Why we have bad managers

Ever wonder why the wrong people end up in management? I have a hypothesis, plus a few ideas on how to address the issue. I spill it all in this Two-Minute Tip.

Whether you aspire to be a manager, currently hold a managerial position, work under a less-than-ideal manager, or are involved in the selection of managers within your organization, this video was made for you.

• Read the video transcript

  Have you ever worked for a manager who should not be in management? You cannot figure out how it is that they became a manager.

  Well, I would argue that it maybe wasn't their fault that they went that direction. So often I see organizational structure designed in a way where the only way to continue to grow and promote and increase your earning potential in the organization is to become a people manager.

  And so whether or not you're the right fit for that, you head that direction and all of a sudden we get individuals in these people manager, these coaching roles where they should really have stayed on the field. They should have stayed in the player position. They were a great player. They executed their position extremely well. There was opportunity for them to grow in their leadership on the field, and yet we didn't reward that. And so they went this direction and stepped off the field and tried to become the coach and didn't like it and couldn't do it well. And now they're trying to jump back in the field and they're taking over players' positions and it's just, it's chaos.

  And so two things to consider here.

  First of all, if you are someone who, who loves being on the field, you love that player role, keep doing it well. Find ways to grow there. Do not jump to the coaching role unless you genuinely want to make that shift, right? It's football season right now. How often is an NFL head coach someone who was the absolute star player on the team before? Not often, right? It's a different skillset that's needed in this role.

  If you want to invest in and develop and nurture the team from the sidelines, then consider becoming a coach. If you want to serve your team well, consider becoming a coach. If you want to continue to play, don't go that route.

  And the second thing to consider is if your organization is set up in a way, like I described, where we're really only rewarding those who go the management route, consider: how can we create technical career paths where individuals are rewarded for staying on this path and doing it well and growing in their leadership and influence on the field?

  If you can set up a system that can reward that, you will get the right people staying in this space and the right people navigating to the manager space.