Career Compass

Should you take the manager track or the expert track?

Take the one that gives you energy. Management is a different job, not a reward for being good at your current one. Some people find they love helping others do the work. Others miss making things and are happier as senior experts. Both are good outcomes. Drifting into the wrong one because it looked like the only way up is the only bad one.

Take Career Compass: eighteen questions, about six minutes. Answer for an ordinary month.

What does the test look at?

Two kinds of energy, nine questions each:

• Energy from making. Losing track of time in your own work, wanting to deepen your craft, missing hands-on work when meetings fill the day.
• Energy from enabling. Enjoying a colleague’s success you helped with, noticing when someone is struggling, liking conversations about someone’s growth.

What do I get at the end?

One of four results, each with what it’s good for, its trade-off and one thing to try next:

• Maker: your energy comes from doing the work and getting better at it.
• Manager: your energy comes from helping other people do good work.
• Both: you get energy from both, and may suit a lead role that keeps some hands-on work.
• Not clear yet: neither gives you much energy right now, so it’s too early to choose on energy alone.

You also see both energy levels side by side. The names are our own and still a draft. Neither track is better.

How is it worked out?

Nine questions measure each kind of energy, answered from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Six of the eighteen describe the opposite, such as “I avoid tasks that involve coordinating other people”, and are flipped before scoring. Each side is averaged on a 1 to 5 scale and counts as high from 3.5. One high side gives Maker or Manager; both high gives Both; neither high gives Not clear yet.

The questions, names and advice are a draft written with AI and are waiting for a coach’s review. Treat the result as a mirror, not a verdict.

What should I read or take next?

If you already manage and miss the work, read is it bad to go from manager to individual contributor?. If you lean Manager, Ready to Lead? shows which habits to build first, and The Expert Trap shows how strongly doing the work still pulls at you. Every tool for this moment is on the Stepping up page.