THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS that people become managers.
Unfortunately, many companies don’t go through a very thorough process in choosing those who will be moved into a managerial position. Often the judgment is based solely on how well the person is performing in his current position. The best individual contributor doesn’t always make the best manager, although many companies still make the choice on that basis. The theory is that successful past performance is the best indicator of future success. However, management skills are very different from the skills one needs to succeed as an individual contributor.
So the fact that an employee is a good performer, even though she demonstrates a pattern of success, doesn’t necessarily mean the person will be a successful manager. Being a manager requires skills beyond those of being an excellent technician. Managers need to focus on people, not just tasks. They need to rely on others, not just be self-reliant. Managers are also team oriented and have a broad focus, whereas non-managers succeed by having a narrow focus and being detail oriented. In many ways, transitioning from the role of an individual contributor to a manager is similar to the difference between being a technician and being an artist. The manager is an artist because management is often nuanced and subjective. It involves a different mindset.
MANAGEMENT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE
Some companies have management-training programs. These programs vary from excellent to unfortunate. Too often, the program is given to people who already have been in managerial positions for a number of years. It’s true that even experienced managers periodically should be given refresher courses in management style and techniques. But if a training program has any merit, it should be given to individuals who are being considered for management positions. The training program will not only help them avoid mistakes, it also gives trainees the opportunity to see whether they will be comfortable leading others. A management training program that helps potential managers decide that they are not suited for management has done both the prospective managers and the organization they are a part of a great favor.
Unfortunately, far too many organizations still use the “sink or swim” method of management training. All employees who move into supervisory positions must figure it out on their own. This method assumes that everyone intuitively knows how to manage. They don’t. Managing people is crucial to the success of any organization; but in too many cases, it is left to chance. Anyone who has worked for any length of time has observed situations where a promotion didn’t work out and the person asked for the old job back. The well-known saying, “Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it” comes to mind. In many companies, the opportunities for promotion are limited if you don’t go into management. As a result, some people go into management who shouldn’t be there—and they wouldn’t want to be in management if other opportunities existed for salary increases and promotion.
A series of management seminars was conducted for one company that used an enlightened approach to the problem of moving the wrong people into management. Everyone under potential consideration for a first-line management position was invited to attend an all-day seminar on what is involved in the management of people. Included were some simple but typical management problems. When these candidates were invited to attend, they were told by the company, “If after attending this seminar you decide that the management of people is not something you want to do, just say so. That decision will in no way affect other non-management promotion possibilities or future salary decisions in your current position.”
Approximately five hundred people attended these seminars, and approximately 20 percent decided they did not want to move into management. After getting a brief taste of management, about a hundred people knew they would not make good managers, but they were still valuable employees. This is dramatic to consider. If this program is representative it suggests that 20 percent of people advanced into management would prefer not to be there. Far too many people accept management promotions because they feel (often rightly so) that they will be dead-ended if they reject the promotion.
THE OMNIPOTENT ONE
Some people believe that if you want something done right, you’d better do it yourself. People with this attitude rarely make good leaders or managers because they have difficulty delegating responsibility. Everyone has seen these people: They delegate only those trivial tasks that anyone could perform, and anything meaningful they keep for themselves. As a result, they work evenings and weekends and take a briefcase home as well. There is nothing wrong with working overtime. Most people occasionally must devote some extra time to the job, but those who follow this pattern as a way of life are poor managers. They have so little faith in their team members that they trust them with only minor tasks. What they are really saying is that they don’t know how to properly train their people.
There is often a staff turnover problem in a team with this kind of manager. The employees are usually more qualified than the “omnipotent one” believes and they soon tire of handling only trivia.
You probably know of an omnipotent one in your own organization. It is a problem if you’re working for one, because you’ll have a difficult time being promoted. Caught up in your impossible situation, you’re not given anything important to do. As a result, you never get a chance to demonstrate your abilities. Omnipotent ones seldom give out recommendations for promotion. They are convinced that the reason they must do all the work is that their staff doesn’t accept responsibility. They can never admit that it is because they refuse to delegate. The trap of becoming an omnipotent one is being emphasized because you don’t want to allow yourself to fall into this mode of behavior. If you notice that you are only delegating minor tasks, it is time to stop and make a personal assessment of your management style.
One other unvarying trait of omnipotent ones is that they seldom take their vacations all at once. They take only a couple days off at a time because they are certain the company can’t function longer than that without them. Before going on vacation, they will leave specific instructions as to what work is to be saved until their return. They will direct their team to email, text, or call them regarding anything of significance even though they are supposed to be on vacation. The omnipotent one even complains to family and friends, “I can’t even get away from the problems at work for a few days without being bothered.” What omnipotent ones don’t say is that this is exactly the way they want it because it makes them feel important. For some omnipotent managers, any joy in their retirement years is demolished because retirement means an end to their dedication to the job, their perceived indispensability, and possibly their reason for living.
THE CHOSEN FEW
Sometimes, people are chosen to head a function because they’re related to or have an “in” with the boss. Consider yourself fortunate if you do not work for this type of company. Even if you are related to the boss, it’s very difficult to assume additional responsibility under these circumstances. You doubtless have the authority, but today’s businesses aren’t dictatorships and people won’t perform well for you just because you’ve been anointed by upper management. So, if you’re the boss’s son or daughter or friend, you really need to prove yourself. The reality is that your colleagues may even expect you to perform at a higher level than someone who does not have the advantages you have. You need to accept the higher standard they have set for you. That is just the way it is. You’ll get surface respect or positional respect, but let’s face it—it’s what people really think of you, not what they say to you, that matters—and that affects how they perform.
In the best organizations, you’re not chosen for a managerial position because of your technical knowledge, but because someone has seen the spark of leadership in you. That is the spark you must start developing. Leadership is difficult to define. A leader is a person others look to for direction, someone whose judgment is respected because it is usually sound. As you exercise your judgment and develop the capacity to make sound decisions, it becomes a self-perpetuating characteristic. Your faith in your own decisionmaking power is fortified. That feeds your self-confidence, and with more self-confidence, you become less reluctant to make difficult decisions.
Leaders are people who can see into the future and visualize the results of their decisionmaking. Leaders can also set aside matters of personality and make decisions based on fact. This doesn’t mean you ignore the human element—you never ignore it—but you always deal with the facts themselves, not with people’s emotional perception of those facts. This does not mean that you are blind to the emotional impact of your decisions but that you do not let those impacts take you off course. People are chosen to be managers for a variety of reasons. If you’re chosen for sound reasons, acceptance by your new staff will, for the most part, be much easier to gain.