My Manager has one-sided thinking and it’s killing our department! The #1 reason managers are not great at their jobs.
One of the greatest challenges facing a manager in today’s world is motivating their employees. We all know it but what are we doing about it?
You can read articles all across the spectrum about what an employee needs and wants out of the workplace and there are loads of opinions. The true determination of those articles is in the research they have done and the results that they show.
Here is what we know so far. Most, meaning 82% of all managers are not great at their jobs. Now don’t go getting all huffy on me or pretend like you are one of the 18% until you know that you are.
The number on reason most managers are not great at their jobs is because, (drum roll please), they are not good at admitting they are not the smartest person in their department.
And the number two reason is because they are not good at listening and receiving the opinions and ideas of others.
Most managers think they have to have the answer and usually that involves all of the answers. They huff and they puff and they stomp around getting upset whenever someone else tries to input other ideas.
Darren Hardy, a best-selling author and publisher of Success Magazine, says it this way, “Most everyone else in the organization is trying to keep everyone and everything out of the organization. They are saying “no” to things all day every day. It can become a knee-jerk reaction to everything. And they are spending most of their days doing the C-YA thing. New ideas only create risks and opportunities for them to fail… or more responsibility for them to burden.”
What most managers, again the 82% that are not great managers are doing, is worrying about that C-Y-A thing. Trying hard not to get caught in a mistake or worrying that someone else might take their job from them. What they fail to do is understand that, like the President of The United States, you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room if you will surround yourself with the smartest people.
What your bosses are actually looking for are leaders. They are wanting to find people who are willing to succeed at the expense of failure because they know all about leadership and success and therefore they understand that success comes at the expense of certain, limited, failures. They are looking for great ideas and initiative, and seeking the few people who understand what that takes. You, as a great manager, should be looking for the cream of the crop to surround yourself with and great people you can promote.
I have learned from many very successful people that they got ahead the fastest when they promoted great people who also recognized the potential of the boss who was promoting them. They in turn, lift those managers up both verbally to their superiors and also give accolades long after their days of working with them were over. This in turn led to those managers receiving bonuses and promotions.
So now tell me again, why do you have one-sided thinking? And how can you find some really good people with great ideas to help you achieve your goals, promote to your superiors and achieve great success?
Yes, I agree. Maybe we need to look at our people from a new perspective. Maybe you have a winning team sitting right in front of you.
I am Steve Sapato and I have been a manager, owner and business advisor for over thirty years. If you need more advice, weekly uplifting blogs like this then subscribe to my blog at http://www.mentalprosperityblog.com
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