I think many people get into management positions then lose touch with what they are doing. The concerns they face may seem "artificial" to those who are not facing them, though very real to the managers. But, with their time focused on conference calls, paperwork, etc... they lose touch with what goes on in the jobs of the people they are managing...
especially in fields where the jobs are continually changing, such as IT.

Also, some managers don't want to change. At my current workplace, my supervisor has no real desire to expand the range of services we could offer. Our state has recently changed over to some new environmental standards, and she is hopelessly lost. She has attended many seminars about these changes... but has never actually paid attention at them (she's mostly there for the free lunches).

Sometimes, if not often, managers get into a comfortable niche. They don't want to rock the boat or have to continue to evolve as their subordinates.. who are hungry for new opportunties and experiences..
are. Where subordinates see possibilities and growth, managers often see pointless change and personal inconvenience. I think this is one thing that separates your middle-manager types with the executives that are always at the forefront of business, technology, etc. The managers hit a plateau and have no real desire to move beyond that. So, they stagnate in this kind of working world hovering pattern... typically to the frustration of the subordinates who, being forced to learn and evolve to keep up pace with others in their field, begin to evolve beyond the manager's skill sets... leaving them to eventually wonder why the manager is higher up on the ladder. The executives that are out there pushing the envelope, however, recognize that they must continue to evolve... they can't sit in a comfortable little niche.. or they'll get left behind.

I think one of the keys to leading to the eventual resolution to this problem is to remember who you are, and where you came from, as you rise through the ranks. If your managerial duties don't give you the luxury to learn as much as you did before, learn what you can.. and learn from those you manage. Let them know it's a team effort.. and you're not riding their coattails.. but you would be interested to learn new things from them. Are you the kind of manager that would be lost without his or her staff, or can you pitch in and help take up the slack when needed?
Don't be a figurehead leader for people you percieve as mere followers... be a team player.

In a somewhat related example, my wife's father worked as a truck mechanic for Chevron. They occasionally worked with engineers that would desing loading docks, fueling stations, etc. Often, they never saw these guys more than once. The "college boys," as they would call them, would come out, take a look, and then go back and design these devices, systems, or processes that were a total pain in the butt, because they didn't learn from the "guys in the trenches." They rarely respected these types. But, one guy came out and worked with them for a month..
learning how they operate... how their loading docks worked, and how the staff worked with them. He then designed new docks and loading systems based on having really gotten to know these people and the tools they were using. They had a lot more respect for him, even though he was also a "college boy."

In our world of increasingly fast-paced change, it's not simply the juniors learning from the seniors.... often the seniors could stand to learn from the juniors as well. When they forget that, they become the Dilbert-types.


From Jobs Seekers Advice Forum.