Sam Miller explains why top-performing recruiters often fail as managers. The skills that make someone a great biller—sales, negotiation, client relationships—don't teach you how to motivate people or develop talent. Top earners tend to work alone and micromanage their teams, and promoting them pulls your best revenue generator off the floor.
Chapters
Why top billers in recruitment aren't always the best managers. So picture this, guys. Sarah, a top-notch recruiter who's closing deals left, right, and center. Her billing figures are astronomical. T-minus 10, 9, 8. The boss sees her performance and thinks, hmm, Sarah's doing bloody well, we should make her a manager. Hold your horses, Barry. Let's explore why this could be a recipe for disaster. First and foremost, I think we can all agree that being a top biller and being being a great manager require an entirely different skill set. It's like asking a world-class sushi chef— God, I love sushi— to run an Italian restaurant. The techniques and knowledge required for each cuisine are vastly different. Top billers excel at sales, client relationships, and negotiations. Managers, on the other hand, need to be highly skilled in motivation, organization, and developing others. The transition from top biller to manager could be like trying to watch a pug do a backflip. Yes, it might be funny, but it's a futile attempt because everyone knows pugs can't backflip. Another reason could be top billers like Sarah often have a lone wolf mentality. They know how to hunt for deals and close them without any help from the pack. It's a fantastic quality for a high-performing recruiter, but not so much for a good manager. Managers need to be pack leaders, guiding and supporting all their team members to make sure everyone is pulling in the same direction. A lone wolf might not have the patience to teach others, nor the inclination to share their hard-earned secrets. The end result: a team that feels neglected rather than inspired. Another common thing I hear all the time when a top biller becomes a manager is that they slip into the dark side of management. Yes, I'm talking about micromanagement. They know how to get results and they truly believe that their way is the best way to succeed. This could lead to a team of mini-Saras all trying to emulate their leader rather than developing their own unique skills and styles. A great manager knows when to step back to let their team members grow, experiment, and find their own path to success. Lastly, promoting a top biller to a managerial position could be a bit of a double-edged sword, so you need to weigh it up. Is it worth diluting their exceptional sales skills to become a great manager, or would it be better to let them do what they do best, which is make a shitload of money for the business? Food for thought.
