It’s easy to think the traditional manager role is outdated. After all, 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲, 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞, not oversight.
𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞. 𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬.
Many managers were promoted for performance, not people skills. Some simply aren’t suited for the role, while others could thrive with the right training and support. Either way, when those needs go unaddressed, companies unintentionally create disengagement at scale.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 don’t protect power. They 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. Their success shows when the team can thrive without them.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬
𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐰.
𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, not cautiously.
𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, not just tasks, so people develop judgment along with skill.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞–𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝
𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?