Scared of my job future

[DaKini]

Hi there,
Today i had my first job rewiev in my 11 year career (supposed to happen every two years, lol). I (32 yrs) work as an it consultant in the public sector and currently are at the top of my pole (i cant rise further on this position and therefoream capped salary wise, i will get schefuled rises the next 10 yrs or so). My probable Fi date is still about 20 years away (maybe i will pull of time reduction way before that and work longer).

The review was in fact very good. My boss wants me to go into project leading and said to me that he likes to see me as a team leader (the next step on the corporate ladder) in some years. For this to happen i would need to have an open podition and some credentials still to get.

Iam scared of this prospects as the podition im currently is my envisioned dream, i am fairly free, take moderate to good pay and do the right mix of tech stuff and planning things. I enjoy my current position.
When i get some employees in the future i will not he able to continue this, the tech stuff would shift to the planning sector which would deprive me.
However, how could i tell if i like tech stuff 5 or 10 years into the future? Who can tell if project management isnt even better as my current love?
If i turn this opportunity down now, i think it may not get around a sevind time. I do not want to get stuck for the next 20 years in case my current job degenerates into burocracy (which might happen) and the salary as keader would also be nice. However: if all things beeing equal regarding my current job in 10 years i think it would be the far better (eg more joyful) option. But... probably i feel bored of this job in 10 years...

I feel ripped apart :(, even more as most collegues would lick their fingers for this kind of mentorship/boost from their boss. I also feel bad that i currently feel freightened. I do not want to accidently rise my stress level which i think would happen as a team manager that needs to deal with personal issues of his employees. But i think i would be good at it.

Which road to take? Remain where i be safe or take the risky route?

[JLee]

Could you change employers and get a larger salary for doing what you currently enjoy?

I'm not sure how the job market is in Europe, but in the US you generally make far more money by changing jobs every 2-3 years than you would by staying with one employer.

[DaKini]

Changing jobs in theory is possible. It would  involve moving which would be rather bad for family reasons and would also mean nit so stable job prospects. As i work in the public sector i am benefiting of very good job security (if i wontcommit crime or do strange things, i cant be laid of, which is very nice with a wife and two small kids), its a government like position.
Switching employers may be an option when the kids outgrown the house.

[Mother Fussbudget]

Tell your boss that the suggestion has caused you to do a lot of thinking, and you're not sure if the lead position would be a good fit for your communication style (your Myers/Briggs profile - you can do this on-line).  You should also say it's going to take some time to complete the required credentials for the position. 

In the meantime, suggest that you'd like to try out the role on a 'trial basis' for a small project - and think it would be good to work alongside a more experienced project leader as that person's helper or assistant or intern.  Tell them you want to try this while keeping your current role and salary without any additional pay raise. 

Suggest a 90 day "trial basis" timeframe or pick a project with a known 90 day completion date, and say you'd like to help.

Demonstrate you want to help solve problems.  Demonstrate you're interested in the leadership position, but aren't sure your people skills will be the right fit for the job.  Demonstrate you want to TRY the job before you make a commitment to CHANGE jobs.   And by taking the initiative, by presenting this kind of plan to your boss, you'll be seen as a forward thinking employee no matter what the outcome.   Best of luck!

[And you look a little like my old pal Ludwig II of Bavaria] ;-)

[DaKini]

Thank you for your input!

[And you look a little like my old pal Ludwig II of Bavaria] ;-)

Yeah, that is what dakini stands for, it is bavarian tounge.

[DaKini]

The thing here is, that beeing project lead in my company is no separate job position and is not compensated with raised salary.
It would be the road to higher leadership positions, however.

If i never wanted to take up such a role like team manager, i would not take up the additional burden of project leading and turn my boss down.
Besides that, who knows if a team manager position will be open in the foreseeable future?

But to try it out and communicating this openly seems like a very good idea. I think i might like leading people, but i will never know without trying. I think i am just a little scared from this unforeseen good outlook in my job life and the known-unknowns this would involve.
In my private life i already have leadership experience (regularly leading alpine expeditions), but of course this is a different world.

[DaKini]

I stumbled upon this old thread of mine and tought it would be appropriate to report on the outcome.

Since the offer above, I really was offered a Team manager position later. I declined.
It was not much more pay but much more stress.
However I did got a (somewhat unexpected) promotion because there was a reorganistation project going on which I hopped in as some kind of leadership position. That was somewhat fun, but showed me its nothing I would want to do forever as main occupation. It yielded a new position a pay grade higher which I could also secure for myself (trough official application). I was not yet officially qualified for this, but could convince the HR people to allow me to apply with the promise of getting some further education; in reality I already did large parts of that job description, but the public sectors loves paper qualifications. I even got them to pay for the education program :)

Well, so I am now some kind of informal team leader without all the legal stuff. I still do plenty of technical work like before and *this* was like I envisioned it. If you read my initial posting, you can already see that I love technical IT stuff, especially software development. I knew that in my subconsciousness and it really paid off in life quality terms.
I reduced work hours a little for ~2hrs, but that already paid big in life quality dividends. The hours is about the additional pay from the rise, so effectively i earn the same as before for a little less work.

All in all it turned out pretty well, and the big lesson was to follow my (contemplated!) feelings.
They already told me what to choose, and it just was hard to acknowledge it.

[former player]

Thank you for the update.  I'm glad everything has gone well for you.