Most likely it’s not you, it’s because you are being managed instead of led

Work starts to become less interesting. We find ourselves consistently daydreaming. Our performance begins to diminish. We are dissatisfied and uninspired.

We have all been there. Chances are — the cause of your dissatisfaction is because you’re being managed instead of led.

When we are being managed, conformity is encouraged and sometimes coerced through incentives. Autonomy is opposed by the manager because it could lead to nonconformity.

We begin to question ourselves and trust evaporates. The situation begins to look like the archetypal overprotective mother who drives her child to rebel in hopes of finding freedom.

How can you get the most out of people in this environment? You can't.

Your company or org becomes a revolving door. As soon as the person sees the truth, and has an alternative, they leave.

 And, managers tend to promote managers. So, if your entire department is filled with managers, that may be a good sign to look for greener pastures or lead a change.

 Seth Godin eloquently explains this in his book Tribes:

•  "Managers manage by using the authority given to them. You listen to your manager or you lose your job. A manager can't make change because that's not their job. Leaders, on the other hand, don't care very much for organizational structure or an official blessing. They use passion and ideas to lead people, as opposed to using threats and bureaucracy to manage them. Leaders become aware of how the organization works because this awareness allows them to change it."

Leaders go against conventional wisdom. They do things that haven't been done before. They create change before change happens to them.

If you find yourself dissatisfied and surrounded by managers, you have two choices:

1. Lead the change
2. Or, look for greener pastures