Why do you manage?

There’s saying that if you can look back at your past and feel embarrassed, you’ve grown as a person. You have reflected on your past steps, reflected (and owned!) your mistakes, and thought of how to incorporate your past into your future actions! And in today’s culture framed by a growth mindset, we all want to grow into the best versions of ourselves to empower us and those around us.

Personally as an employee I find the same thing happens:

Once you find a good manager you’ll wonder how you ever lived otherwise

This isn’t saying there’s a perfect manager just waiting in the rafters; we’re all fallible and doing the best we can, but rather is your manager responsive to you?

I’ve had the pleasure to be managed and manage quite a bit in my career at this point, finding a distinct divide, those who want to manage, and those forced to manage.

Many managers are pushed into managing as the next stage in their career path. These individuals are very strong technical leaders with a flair for execution having driven bottom line metrics - but oftentimes are faced with no other path for career progression. So rather than continuing as amazing and inspiring technical leaders, these leaders are rather told they now have to now manage others.

And while some make the transition amazingly, excelling in building the work culture and collaboration we all aspire to, some aren’t able to make the switch leading to the awful middle management we know from Dilbert. In the same way an amazing astronaut may not be the best choice for leading NASA, an amazing technical leader may not be the best technical manager. This isn’t because they’re bad at their job, it’s just a different skill set.

As a manager your team is looking at you to manage up, down, sideways, and indirectly. A manager doesn’t lead by command but by inspiration. They inspire and align their chain and work cross-functionally to onboard those across the organization, a tireless task without clear deliverables. Managers are frequently the unsung heros bringing a project to fruition and who work behind the scenes to resolve personal and organization-wide issues.

Yet frequently in these managers have forgotten why they manage. They’re not bad people, but when there’s 100 things to do but only 8 hours in a day, some things are going to slip. They also are managing the expectations of their bosses: often times balancing pressure from their boss to meet key metrics, personal dynamics in their team (especially during COVID), and collaborating with uncooperative peers jockeying for headcount and power.

Regardless, any manager should remember they influence their direct report’s lives. Their judgement and even off-hand comments can decide whether their reports will go to their child’s baseball game, how much they’ll sleep this week, and their well-being. Their decisions effect lives and stress.

Therefore this holiday season I would ask you spend a few minutes to reflect on Why do you manage? or How your manager can help you to grow further!