Management is real work! If you don’t get that, rethink your decision to be a manager.

Many, many years ago in an organisation not too far away, I was facilitating a meeting with senior managers on the implementation of a change process. After an afternoon of information sharing, conversations and reflections on the roles and responsibilities of senior managers in executing the changes, one of the top team said, somewhat tongue in cheek, “So, what you’re saying is, Management is real work!”

The memory is still very fresh in my mind, and more so because the phrase was repeated very recently by an executive, I am coaching.

Unfortunately, management is the only profession in which people can be promoted without any qualifications at all. And as we all know most managers are promoted based on previous technical ability and prowess and not their ability to lead a team. For most of us, management is the only route to promotion; very few organisations have the ability or resources for a promotional ladder for expertise alone. Management by default means leading people.

If you are a manager or if you are thinking about taking on the position of manager, please reflect on the following seven statements before making decision.

1. Management is not about the title.
Many managers think that now they have a title people will listen and respond accordingly. Not so. You have to earn your respect and their followship. Fear of the title and your retribution can only take a manager so far. People today are much more comfortable in moving on to find a better environment which respects and engages them and provides opportunities for growth.

If you are not seeing management as leading people you might want to reconsider becoming a manager.

2. The title alone does not give you power.
Power flows where your attention goes. Focus on your people. Get to know them. You can often gain power by showing vulnerability and your dependency on the team to achieve the goals.

As Stephen Covey wrote, ‘If you think the problem is out there, stop! That is your problem.’ Work with people connect and create a real sense of team power. Their followship becomes your leadership. Without it you have nothing.

3. The team’s work is more than just your work.
There is certainly a percentage of your work that is yours and yours alone- stuff that you can’t delegate to others. The majority of the efforts and energy to drive the teams’ critical mission objectives will be contributed by the team members.

If you think, it’s your work and they are helping you to do it, stop now, and reframe that to, ‘It’s the team’s work and I am helping them achieve it.’ If you are unable or unwilling to support the team in achieving its collective purpose then reconsider your desire to be a manager.

4. Your people are your responsibility.
I once accompanied a new executive director to an international organisation on his global tour to meet his senior managers. At one stop, a head of office remarked that results were affected by poor morale in his country. This wiry and formidable man immediately responded, ‘then that is your problem, and the next time I visit I expect you to have handled it.’ The phrase ‘The fish rots at the head’ is fitting here. In all my experience where there is poor behaviour, lack of integrity, commitment and respect, the examples are set by the senior management team.

If you are not willing to be a role model for excellence and be responsible for encouraging healthy, respectful behaviour throughout your organisation, rethink your decision to become a manager.

5. Daily management needs to be aligned to strategy.
A big part of a manager’s job is to communicate vision and explain how strategy aligns with people’s day to day work efforts, how the red-thread of added value links individual, team, department and organisational efforts out to all stakeholders. This is not a one-off event, aligning strategy involves multiple, consistent conversations to help people focus and keep efforts on track.

If you are incapable or unwilling to interpret and connect strategy and daily work on a regular basis, then rethink your decision to become a manager.

6. Leading the team is one of your core objectives.
I recently coached a senior manager who felt very personally responsible for the achievements of the 350 KPI’s her division had been assigned. This person had four teams and up to 50 people working in the division. She was exhausted, and close to burn out, this in turn increased her micro managing and reduced the trust in team leads and staff. As a manager you are not responsible for getting everything done but you are responsible and accountable for helping others get things done. Your job is to step back and help teams’ prioritise and set their work and then create an environment in which they can get on with it. Help the team connect, collaborate, celebrate and chill out.

If you think that every KPI is your personal responsibility you are never going to allow people to unleash their potential and get on with what they are capable of. If you continue to believe you are the expert in all realms of the team’s context and you are as intelligent or creative as the combined brains of all your people, then you need to reconsider becoming a manager.

7. Never underestimate the effort involved in sustaining and improving the performance of the team.
Managing a team is more about leading people than managing stuff. A significant amount of effort and energy is required to support people to do the work they are employed to do. At times it requires getting everyone together to be on the same page, or to contribute ideas to creating new solutions, at others it’s investing time on one-on-one conversations to ensure human contact and making sure everyone is doing OK.

If you not ready to invest that time in people and the team then do yourself and your future team members a favour and reconsider becoming a manager.

Contact me to talk about learning opportunities for new and experienced managers in your organisation. www.plb-consulting.com www.facilitataion-expert.com