"This one seems obvious," you may say. The fact is, there is a lot of truth to the old saying that people end up in a position one level higher than they're actually capable of fulfilling with any level of competence. Most of corporate America is full of managers; sometimes those managers happen to not be such great managers. Why do we so often take technical people who are great at doing technical things and suddenly ask them to not do technical things any longer but, instead, control projects and resources?

Tip:

Instead of watching this happen to your team, think differently. Let people transition gradually into roles of more responsibility. Create different growth paths within your team or your organization. Disallow management responsibilities from completely eclipsing these technical employees' true calling. Above all, make such positions valued as much as higher-level management positions are considered valued.

Being a manager is tough work, but by taking these tips and suggestions into account, you can hopefully begin to foster a more positive work environment within your organization and place the emphasis on rewarding good people with growth opportunities and room for development.

Jonathan Hassell runs 82 Ventures, a consulting firm based out of Charlotte. He's also an editor with Apress Media LLC.