Dear Manager

Dear Manager,

The things you don't know might be hurting you, and here is why...

During my undergraduate days, a professor and sage who I have nothing but absolute respect for, once remarked: "a professor is someone who knows something about everything, and everything about something."

That statement stuck with me ever since, but then, it became even more profound as I navigated the thorny path of building a career in the last ten years.

Time and again, I have seen managers who know little or nothing about what they are managing. It's easy to tell that they have knowledge gaps that are very apparent, yet they do nothing to plug those gaps.

For such managers, when there appears to be a smart person on their team, the person automatically becomes an enemy. They keep looking over their shoulders, afraid that their jobs would be taken away from them.

Sadly, their way of trying to cover the knowledge gap is through nagging, resentment, micro-managing and victimisation. Their best hands get to leave because they can't thrive in toxic environments, and then the company keeps looking for talents every now and then.

If any company keeps advertising for a particular role every year, it is a red flag and says a lot about the culture of that organisation.

For you, my dear Manager, you don't have to know everything about everything. But then, it is important to know everything about something. Be a subject matter expert in something and let your line reports be able to say that they learnt XYZ from you when you worked together.

As a Manager, if you are not moving forward, those under you will be static too and there is nothing as frustrating as looking back and feeling an employee wasted all the years they spent under you.

For those who are smart enough to learn what they need to learn in spite of you, they'd always be able to hold up their heads wherever they go, while you wallow in that bottomless pit of insecurities.

Your story should not end like that. Pick a particular area in your field and learn everything you can about it. Start today.

God no go shame us.