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READING TIME: ABOUT 5 MINUTES
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These aren't the evil bosses that steal credit and bad-mouth their employees. These folks mean well - but their results
actually demoralize workers and harm the business:
1) Agrees with everyone
These managers never met a point of view they disagreed with. One fitness instructor complaining about another? They sympathize, subtly validating the griping. The new
membership manager wants to completely reorganize her group, without
discussing it with any other department managers? Sure!
Good managers know that part of their role is to resolve competing views
of how the business should run and what its goals should be. It's
harmful to allow conflicting views and opinions to persist.
Another part of the role is to tactfully squash genuinely bad ideas,
ideally by helping the person who came up with the idea to think through
the implications and unintended consequences.
When a decision in one area affects other groups, good managers
reinforce the importance of working with colleagues to avoid unintended
consequences. And rather than encourage back-biting by
sympathizing when employees gripe about each other, they turn the focus
to action: "Marcus, what's the best way for you to address your concern
with Lisa?"
2) Blindly trusts direct reports
These managers have taken delegation to an extreme. They’re completely disengaged form the day-to-day business.
Rank-and-file employees see them only when they make the occasional
ceremonial and staged appearance to “rally the troops.” occasionally. They’re totally unaware of what’s really happening – and just about everyone knows it but them.
We spoke with the director of a corporate wellness program that provides
services to several large customers. He was shocked to find that
one of his most trusted employees had been hitting on female employees.
Virtually everyone on the front lines knew about it - but they knew his
reputation for relying only what his direct reports told him and
figured he wouldn't do anything if they complained.
Good bosses trust - but verify. They get information from all levels of the business. They
look for clues to problems by watching key indicators like employee
turnover. They check in with Human Resources to find out if
anything's bubbling behind-the scenes that they should know about. They
manage by walking around so that employees feel safe approaching them
when the situation calls for it.
3) Accuses workers of Chicken Little syndrome
These bosses minimize legitimate and serious concerns raised by their
teams. They treat staffers like Chicken Little, shouting that the sky is
falling. They don't take the time to fully understand an issue.
They rush to judgment -
only to discover later that their initial decision was flawed.
Employees often see these bosses as flip-floppers, because they're
perpetually making snap decisions that have to be revisited when their
flaws become obvious.
Effective managers encourage their teams to flag potential problems -
and they also encourage them to come up with potential solutions and
think through the pros and cons of each approach. They understand
the difference between ambitious goals and wishful thinking.
4) Ignores what's uncomfortable
A great employee wants to know why he didn't get a promotion. You know
he's going to ask you about it at your next one-on-one meeting - so you
cancel the appointment this week. And somehow the same thing
happens next week. And the
week after.
Good managers have the intestinal fortitude for the difficult
conversations. They don't enjoy it - but they know it's the right thing
to do.
We heard from two employees at a medical fitness center whose manager
had not spent any one-on-one time with them in over nine months. It
became clear that he was dodging them because he knew they weren't happy
about their pay and benefits and he dreaded the conversation.
5) Believes they know more than their people
Bosses
who have been promoted from within sometimes believe they know more
about the nitty-gritty day-to-day details than their teams do.
This approach has two flaws. First, while it may actually be true if
you're newly promoted, continuing to act like the "best customer service
rep" (or whatever) demoralizes your team and undermines your new
position as manager of the group. You probably aren't delegating nearly
as much as you should, either. And you're probably encouraging
your team to passively depend on you to solve problems.
Second, if it's been awhile since you were promoted, you probably DON'T
know all the details anymore.
Good managers respect the superior knowledge that their employees
have when it comes to the actual tasks they perform every day.
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