Dear Liz,

My business has grown so much I can’t manage the team by myself. My lead technical guy is the go-to person on our products but not a people person. He’s a great guy but a major curmudgeon who hates interacting with others. He’s very critical and finds fault with everything. I’m inclined to promote another employee to be my company’s first manager, except I know my lead tech guy will flip spit if he doesn’t get the job. Suggestions?

Thanks,

Art

Dear Art,

Hats off to you for growing your business — and for understanding that managing people isn’t just about subject-matter expertise. If your lead tech guy doesn’t have the human skills to coach and mentor the team, you’re wise to look at someone else for the supervisory job.

Still, I’d have a conversation with him before making a decision.

Talk with him about his career plans. He may have zero interest in managing people, anyway. If the manager job would pay more than he’s earning now, think about establishing a tech track (a career-and-salary roadmap for technical contributors that parallels your managerial track) that rewards technical contributions, so that your ace technical people don’t have to become managers to participate in high-level decisions or improve their earnings.

Years ago in many companies, you couldn’t get above a certain pay level without managing people. That structure induced a lot of folks to go into leadership jobs the universe never meant them to perform. Eventually, employers developed “dual track” career paths and salary levels.

In the dual-track scenario, you can earn as much as a team manager (or more) in a senior-level technical role. The dual-track system is smart, because it keeps your tech gurus doing the things they excel at without forcing them into managerial assignments that will make them and everyone else miserable.

Back to your conversation with Mr. Crusty: Chat with him about his career plans. If he’s interested in the supervisory job despite his aversion to people interaction, that’s a coaching opportunity. In that case, you’ll be able to talk with him about what it would take for you to consider him for a leadership role, and probe to learn why he’d want a job like that in the first place. If it’s strictly a financial issue, you could talk with him about the dual-track idea and, with luck, the two of you can carve out a roadmap that ties raises and recognition to technical contributions.

In my experience, most people (not all, though) know their strengths. With a little encouragement your guy may acknowledge that coaching and mentoring staff members would not be his cup of tea. If he doesn’t have to force himself into a badly-fitting box in order to make a difference in your company, everyone wins.

Above all, don’t put anyone in a management role who doesn’t belong there. When someone doesn’t have the DNA to manage others, putting him into a leadership spot is inflicting torture on him, yourself, and your team members. None of you deserves that.

Best,

Liz