LEADERSHIP LESSON: MONKEY OFF MY BACK

When I was a young manager, one of the lessons I learned and still carry with me today is a story about who has the monkey. There was a Harvard Business Review article published in 1999 that I read which said most managers spend their time dealing with other people’s problems. ?

The story suggested that a manager should visualize problems as monkeys, and everyone has them on their back. People enter your office with a monkey on their back, people call with a monkey on their back, people walk up to you with a monkey on their back, you go into meetings and everyone has a monkey on their back…and all of these people are trying to give YOU their monkey. They are trying to have you solve their problem. ?

The story continues by showing how skillful managers learn to have other people keep their own monkeys. Example: An employee walks into my office with a problem (a monkey on their back). He is telling me his problem and he want to give me the monkey, or he want me to solve it for him. The trick to success it not to take their monkey, but to help them and have them leave with their own monkey.

The key they write is “at no time while I am helping you with this or any other problem will your problem become my problem. The instant your problem becomes mine, you no longer have a problem. I cannot help a person who hasn’t got a problem.”?

For me this has always been a great visual about several managerial concepts. I think about the idea of the role of the leader as a facilitator and supporter. I want my staff to bring me their monkeys, but my role is not to take them from them. My job is to help them, ask questions, support them, give them confidence, and most importantly have them leave with their monkey and be empowered to take care of their monkey. This story also reinforces the importance of delegation. If, as a leader, I simply take all of the problems from my team, I will never get them to think critically, or make decisions, or learn to fail and get back up. ?

Personally, I also regularly refer to this visual as a way to keep my time in check. I literally picture people walking into my office with a monkey style backpack on and trying to set it on my desk or hand it to me. We all know how easy it is to get sucked into the whirlwind, and then come out with more stuff to do. I’ve learned this takes practice, it takes clear communication, it takes trust in your team, but it gave me so much freedom in thinking that I don’t have to solve everything for everyone.

Happy Learning !