Summary.
Managers today must balance their day-to-day work with multiple “ands,” such as delivering on quarterly objectives and thinking strategically. Given these numerous demands, managers tend to deprioritize their own career development. It doesn’t have to be that way. The more managers take control of their development, the better able they’ll be to avoid the common career mistakes that will get in the way of their growth. And the more their team members see the positive impact of investing in their career development, the more likely they are to do the same.
Being a successful manager today is a tough task that requires grappling with multiple “ands”: Supporting team members and influencing senior stakeholders; making progress on the day job and troubleshooting unexpected problems; delivering on quarterly objectives and thinking strategically. In the midst of the “and overload,” it’s not surprising that managers tend to be the least-likely people in an organization to prioritize their own career development.