader or someone who's trying to decide whether or not being a formal leader is for you.

Be sure to check out Canopy. We have hundreds of on-demand lessons, cheat sheets, live group coaching, even an AI assistant, and be sure to join me for more tips just like this. I really appreciate you being here, and look forward to having you join me next time.