Skip to main content
  • SHRM
  • Foundation
  • CEO Circle
  • Enterprise Solutions
  • Linkage Logo
  • Store
  • Sign In
  • Account
    • Account
    • Logout
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
Executive network
About
Apply Now
  • Membership
  • News & Insights
    News & Insights

    Christine Mixan
    People + Strategy Podcast

    The People + Strategy podcast features thought leaders in HR and insights from the world of work.

    • People + Strategy Journal

      People + Strategy is a quarterly journal that delivers the most current theory, research, and practice in strategic human resource management.

    • Research

      Unlock data, research, and expert thought leadership, accelerating your organization’s growth and success.

    • News

      Members of the SHRM Executive Network enjoy access to expert analysis of data from SHRM Research, commentary on current trends, and insights from recent EN events.

  • Networking & Events
    Networking & Events

    Executive Network Experience at SHRM25
    Executive Network Experience at SHRM25

    This private convening is designed to meet your professional business needs as an HR leader.

    • Visionaries Summit

      When you attend the two-day Visionaries Summit, you’ll leave with data-backed ideas and action plans to implement right away.

    • EN:Insights Forum

      The EN:Insights Forums bring together like-minded leaders to explore the latest research on the business strategies and trends that are driving innovation and organizational success.

    • EN:Assembly

      Your trusted circle of HR peers for thought leadership, collaboration, and support.

Close
  • Membership
  • News & Insights
    back
    News & Insights
    Christine Mixan
    People + Strategy Podcast

    The People + Strategy podcast features thought leaders in HR and insights from the world of work.

    • People + Strategy Journal

      People + Strategy is a quarterly journal that delivers the most current theory, research, and practice in strategic human resource management.

    • Research

      Unlock data, research, and expert thought leadership, accelerating your organization’s growth and success.

    • News

      Members of the SHRM Executive Network enjoy access to expert analysis of data from SHRM Research, commentary on current trends, and insights from recent EN events.

  • Networking & Events
    back
    Networking & Events
    Executive Network Experience at SHRM25
    Executive Network Experience at SHRM25

    This private convening is designed to meet your professional business needs as an HR leader.

    • Visionaries Summit

      When you attend the two-day Visionaries Summit, you’ll leave with data-backed ideas and action plans to implement right away.

    • EN:Insights Forum

      The EN:Insights Forums bring together like-minded leaders to explore the latest research on the business strategies and trends that are driving innovation and organizational success.

    • EN:Assembly

      Your trusted circle of HR peers for thought leadership, collaboration, and support.

About
Apply Now
  • Store
    • Global
    • India
    • MENA
  • SHRM
  • Foundation
  • CEO Circle
  • Enterprise Solutions
  • Linkage Logo
Executive network
Sign In
  • Account
    • Account
    • Logout
Close

  1. Executive News & Insights
  2. Ask Manager Candidates: Do You Really Want to be a Leader?
Share
  • Linked In
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus convallis sem tellus, vitae egestas felis vestibule ut.


Error message details.

Copy button
Reuse Permissions

Request permission to republish or redistribute SHRM content and materials.


Learn More
News

Ask Manager Candidates: Do You Really Want to be a Leader?

PODCAST PERSPECTIVE: In the August 2023 People + Strategy podcast, author Adam Bryant said that before people take managerial roles, they need to think twice about their 'why'—and organizations should help with that introspection.

August 11, 2023 | Patrick DiDomenico

A woman giving a presentation to a group of people.


Your best sales rep, Megan, is having another excellent year when the top sales manager position opens up. Based on her sales record, the executive team assumes Megan would be perfect for the job and offers it to her right away. Craving the bigger paycheck and fancy title, Megan eagerly accepts. But three months into the job, she misses the rush of her sales calls and is struggling to deal with all the managerial minutiae and employee squabbles.

"What happens in a lot of organizations is that there's this momentum, this inertia that just carries people along almost like a river. 'You're a high-performer, so of course you want to be a manager. Of course you want to be a leader,' " said Adam Bryant, the former Corner Office columnist at The New York Times and a managing director of The ExCo Group, during the August 2023 episode of the People + Strategy podcast. "But I don't think people on either side, whether it's the company or the individual, say, 'Wait a minute, do I really want to do this? Do you really want to do this?' "

Individual performers may have a vague concept of the managerial role, Bryant said, but "you don't really know until you get into these jobs. And then you do discover, wow, that most of your day is dealing with people problems and putting out fires. They're stamina jobs."  

Asking the introspective questions is more important these days—on both sides of the table—because the role of manager has become more complex in recent years, particularly in dealing with remote workers and a host of new technology transformations.

"I always encourage people to be very honest with themselves about why they want to lead. Because if you're clear about your personal 'why,' it will help you navigate the tough parts," said Bryant, who is also author of the new book, The Leap to Leader: How Ambitious Managers Make the Jump to Leadership (Harvard Business Review Press, 2023). "If your answers are for the money or power, those aren't really the right answers, because the world has changed, the whole power command-and-control thing doesn't really play anymore. Yes, there are financial rewards, but there's just so many sacrifices and trade-offs that the money may not feel like it's worth it."

HR and hiring managers can help candidates for managerial roles slow down and consider their "why" by asking those type of introspective questions in the interview. You'll also avoid a bad hiring fit by providing a reality check on the specific, day-to-day tasks of the managerial position (warts and all) and by pointing out other potential career paths for individual performers within the organization.

Next Question: Who Are You as a Leader?

After employees do take on leadership roles, the introspection shouldn't stop. But instead of asking, "Do I really want to lead?" they need to ask themselves this question: "Who am I as a leader?"

"A lot of people go through their entire career and nobody is ever going to ask you that," Bryant said. "But it's a really good investment of your time to come up with the answer for what are the values that are really important to you?"

By establishing what you stand for, you can create your personal leadership brand. Bryant suggests leaders be able to identify their three or four most important personal values as a leader and why these values are so essential. He recommends leaders share this information with their team and tell their story of how those values became important in their career.

"If you have that explicit conversation with your team, it helps with predictability," Bryant said. "If you just state, up front, 'These are the three things that are really important to me,' there's a little bit of a social contract there. You're saying, 'These are going to be important to me, even under pressure, even under stress.' And if you live those values, I think that sets a great tone, because then people can focus on the work instead of trying to figure you out as a boss."

More Takeaways from Adam Bryant in the People + Strategy Podcast:

"Reality is just source material." Bryant spoke about once asking a young CEO where she got her positive attitude. "Her five-word answer was burned into my brain. She said that 'Reality is just source material.' Her point was that, yes, we go through life experiencing stuff, but we are always editing our own films of our life and deciding what story to tell ourselves about our experience. And this is a choice that we're making at every moment of every day. … So it's a super handy tool to step outside yourself and almost be a mentor or coach to yourself. Just maybe to check your own thinking like, 'Is there another way to think about that?' "

Embrace the ability to compartmentalize. "When you move up into these senior leadership positions, you're making tough decisions all day long. There's often no right or wrong answer, and almost every decision you make is probably going to make somebody unhappy. And so the reality is that you have to be able to keep things in perspective. Because if you have too much empathy and you're worried about the consequences on people and the impact of your decisions, you're going to internalize that and be staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night. So, the mental skill of being able to compartmentalize is so important, and I honestly don't think we talk about it enough. It is a balance point, because leaders are always told they've got to have empathy, but you can have too much empathy."

 

Career Development
Communication
Employee Relations
Interviewing
Organizational & Employee Development
People Management
Talent Acquisition

Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace

​An organization run by AI is not a futuristic concept. Such technology is already a part of many workplaces and will continue to shape the labor market and HR. Here's how employers and employees can successfully manage generative AI and other AI-powered systems.



Related Content

Kelly Dobbs Bunting speaks onstage at SHRM24
(opens in a new tab)
News
Why AI+HI Is Essential to Compliance

HR must always include human intelligence and oversight of AI in decision-making in hiring and firing, a legal expert said at SHRM24. She added that HR can ensure compliance by meeting the strictest AI standards, which will be in Colorado’s upcoming AI law.

(opens in a new tab)
News
A 4-Day Workweek? AI-Fueled Efficiencies Could Make It Happen

The proliferation of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the ensuing expected increase in productivity and efficiency, could help usher in the four-day workweek, some experts predict.

(opens in a new tab)
News
How One Company Uses Digital Tools to Boost Employee Well-Being

Learn how Marsh McLennan successfully boosts staff well-being with digital tools, improving productivity and work satisfaction for more than 20,000 employees.

HR Daily Newsletter

Stay up to date with the latest HR news, trends, and expert advice each business day.

Success title

Success caption

Manage Subscriptions
  • About SHRM
  • Careers at SHRM
  • Press Room
  • Contact SHRM
  • Book a SHRM Executive Speaker
  • Advertise with Us
  • Partner with Us
  • Copyright & Permissions
  • Post a Job
  • Find an HR Job
Follow Us
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • SHRM Newsletters
  • Ask An Advisor

© 2025 SHRM. All Rights Reserved

SHRM provides content as a service to its readers and members. It does not offer legal advice, and cannot guarantee the accuracy or suitability of its content for a particular purpose. Disclaimer


  1. Privacy Policy

  2. Terms of Use

  3. Accessibility

Join SHRM for Exclusive Access to Member Content

SHRM Members enjoy unlimited access to articles and exclusive member resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Limit Reached

Get unlimited access to articles and member-exclusive resources.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join to access unlimited articles and member-only resources.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join the Executive Network and enjoy unlimited content.

Already a member?
Free Article
Exclusive Executive-Level Content

This content is for the SHRM Executive Network and Executive Content Subscription members only.

You've reached the limit of 1 free article this month. Join and enjoy unlimited access to SHRM Executive Network Content.

Already a member?
Unlock Your Career with SHRM Membership

Please enjoy this free resource! Join SHRM for unlimited access to exclusive articles and tools.

Already a member?

Your membership is almost expired! Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew now

Your membership has expired. Renew today for unlimited access to member content.

Renew Now

Your Executive Network membership is nearing its expiration. Renew now to maintain access.

Renew Now

Your membership has expired. Renew your Executive Network benefits today.

Renew Now