Getting into management should NOT be like getting into a cult or a gang

One of the things I've long pondered about management is that there seems - perhaps more a few years ago than now - to almost be an initiation rite to get in: people are expected to "show an ability to make tough decisions (or to be tough)". Typically, this involves "tightening the belt" or "downsizing" or "sacrifice to the company's profit" rubbish.

It isn't sensible, appropriate, or beneficial to the company. Typically, such rubbish is harmful (see here - which I'm still reading) to the company, and it compounds the problem by biasing selection towards people who are emotionally inept.

Some of the people I've worked for or seen over past decades (not now, when I have the best manager I've ever had, nor about 15 years ago, when I had the second best) have been so pathetically incompetent at being human that they have struggled at simple basics like giving praise.

Some of that may have been toxic masculinity (the tough-but-silent-male or hard-with-a-hidden-heart-of-gold rubbish), but that explanation does NOT minimise, let alone justify, the active, massive harm.

Management roles are another part of a company. They have the same rights to support (including resources), training and consideration as any other role, and neither they nor any other roles deserve in any way work-life imbalance, bullying, or any other form of abuse - nor are they allowed to do any of that.

It's not like joining a cult or a gang: there are legal protections, ethical expectations / obligations, and the right to resign that is one of the important boundaries between work and slavery.