🚩Tactical Memo 094: Nobody Wants Your Manager Job

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The next live cohort of AI-Powered Project Management starts September 14. Enrollment closes in 3 days. This will be the final cohort that includes Tactical Talks, so now is the time to jump in. Grab your seat at maven.com/justinbateh/aiproj.

❤️‍🔥This is the last cohort until November at the earliest, possibly not until February. If you've been thinking about joining live, now is the time.

My younger cousin got offered the management track this year.

He said NO.

He told me he wants to stay an IC. He likes it better.

He didn't have to explain why.

He'd watched his own manager. And the manager above him.

That was all the information he needed.

He's not an outlier. 72% of Gen Z say no to the manager job.

If your best IC just turned down the promotion, you're in the same spot.

For years the answer was to sell the role harder. Bigger title, bigger impact (the same pitch every company makes).

You can't promote your way out of this.

The job itself has to change first.

Here's what I tell leaders in my coaching community to change.

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1/ Strip the busywork out of the job

Look at a manager's actual week.

Status updates. Report assembly. Meeting notes. Chasing sign-offs.

NONE of that is managing. And most of it can be automated now.

Kill what you can. Automate the rest.

What's left is the real job. Coaching people and making calls.

That version of the job is one your best IC might actually want.

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2/ Pay the real rate

A small raise for a much bigger job is a bad trade, and everyone under 30 can see it.

Your sharpest people do that math before you finish the pitch.

If the hours grow faster than the paycheck, no speech about growth fixes it.

Price the role like it matters.

When the pay matches the weight, the no starts turning into a maybe.

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3/ Make the job survivable where people can see it

My cousin never read a survey before he said no.

He watched two managers up close. That was the pitch, and it worked in reverse.

Your ICs decide about management the same way. By watching you.

Protect your hours where the team can see it. Log off and let them notice.

The version of the job you model is the version they think they're signing up for.

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4/ Give managers the authority that matches the blame

Managers answer for decisions made two levels above them.

The team blames the messenger. The messenger never had a vote.

If someone is accountable for an outcome, give them the call.

People will take a hard job. They won't take a job where they carry choices they never made.

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5/ Build a real IC ladder next to it

Senior IC roles with senior IC pay.

When staying technical is a legitimate path up, management stops being the only way to grow.

Then the people who choose to manage actually want the work.

Which is who you wanted running your teams anyway.

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My cousin still wants a big career. The manager job he watched didn't look like one.

Next time the seat opens, ask your best IC what would make it worth taking, and change one thing they name before you post it.

P.S. When you're ready, here's how I can help:

1. Project Management That Actually Works: the 7-step system to plan, lead, and finish without winging it.

2. AI-Powered Project Management: go from being buried in manual work to delivering real project outcomes with AI.

3. Managing Human and AI Teams: leading people and AI agents on the same team.

Until next time,

Justin Bateh, PhD
Founder and Editor
Tactical Memo