I haven’t had the opportunity to see this play out over multiple years/companies, so I’m not super well-informed yet, but I think I should have called out this part of my original comment more:
Not to mention various high-impact roles at companies that don’t involve formal management at all.
If people think management is their only path to success then sure, you’ll end up with everyone trying to be good at management. But if instead of starting from “who fills the new manager role” you start from “how can <person X> have the most impact on the company”—with a menu of options/archetypes that lean on different skillsets—then you’re more likely to end up with people optimizing for the right thing, as best they know how.
I haven’t had the opportunity to see this play out over multiple years/companies, so I’m not super well-informed yet, but I think I should have called out this part of my original comment more:
If people think management is their only path to success then sure, you’ll end up with everyone trying to be good at management. But if instead of starting from “who fills the new manager role” you start from “how can <person X> have the most impact on the company”—with a menu of options/archetypes that lean on different skillsets—then you’re more likely to end up with people optimizing for the right thing, as best they know how.