Being Promoted Into a Job That Makes You Miserable

“Rising to your level of misery” is how Arthur Brooks puts it. The first 20 minutes or so of his podcast with Ezra Klein [link — play button at bottom of page] is one of the most well-articulated descriptions of an affliction which hits many tech leaders, especially those in product/design/engineering.

Brooks describes the “trap” of being good enough at your job to continue taking on new responsibilities, eventually leading to significant management tasks. Along the way you picked up material gains (salary) and emotional ones (power), so you…