This is very important to ask. Companies promote top performers. If they want to promote you to management, the odds are good that you were an above average performer as an individual contributor.

The odds are also pretty good that you like the work you're doing. So, are you willing to give it up?

You may have to give up more than work you love. If your management job requires lots of travel or more late nights or a more demanding schedule, you may give up some time at home, too. Are you willing to do that?

In some

Craig looked plaintively across the desk at me. He'd come to me for help adapting to his new role as a manager. He was having a lot of trouble.

Craig had thought he wanted to be a manager. He'd supported himself through college by running heavy machinery in the construction industry. He was a hard worker.

When he was hired by the company that made some of the equipment he used to run, Craig was ecstatic. He liked the people in the construction industry and he thought his new employer was as fine a company as there was.

Craig was hired as a sales trainee, but his goals were something else. He wanted to be an executive and climb the corporate ladder. He started out by turning himself into a great salesperson. He let his bosses know that he wanted to move up.

His opportunity came after only a couple of years. The company tapped him for a sales manager's job. At first he was ecstatic.

Now it was three months later. Craig didn't like the things he had to do in his new job. He missed the freedom of selling on the road, spending time on jobsites and talking with people he liked.

"I used to love going to work," he told me. "Now, I get slammed from all sides. My boss wants me to make my numbers. Half the people who work for me just don't seem to cut it and they're always whining about something."

"I don't know how to handle that. Plus, my bonus is now tied to how these other people do. It was easier when I just had to work a little harder or smarter to make my numbers."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"When I was selling, the deals I cut grew naturally out of our relationship with the customers. Now, I've got my people asking me to approve deals and I'm just not comfortable deciding. It's constant pressure."

There are thousands of people out there like Craig. They start out with the idea that what they want is a management job. Then, they get one and it's nothing like what they expected. How can you keep that from happening to you?

Here are some questions to ask yourself to help decide if a management job is the right career choice.

What will I be giving up if I move into management?

This is very important to ask. Companies promote top performers. If they want to promote you to management, the odds are good that you were an above average performer as an individual contributor.

The odds are also pretty good that you like the work you're doing. So, are you willing to give it up?

You may have to give up more than work you love. If your management job requires lots of travel or more late nights or a more demanding schedule, you may give up some time at home, too. Are you willing to do that?

In some

Craig was hired as a sales trainee, but his goals were something else. He wanted to be an executive and climb the corporate ladder. He started out by turning himself into a great salesperson. He let his bosses know that he wanted to move up.

His opportunity came after only a couple of years. The company tapped him for a sales manager's job. At first he was ecstatic.

Now it was three months later. Craig didn't like the things he had to do in his new job. He missed the freedom of selling on the road, spending time on jobsites and talking with people he liked.

"I used to love going to work," he told me. "Now, I get slammed from all sides. My boss wants me to make my numbers. Half the people who work for me just don't seem to cut it and they're always whining about something."

"I don't know how to handle that. Plus, my bonus is now tied to how these other people do. It was easier when I just had to work a little harder or smarter to make my numbers."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"When I was selling, the deals I cut grew naturally out of our relationship with the customers. Now, I've got my people asking me to approve deals and I'm just not comfortable deciding. It's constant pressure."

There are thousands of people out there like Craig. They start out with the idea that what they want is a management job. Then, they get one and it's nothing like what they expected. How can you keep that from happening to you?

Here are some questions to ask yourself to help decide if a management job is the right career choice.

What will I be giving up if I move into management?

This is very important to ask. Companies promote top performers. If they want to promote you to management, the odds are good that you were an above average performer as an individual contributor.

The odds are also pretty good that you like the work you're doing. So, are you willing to give it up?

You may have to give up more than work you love. If your management job requires lots of travel or more late nights or a more demanding schedule, you may give up some time at home, too. Are you willing to do that?

In some

"I used to love going to work," he told me. "Now, I get slammed from all sides. My boss wants me to make my numbers. Half the people who work for me just don't seem to cut it and they're always whining about something."

"I don't know how to handle that. Plus, my bonus is now tied to how these other people do. It was easier when I just had to work a little harder or smarter to make my numbers."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"When I was selling, the deals I cut grew naturally out of our relationship with the customers. Now, I've got my people asking me to approve deals and I'm just not comfortable deciding. It's constant pressure."

There are thousands of people out there like Craig. They start out with the idea that what they want is a management job. Then, they get one and it's nothing like what they expected. How can you keep that from happening to you?

Here are some questions to ask yourself to help decide if a management job is the right career choice.

What will I be giving up if I move into management?

This is very important to ask. Companies promote top performers. If they want to promote you to management, the odds are good that you were an above average performer as an individual contributor.

The odds are also pretty good that you like the work you're doing. So, are you willing to give it up?

You may have to give up more than work you love. If your management job requires lots of travel or more late nights or a more demanding schedule, you may give up some time at home, too. Are you willing to do that?

In some

There are thousands of people out there like Craig. They start out with the idea that what they want is a management job. Then, they get one and it's nothing like what they expected. How can you keep that from happening to you?

Here are some questions to ask yourself to help decide if a management job is the right career choice.

What will I be giving up if I move into management?

This is very important to ask. Companies promote top performers. If they want to promote you to management, the odds are good that you were an above average performer as an individual contributor.

The odds are also pretty good that you like the work you're doing. So, are you willing to give it up?

You may have to give up more than work you love. If your management job requires lots of travel or more late nights or a more demanding schedule, you may give up some time at home, too. Are you willing to do that?

In some

This is very important to ask. Companies promote top performers. If they want to promote you to management, the odds are good that you were an above average performer as an individual contributor.

The odds are also pretty good that you like the work you're doing. So, are you willing to give it up?

You may have to give up more than work you love. If your management job requires lots of travel or more late nights or a more demanding schedule, you may give up some time at home, too. Are you willing to do that?

In some companies, promotion to management comes with an automatic relocation. Are you willing to move? Is your family willing to move?

Finally, check the income figures. Sometimes, getting promoted means a drop in regular income because commissions or overtime pay goes away.

Do I like helping other people succeed?

One of your jobs as a manager is to help the people who work for you succeed. That's not a job everyone likes to do. If you like helping other people do better, it will make your job as a manager much easier and it will make you more likely to succeed.

What if you don't? Then understand that you will probably have to put conscious effort into the work of helping others on your team. Only you know how difficult that will be for you.

Am I comfortable making decisions?

As a manager, you will have to make decisions about all sorts of things. My life experience tells me that this is not something you can learn to be comfortable with. If you are comfortable making decisions, you can improve your technique, but no amount of training will make you willing to make decisions.

Think about how you live your life. Do you make decisions as needed? Or do you put them off or hope that someone else will make the decision for you?

This one's pretty simple. If you can't make decisions you won't be an effective manager.

Am I willing to confront people about their behavior or performance?

Management is the art of controlled confrontation. Every day you will need to talk to people who work for you about their behavior and performance. You will need to confront some of them with how they're doing and what they need to fix.

We're not talking about big, blow-up, "Jerry Springer" confrontations. Most of your confrontations will be about small things. But you'll have to do them every day.

If you can't confront people who work for you about their behavior and performance, it's not likely you will do well as a manager.

Am I willing to let the group become my destiny?

This is a tough one, because it flies in the face of how we talk about management. We like to say that when you're in management, you've got