Five career problems of young managers

1. Early frustration and dissatisfaction
 
Job expectations for young managers often exceed reality. Since their educational background may have focused on cases where they stepped into the roles of high-level executives, they can now expect to gain a lot of responsibility quickly. Instead, they are often placed in routine and boring jobs until they have proven themselves. As a result, young managers can experience severe reality shock, become frustrated, and perhaps leave the company. If the company has painted too bright a picture when hiring, this reality check can be especially big.
 
2. Callousness and Passivity
 
Organizations are political. Young managers are often insensitive to or resentful of the political aspects of organizations. Or they may just be passive, hoping that things will work out. As a result, they may not actively scan the organizational environment to understand relationships and attitudes and clarify their own positions. Also, they may be unaware of the actual criteria by which performance is graded. In some cases, strict criteria, such as performance, are difficult to assess, and superiors may focus instead on whether the young manager fits their biases. Appearance, speech habits, managerial style, and other subjective measures can be used for evaluation.
 
3. Loyalty dilemmas
 
Most people in authority value the loyalty of subordinates, defined in various ways. However, there are many versions of loyalty. Some see loyalty as obedience: subordinates are loyal if they do what they are told. Others interpret loyalty as putting in the effort and working long hours to show concern for the company. For others, loyalty is the successful completion of tasks, or protecting the superior from ridicule and adverse evaluation by others, or giving the superior honest information about mistakes and potential failures. Unfortunately, young managers often don’t know what version of loyalty the organization or superior expects. Sometimes multiple versions are requested simultaneously. For example, the superior may expect strict obedience but become angry if obedience leads to poor performance. These uncertainties and conflicts may cause the young manager to adjust to power and authority, try to change the superior’s expectations, or leave.
 
4. Personal anxiety

Young managers may experience anxiety. They often find that, just as they begin to reap the rewards of their work, they question the value of what they are doing. They may say, “I’m making $30,000 a year, but I don’t think what the company produces is of much value to society.” As a result, young managers may fear that they are “selling out.” These concerns can lead to difficult decisions.
 
Young managers may change their personal values, come across as troublemakers, or quit their jobs. Young managers may also feel anxious about commitment to the organization. Although they may feel they would benefit from conforming to the organization’s norms and having a sense of certainty about their careers, they don’t want to close doors and destroy illusions about possibility.
 
Finally, young managers may feel anxious about depending on others in the organization. Just at the time in their lives when they declare their psychological independence from home and parental authority, they are becoming dependent on their superiors and others in the company. They may also feel anxiety because others in the organization (subordinates, peers, and even superiors) depend on them.
 
5. Ethical dilemmas

Most young managers face unexpected professional dilemmas that force them to think about what is ethical and what is unethical. In making ethical decisions, young managers can find themselves torn between financial self-interest, obedience to the law, observance of religious principles, obedience to a superior, and doing the greatest good for the greatest number.