Promoted to manager a year ago and realized I dread the day-to-day. How do you step back to senior individual contributor without it looking like a demotion?
I worked as a senior environmental data specialist for five years and genuinely loved the work. I had deep focus, solved complex technical modeling problems, and felt energized at the end of the day.
Last spring, my director offered me the team lead and manager role. At the time, it felt like the obvious next step everyone strives for, so I accepted. I gave it a full twelve-month commitment, but I have come to the realization that people managment simply does not fit my personality. My entire week has become a blur of performance check-ins, administrative approvals, and endless status meetings. I haven't done actual deep analytical work in months, and Sunday evenings fill me with dread.
My company is reasonably healthy and leadership likes me, so this isn't about escaping a toxic culture.
Has anyone successfully transitioned back from management to an individual contributor role internally? How did you frame that conversation without signaling that you "failed"?