This discussion happens a lot: Someone contacts me for career coaching because they're frustrated that they haven't been promoted into a management position. More often than not, what spills out with their story is how unforeseen forces, over which they have no control, mysteriously seem to be keeping them from moving forward in their career.

I beg to differ. The forces are not invisible. They are not mysterious. You have control over them. Why? Because the key denominator holding you back from moving from an individual contributor role into a position managing people is most likely (drum roll, please): YOU.

The most difficult part of overcoming the barriers to obtaining a promotion into a job where you will manage others, is realizing that YOU might actually be the person holding yourself back.