Morning Brew - 🙅 Not the boss of you

Time-saving tools and products we’re really into rn.

• Sometimes getting more out of your days means putting down your planner and following the lead of a productive person instead.
• Let’s be real, you probably don’t need to buy another cookbook. Save some space (and money) with a free membership that’ll organize your favorite recipes and cookbooks, digitally.
• BRB, I’m adding these extensions to my Gmail to cut through my scary inbox clutter.

What’s top-of-mind at the water cooler.

As you move up the rungs of the corporate ladder, you’ll likely be faced with the inevitable choice of remaining a superstar worker or stepping into a managerial role. These loftier titles, which are typically associated with higher salaries, better offices (do those even exist anymore?), and more responsibility, are the end goal for most career people. And though making more money is almost always accomplished by taking on management roles, Insider advice columnist Rebecca Knight makes the case that it may not be the right calling for every employee.

Junior employees and managers do different types of work that almost always require different kinds of skills. Instead of doing what brought you to your field in the first place—writing code, illustrating, teaching, etc.—you’ll be tasked with helping your direct reports get their work done through detailed planning and meetings. This can be a stark contrast for many employees moving into management positions for the first time, especially if they’re not properly prepared with training and guidance. And as those of us with bad manager experiences know all too well, not everyone has what it takes to be a great manager.

If you’ve been unhappy in a new management role or have been offered a management position that you’re not sure you want, it can be helpful to reflect on whether or not the work you'll be doing aligns with your career goals. It can also be helpful to think of the great bosses you’ve had over the course of your career, and the personality traits and skills that made them successful, and then honestly ask yourself if you can live up to those examples and expectations.

It’s perfectly okay to not want to be a manager, and experiencing some discomfort as you step into your new role is normal also. Insider cites a study that calls this transition the “managerial blues.” Some career experts have also argued that the solution to reworking the direct report-to-manager pipeline effectively involves companies creating additional pathways for those not interested in holding management roles.

For those of you who are earlier in your careers, do you dream of one day being a manager? And those who are already managers, do you enjoy it? Hit reply and let me know!

Your punch list for when you punch out.

Read: Bloomberg’s compilation of the best journalism of the year into an interactive list includes Twitter feed faves like the WSJ’s “Facebook Files” and the NYT’s “Bad Art Friend.”

Watch: The Brew’s latest YouTube series, Point of Return, follows the investing journeys of regular people instead of master investors. The first episode features a couple that made $70k from magic cards (yes, you read that right).

Drink: Survive awkward holiday dinners and get-togethers with the help of this vegan coquito recipe (we won’t tell if you add a double shot).

Burning questions of our time.

After experiencing extreme demand for its products in the early days of the pandemic, Peloton’s popularity has slowed as things have returned to the new normal. The brand belongs to a class of golden “pandemic stocks” (like Zoom), but supply chain issues, hiring freezes, and product recalls have whacked the home exercise company’s share price hard.

So when the first episode of the new Sex and the City spinoff, And Just Like That, featured the death of a beloved character after completing their thousandth Peloton ride, the brand found itself yet again in the middle of a controversy. (Perhaps a tad overblown considering the real-life death of a six-year-old child after they were pulled under the company’s treadmill product.)

The brand gave a valiant shot at a rebuttal with a 30-second, Ryan-Reynolds-narrated commercial that has since gone viral across social media platforms, but has the company lost its once-golden sheen? Do you think Peloton can maintain its relevance as gyms and workout studios have returned to normal capacity, or do you think it’ll eventually become a long-forgotten pandemic brand? Respond to this email and let me know!