How do you politely and professionally tell your work superior that you have no interest in advancing in your career? I feel like I'm being pressured to transition into a role that I have no interest in, no matter how much of a salary increase I might get (and which I know won't be much). But I also feel like if I'm honest about that, I'll lose my job entirely.
I love your larger point here and don't want to distract from it, but, honestly, as someone who's been the low person on the totem pole, been the boss and owned the business at different times in my professional life the question of how to tell your superior is actually pretty simple.
Straightforward.
A crappy boss won't care what you want because it's all about them. Any good boss will want to put you in the situation where you're most happy, because that's where you'll also be the most productive in all likelihood.
I'm glad the advice hit home! My wife actually had a pretty similar dilemma maybe 6 months back. Her immediate boss wanted to put her on a project that was ostensibly a step up, or would at least lead to a step up, but wasn't where she wanted her career path to go. She has her eye elsewhere in the education ecosystem longterm.
She stressed about it and stressed about it and then one day when she had a meeting with her boss and that woman's boss, she mentioned where she wanted to be and they both immediately said they'd help her get there if they could. She stressed a lot over whether she should mention something that they both, in the end, wanted for her!
@BE, that is very encouraging and I'm glad it worked out! It's nice to know that, despite the hierarchical nature of the workplace, people above can be flexible sometimes and open to rethinking where and how they want people below them to work
@TheRatCantRead And sometimes it's altruistic and sometimes it's just a calculation of productivity, but you never know until you put it out there. I wish you nothing but luck with it!
@BE, thank you for the good luck and the advice! Regardless of the reason, sometimes wanting to keep someone productive works in favor for those of us further down the hierarchy 🙂
@BE, this is so helpful, thank you! And I appreciate your point about how a bad boss isn't going to care either way, so maybe it's better to figure that out now so I can decide if I want to keep working there at all, while a good boss would hopefully want honesty and be willing to work with employees where they're at. I appreciate your advice and your sharing your experience! 🙂