Company wants me to take a "promotion"

BLUF: [i]My company is offering a promotion which appears lateral, less interesting and more narrow to me than my current position. I'm conflicted. I declined. They are coming back again.[/i]

[b]Background:[/b]
Over the years I've held various positions where I've straddled the business and technical worlds. Typically I understand technology just deep enough to mediate between the technologists and the business owners. I've also held positions where I've managed people in high intensity atmospheres such as restaurants, start-ups and call centers. I took the online DISC profile and received a result of 7-4-1-4: Results-Oriented. A colleague read through the report and said that it is missing a key
factor, my internal conflict.

For the past few years I've worked for a 200-person software company as Director of Technical Presales for Asia. I manage the time and priorities of 3 employees although due to geography and culture they don't typically work outside of their home countries. Due to the emerging nature of our Asian operations I find myself spending a good deal of time working on BD and pure sales activities. Our region is responsible for around 10% of the company's revenue. Trips to Asia tend to be 5-10 days long and last year I spent about 60% of my time on the road. My wife says I live on the plane. I have fallen in love with the road warrior lifestyle, the pace of Asia and thoroughly enjoy the variety within my job.

[b]The Offer:[/b]
Recently the employee performing my role in Europe has taken on a role in another department. European business is perhaps 40-50% of the company revenue. The market is much more mature. Companies issue tenders for products similar to ours whereas in Asia we are educating the market. I have been offered to relocate to the UK to take his position. I'd be managing a group of 4 employees who can essentially work throughout the entire region. The throughput and responsibility is greater. Due to the centrality of the region the company has enough BD and sales people and I'd be focusing on managing and performing the core technical presales activities.

When the opportunity first came up I spent a few days listening to the Interview Series a second time. Some of the items weren't relevant because I couldn't channel the process into an interview process. All parties involved know exactly what I've done over the past few years and were involved in the initial interview process. They'd have found it very annoying to have been given an updated CV. I listened to How to Handle Offers 4 times. I made sure that I had all portions of the Offer before I started agreed to seriously consider it.

Using the [url=http://icsc.un.org/col-pasb.asp]UN's Post Adjustment[/url] formulas the initial compensation package looked reasonable. But then I started working a spreadsheet to add up the costs of rent, gas, electricity, food, etc. and the compensation didn't stack up so well. I validated my numbers with a few other people and if I were to take the position I'd need more money.

I specifically didn't raise this issue as I wasn't 100% certain that I wanted the position. I spoke to several colleagues who have come to know me very well. I spoke to the colleague currently in the position. For the most part I think I have a good idea of the differences between my current position and the position I'm being asked to take.

[b]The Comparison:[/b]
When I try to balance the two positions I'm coming to the conclusion that I prefer my current position.

Current Position
[list]
[*] I beleive that we can generate more revenue from the region. Building something.
[*] The travel is interesting and exposes me to additional cultures and business concerns.
[*] The market isn't mature but I enjoy educating the market.
[*] The people I work with day in and day out across departments are a pleasure and we work extremely well together. Better than people in the other regions are working together.
[*] I enjoy the exposure to work outside of my job description and feel that it gives me a taste for things I may want to pursue in the future.
[*] I feel that if I found myself in the exact same position 5 years from now I would still be as happy as I am today.
[*] On the downside in a growing region you don't win as much business and at the end of the day you don't earn as much as you could in a region with more sales.
[*] I feel that this role gives me the ability to think more strategically.
[*] In my current position I think I have a better chance of some day relocating to Asia.
[/list:u]
New Position
[list]
[*] I'd be working with with a large and growing revenue stream in a mature market.
[*] Role includes responsibility for a larger part of the company revenue.
[*] There is a more critical need to manage priorities and time.
[*] The smaller geography and greater number of sales opportunities means the team must be more dynamic.
[*] The potential exists to save more money than in the current position.
[*] Moving ot the UK puts the kids and wife in a situation to improve their English.
[*] Depending upon the compensation we could potentially travel around and see Europe
[*] Due to the volume of activity in my core role I'd have a narrower variety of other types of activities
[*] The nature of assigning limited resources to work on opportunities leads to more internal politics
[*] I feel that this role has so much volume that I'd need to think more tactically at the expense of strategy.[/list:u]
[b]
The Conflict:[/b]
At the end of the day I decided that I really enjoy what I'm doing now and I prefer this role to the role being offered. I declined the offer and explained that I'm happy in my current role and don't see the one being offered as one which expands my horizons or adds significant value to me as a professional. There are other roles in my current territory and others that I could see enjoying more than my current role but the one offered is not among them. I also explained that I felt that their offer was generous enough for me to understand that they are serious but it wasn't so generous that it was a deciding factor that was difficult for me to pass up. My head stopped spinning and my gut stopped wrenching. I started to make plans to redouble my efforts to seriously take advantage of my ability to dabble in the other realms.

So soon after I received a call from the Dir of HR. She was trying to convince me that the European experience would make me much more valuable in the market. She explained that while experience in Asia is good, the fact that companies see so much revenue from Europe makes it more valuable. Also managing a multi-cultural team in Europe would have more of an impact in the future than my current team. (which I see as just as multi-cultural but HR doesn't) We discussed the compensation and I reiterated that the compensation wasn't the deciding factor. I also explained that I wavered back and forth throughout every day as to whether to take the position. I explained that the main reason that I decided to decline the offer is that I enjoy the variety of my current position.

I can understand the needs of the company. They need to fill this position in order to ensure that the revenue stream is not interrupted. They can more easily find someone for my current role as the size and intensity is smaller so it would be easier for them to develop in the role. For the offered role they need someone experienced and taking the time to find that person on the outside would be costly to the operation.

[b]The company has decided not to accept my decision to decline as final.[/b] A meeting has been set up with the COO (High C) during which I expect an attempt to explain to me how this role puts me in the center of all the action. It sets me up very well for other roles which I may want. It gives me a wider view of the needs and processes of the company. Generally I don't buy these arguments. I can understand that I am passing up an opportunity to take on more responsibility and distress/eustress, but am I really missing the forest for the trees? I feel like a deer caught in the headlights.