A reader writes:
I lead a small team at a small company. A few months ago, we hired a new team member, “Jessica,” for an individual contributor role on the team, although in her previous role she had been a manager. We explicitly asked if she would be happy in an individual contributor role, and she indicated that she would be thrilled to have the opportunity.
In general, things are going well. Jessica is reliable, produces consistently good work, brings new perspectives to the team, and is a strong collaborator most of the time. However, she consistently brings up the fact that she was once a manager and often tells me what she would do differently if she were in charge.
For example, we were recently needed to drop everything and focus on a high-stakes project for a few weeks. The timelines weren’t ideal, but there was genuine urgency around getting it done fast and everyone was able to do their part without working extra hours. Throughout the project, Jessica repeatedly said that I should have refused to honor the proposed timelines – telling me that I was setting a bad precedent, and that as a manager she never would have agreed to something like this.
She also sometimes complains about the mundane aspects of her work, saying that she’s better suited to high-level planning and supervision.
On one hand, I feel like this is becoming a performance issue, but I also wonder if it would best be ignored. (Though in either case, it’s getting on my nerves.) I also don’t know if I should address the issue by giving her more responsibility – or by telling her that this needs to change. Or should I try to combine the two? I want her to feel that her skills are being utilized but I also need her to show up with an all-hands-on-deck mentality.
I answer this question over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.