Advancing past middle management

Here's what I'm thinking:

Middle management is not all it's cracked up to be. The extra money (over and above what you would be getting by being eligible for OT, of course, if any) comes with a great deal of stress, occasional heartache, and general unpleasantness. It also can be quite rewarding, for those who have the aptitude and desire and resources to make their departments better.

I'm interested to know what your most recent former boss is doing now. I want to get a sample of what the advancement pattern actually is. Some middle managers like being in middle management and don't want to move up; others don't get the opportunity; and others yet get tired of the bullshit and say, "Let me do anything -- answering phones, cleaning toilets, whatever -- to get me out of this gig."

I know, for instance, that none of the sports editors for whom I worked ever made his or her way to the glass offices. I'm wondering what the pattern is elsewhere.

Please limit your answer to the person who most recently was your immediate supervisor, before your current one. Am interested to hear comments from people who are managers, who want to be managers, and most importantly, who were managers and aren't any longer.

 

Our current ME is the former SE.

 

My last boss is taking a dirt nap now.
My last boss before him was fired and is now in middle management at another newspaper.
Mind you, this all happened in the span of about a year. As you might imagine, I'm trying to get the hell out of here.
I'm in middle management now, getting squeezed on all ends. I have no desire to make decisions ever again.

 

As did mine.

 

My last SE was demoted voluntarily. Left and became a copy editor at a bigger paper. Says he likes it and doesn't have to deal with the bullshit that was being an SE at a community sized paper.

 

my former ed. still is the ed. at that paper.

 

I am no longer in the industry, but found out that my last ME was demoted to a section editor. Three months later, he quit to take a "senior reporter" job at a smaller paper. Seems to me nobody else thought he could cut it either.

 

Fuck middle management. I couldn't do it. You're shit on from the top, bitched at from the bottom - all the while working too many hours for salary.

Reading everyone else's stories all fucking day would suck, too.

When I'm ready to be an editor, I want to go for a section editor or me at a smaller paper.

 

Last I heard, my previous boss is still working where I left him.

Now that I'm in the management position I'm in, I'm wondering about making a move down the ladder. I enjoy most aspects of my job, but I don't like the fact that I've spent little time with my family since I got this job.

I have that nagging saying echoing in my head: "When you're on your deathbed, no one's ever said, 'gee if I'd only spent more time at the office'."

 

Last boss: Still there.

Boss before him: Whereabouts unknown after his wife caught him balls deep in one of the advertising women.

 

I've accumulated a lot of ex-bosses over the years:
No. 1 (the guy who hired me this month 22 years ago) - Sports ed became city ed, and now is the state government reporter for our paper.
No. 2 (second SE) - He gave up his SE role this past summer to become the senior sports writer on the staff.
No. 3 (managing editor) - She selected me to be editor of paper's community news section. She's now in charge of company's weekly newspaper division.
No. 4 (second SE) - Worked for second SE again when I returned to sports for a year. See No. 2 for his current status.
No. 5 (second ME) - I returned to community news section under new ME. When I took on web site duties in addition to community news, he also became my web supervisor while another editor became my community news supervisor. The second ME left the paper five years ago.
No. 6 (Lifestyles section editor) - She became my community news section supervisor. Her and ex-boss No. 5 had to fill out separate job review reports on me. She's still in same position today.
No. 7 (Third ME and most recent ex-boss) - Paper took community news gig off of me for me to focus on web site under a different ME. While under his supervision, he was reassigned to an ME role in charge of production when the paper added an ME in charge of news. Still in same position.

The ME in charge of news is my current boss. I'm in my fourth tour of duty doing the community news section.

 

My most recent ex-boss is still at my old paper. And probably never going up (too old, too old-school) or out (unless they fire him).
Boss before him (at the same paper), just got whacked when a new top editor came in, decided after a couple months that he "didn't like the direction of the section," and fired the guy one morning. He had 20 years at the place, three kids, and a column. Fuck that.
There are times when I think it would be fun to be a frontline editor, to help craft stories and mentor younger reporters, to have a hand in hiring and do my little part to help save this godforsaken business. Then I see all the horseshit they have to put up with every day, and all I have to do is write. Think I'll stick to that.