“Rising to your level of misery” is how Arthur Brooks puts it. The first 20 minutes or so of his podcast with Ezra Klein [link – play button at bottom of page] is one of the most well-articulated descriptions of an affliction which hits many tech leaders, especially those in product/design/engineering.

Brooks describes the “trap” of being good enough at your job to continue taking on new responsibilities, eventually leading to significant management tasks. Along the way you picked up material gains (salary) and emotional ones (power), so you never said “no, I don’t want the promotion” but eventually you find yourself doing a job that you no longer enjoy. Unable to imagine giving up the place in the organization (who proactively moves downward in American culture?) you end up miserable and unproductive.

This was an ALL THE FEELS discussion because I experienced my own version of this at Google. What I loved most about working in product was being on a whiteboard with teammates, but my job eventually became dominated by resource planning and managing upward. However I had (have?) too much ego and control-orientation to step backwards into an IC role, even if day-to-day it would have likely made me happier.

Anyway, worth a listen IMO, especially if you’re someone who aspires for “leadership roles” because of what they represent and not what they are.