Great managers are hard to find. Great managers have a true gift and a passion for getting the most out of people. Great managers possess a unique ability that is not in everyone. Having worked with hundreds of managers over the years, I now see clearly the ones who truly want to be great managers and the ones who are doing it for other reasons, e.g., ego, advancement, having nowhere else to go.
A leader may hold the title, but it’s the person who leads who excels at coaching and getting the most from his or her employees. If you’re on a leadership team, which person are you?
Although many leaders understand that coaching their employees is a large part of their job, few profess to excel at leading, managing, and creating accountability (LMA™). And I’ve never had a business owner tell me that the reason they started their business was because they loved to manage people. It’s no surprise then that “people issues” are one of the common frustrations of leaders, owners, and managers.
In his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, Marshall Goldsmith points out that the fundamental beliefs that drive our success can also make us resistant to change. We overestimate our contributions and sometimes take credit for things that others have accomplished, while often ignoring our own shortcomings. These delusions are the result of success, not failure. He observes that the four key beliefs that have helped us become successful can also make it very difficult for us to effect change.
What do people in your organization do when decisions don’t go their way? Do they accept the decision even though they disagree with it? Do they demonstrate through their words and actions that they support the decision and that they’re committed to achieving the objective? When communicating inside or outside the organization, do they give the impression that they are completely on board? Do their actions follow their words?
After a client’s recent EOS session, an owner of the company made a comment about the importance of repetition in mastering a skill. Specifically, he was talking about the weekly Level 10 meeting and, after just six meetings, how much better his team was becoming at identifying, discussing and solving issues, getting things done, improving communication and team health. He told his team, “Imagine how much better we’ll be after 52 weekly Level 10 meetings?”
You may have inherited, hired, or promoted people who you’ve recognized and rewarded for exceptional production and output—only to hear rumblings that they’re getting those results in ways that damage your company’s reputation, aggravating fellow team members and undermining everything that you’re trying to accomplish for the long term. These are usually me-first versus we-first people who put their interests before the Core Values of the organization.
In the meantime, they continue to produce results, but they get those results in ways that go against the company culture. In other words, while they are highly productive short-term, they’re killing your company long-term.