A warning to managers.
Before we all became managers or started doing managerial things, we used to have a speciality, or as some might say “A real job” 1. We were technical or business focussed or operational but we had something, and when a lot of us turned to managers we forgot that, we left it behind. We didn’t need it. We are big and powerful people…
I personally don’t subscribe to that as a good plan. I take my lead on this from the fact that one of the directors I respect the most, still retains an extremely high level of competency in their business speciality, not merely in the business of being a director. In feudal times, people who used to wait on lords i.e. flunkies, Used to have to be double skilled, so that if they ever lost their jobs, they did not turn to either beggary or crime. I feel that this applies to modern managers.
You should keep up with whatever original skill(s) you had, you should maintain them, keep them sharp and up to date, Even if you don’t think you’re going to use them. Take it from me. If you are a manager, the amount of respect you receive from people that you are responsible for is far, far higher If they know you cannot be baffled with bullshit. If you know your stuff. it introduces a different level of respect at work.
I personally maintain 2 CV’s 2 and use them to judge if I am still worth the money that clients and employers would pay, I have never regretted the extra effort, as it validates my usefulness.