Feel compelled to manage?

I want to share a story about a close friend of mine.? Let’s call him Zack. He’s an accomplished sales professional with over 20 years of experience in many cool industries that include:? transportation and logistics, medical supply services, hospitality, retail and real estate.? Everywhere he goes, he excels by being customer focused as a master relationship builder and hitting every target in sight.

But…

Everywhere he has worked, he’s treated like garbage and when I say garbage, maybe what I'm really saying is that he's treated like someone that should be treated better.

I know that it’s important to “manage” people in order to achieve results, but there seems to be an incredible number of companies out there that don’t know the difference between performers and benchwarmers.?

Zack is undeniably a performer, that feels stressed and stifled by how his company tracks his every move, meanwhile he’s setting national sales records and elevating the quality of the organization that he is part of.?

Still, for some reason, nobody seems to understand that Zack might perform even better if the corporate hierarchy just got out of his grill and started to give him the space to be “even more awesome.”? So are organizations just so caught-up in the mystique of hierarchy that they become blind to talent?? Or do they think that holding the reigns tighter makes a faster horse? Or better outcome for that matter??This is my big question.

I know that there are organizations that convince themselves that “we can just hire someone else” if someone leaves. If that’s your mentality, it may explain why your turnover rate is ridiculously high.? Everyone knows that the cost of recruitment is so much higher than the cost of retention.? So consider adding a few extra carrots, apples, or gold to keep your stars on board is a very good strategy.

I don't understand why some managers don’t realize is that with every nanometre of control they demand, they are actually setting themselves up for a big loss. Because Zack won’t be there for long, he's tired of being treated like garbage.? Why should he be?? Shouldn't he just conform to the terrible culture that he signed-up for?

And my final point…? If you want to micromanage someone that is clearly achieving more than anyone else, take the time to recognize their value and make sure that they are happy, because if you don’t – they will most certainly walk.

So, bean counters, micromanagers and sole-crushing "bosses" please think about creating an organizational culture that rewards performers, coaches underperformers and punishes those that don't know the difference. Because Zack is looking for something better and you'll have to recruit the next one, and then the next one and the one after that... DM me if you want to know more.