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Abstract
A management position becomes available and an individual contributor is tapped to fill this important position even though they may have minimal or no previous management experience. The traditional definition of a manager is someone who gets things done through and with other people. An individual contributor, on the other hand, is someone who operates as a team member or independently. Some managers will tell you it holds little prestige for them because they no longer can have the direct control of their results and, therefore, rewards and recognition like they did as an individual contributor. Moving up is frequently thought of as a positive for one's career. Personnel or capital decisions can be undermined by influential board members and others with special interests. Managers and individual contributors both operate within political realities and derive benefits and liabilities accordingly that must be explored carefully upfront.