9 Destructive Beliefs of Managers

Management is a balance between art and science.

The science part comes in the form of spreadsheets for tracking, models for coaching, SOPs for doing one-on-ones, etc.

The art is knowing how and when to use certain tools and when to deviate from these tools because the situation calls for something different than the playbook calls for.

Picasso said "Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist"

Despite having a degree in business administration and taking numerous management classes, I recognized pretty quickly, almost twenty-five years ago, in my first management assignment that I didn't know how to manage people well.

I remember six months in thinking about the time Mike Tyson said that "Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face."

As a new manager looking at a mediocre performing team, and a career that I thought was going to end just about as quickly as it started, I was overwhelmed with how over my head it all felt.

The good news?

I was able to turn it around in that early management assignment. It wasn't easy but I was able to come up with a simpler version to fixing my challenges than the one I was currently using.

Instead of trying to change several people in my office and get them to show up differently, I turned the mirror around and took a look at myself and what I could do differently to lead and manage better.

It turned out there was a lot of room for improvement there.

Today I coach high performing leaders as well as lead masterminds for groups of people who are in management roles. After nearly twenty-five years of managing and working with other leaders here are some of the most common belief patterns that keep managers from performing to their full potential.

I'm sure I am missing a few but here's what came to mind for me. (If you have more to add, I would love hear them so let me know)

1. "I'm not a born leader." None us really are but I do think some of us possess traits that help you navigate the leadership maze a little quicker.
2. "I'm not good at managing now so I'll never be good at it." The path to greatness in management is by getting out there and doing it. It's a skill that you develop. The only people who don't become effective managers are the people who are not interested in becoming effective managers.
3. "My people are the problem." Your people are a reflection of you. If they all suck, what's the common denominator?
4. Assuming the worst in people/Being overly judgmental. I will be the first to say that I am guilty of this. Judgmental thinking about your people kills you ability to learn more about their motivations and how they think about work.
5. "People are tools." Another one that used to hit a little too close to home. Your team is comprised of people who have hopes, dreams, fears, challenges, and personal conflict (among other things). They aren't a hammer or printer that you can take off the shelf whenever you need something done.
6. "Confrontation is bad/should be avoided." Confrontation itself is not good or bad but how it's done can be.
7. "I want to be liked." No leader who is truly looking to create great work and to develop people to their fullest potential is trying to be liked. If you aren't ruffling some feathers from time to time, you are likely not pushing people hard enough.
8. "If I get too friendly/too open, my team will take advantage of me." I am an eight on the Enneagram so I get this way of thinking. In practicing this way of thinking, I noticed it limited my ability to connect with others and I had a hard time creating influence with others as a results.
9. "People just need tougher punishment." I did a podcast episode on this topic called Rules are Lazy Managers. Rules are important but they tend to be ineffective in creating meaningful change in people.

Which of these thought processes resonates with you most? Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

On a related note, I just opened up my next Management Mastermind group. If you, or a manager on your team, could use some additional development and support, this is six month deep dive into the topic that allows a manager to reflect on how they are currently doing, what they can improve on, and create a plan to address their areas of improvement.