PROJECT MANAGEMENT / MANAGEMENT / PROMOTION
Submitted by ALADDIN on Thu, 04/09/2009 - 19:28.
I believe it will be harder for a person with AS to achieve a promotion, management roles or project management roles. Those roles require , people skills which people with AS are less likely to have.
See,
http://www.aspergerfoundation.org.uk/infosheets/a_careers.pdf
Promotions
I don't necessary think it would be problematic for someone with Asperger's Syndrome to get promoted to a higher level in their jobs or careers. I would have to say it depends on the individual Aspie, their experience, capabilites, self esteem and even esteem.
For me I'm not interested in a promotion where I am. I don't think I'm ready for it, don't have a desire for the extra work and responsiblies involved, don't think I can handle it especially with managerial tasks, don't have the head for it and since I'm not too fond of the place I work for in general I don't think it would work out overall.
It's a funny thing during my last evaluation my director actually questioned me about why I wouldn't want a promotion and gave me the impression that if I wanted a promotion would of probably given me one. This has rarely happened during my years at the college. The only exception to this was the very last director which actually put in papers for me to get one but it never happened.
If I was more comfortable in the place I worked for and understood things clearly maybe I would of took the risk and seriously consider a promotion.
Dictated Paths
Over a year ago now a good friend whom I did my MBA with said something very profound to me.
He is a very bright guy: Oxford educated and had worked for Barclays bank here in the UK for many years (19 I think) and had worked his way up to a very senior position.
His position was made redundant. They offered him something else but he declined it. he now works as a grant advisor for a environmental trust!!
To be fair he is a single bloke, had paid off his mortgage and had built up quite a substantial salary entitlement during his time with Barclays. He was not therefore under any real financial pressure and had got to a stage where he was able to make some personl decisions.
It was a comment he made when he told me about his decision which sticks in the mind: "I don't want a career" which really made me think.
I think that there is this pressure to advance, have a formalised pathway, suceed on a titular basis etc. Why?
This got me thinking in relation to my AS. I am quite happy with the level I am comfortable at. For me this is working in a senior management position but not one with ultimate responsbility. In other words, I need the safety valve of someone about me to handle the politics, provide support and act as a sounding board.
From what you say it sounds as though you may well be able to take on board a higher role but - as you explain - you simply don'y don't won't to. Nothing wrong with that and, from a perspective of having Asperger, that's probably a very wise thing.
However, you could try. How about a trial run at it with the option of then reviewing and - maybe - returning?
The key I have found is to avoid taking on roles that expose oneself to excessive responsibility or pressure prematurely.
Not Impossible
This is a very interesting link and thank you for providing it.
Of course, having AS presents difficulties in the man management and social arena. When I look back over my career, these are the areas that have presented the most difficulty.
However, the whole motivation for writing my book and building aspergermanagement.com is my passionate belief that these are not insuperable issues.
The key, I have found, is to try (albeit by taking on tasks in these areas slowly so one can learn incrementally so as not to be overwhelmed by them), seek advice from people who have been in similar situations previously and, if possible, undertake training.
I found your reference to Project Management interesting. I have actually always enjoyed and have excelled at this.
The key key reason - I think - is that it has defined paramemters. Projects have a start and end date (usually); their objectives are usually clearly defined and; you can see an end result that enables you to move on. MY concentration is therefore focusable.
My final point is the "fear factor". I want to review a book for my site called "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway". What this says is that most people find things slightly daunting before they embark on something different or something that haven't done before, but once they get into it and make an attempt, it is not half as bad as they perceived it might be.
I am also writing a piece currently on decision-making for the next news letter.
One of the points made in the this by the writer is that "steps that are perceived as two mile jumps, turn out to be two foot jumps when you actually do them!"
Its the same point. Throughout my career it has never failed to amaze me how, when I look back at something after the event, it wasn't such a big thing after all!
I know, of course, that having AS complicates issues in some ways, but I will always urge people to try. Its worked for me and it can work for you.
As the author Sarah Hendrixx of the book What People with Asperger Syndrome Really Want which I am also reviewing for the next newsletter says in her conclusion:
"You can do it. Get motivated, get out there and show them how good you can be. Ask for the help you need, and learn about yourself – what makes you excellent and what makes you different. Inactivity changes nothing. Start today!"