People Management, Get Good At It Or Get Out Of It

If you don't like managing people, are not good or aiming to be good at it, you should get out of it.

Why such a hard line? Because people who work for you deserve better.

Working for a rotten manager is a primary reason good people leave an organisation or perform at a level less than what is possible.

A rotten boss is also a big source of the worst work-life balance issue…. going home feeling "wrung out" by the manager you work for.

In an age where people increasingly drive business value through their minds and hearts, It astounds me that so many organisation leaders don’t demand or develop great people managers.

There are three actions I recommend from experience that do far more than any individual training or development program to lift the quality of people management in your organisation.

1. Make being a good people manager a top priority for all people managers – hard wire it into goals and objectives at the top of the list
2. Remove people managers who receive consistently poor feedback (two years of bad feedback is a clear problem indicator) – feedback is usually there to be received if you are open to it
3. Run two or three meetings a year with people managers in your organisation where you discuss the role and expectations of people managers and share experiences and build basic skills like giving and receiving constructive feedback.

People managers are the critical nodes in your organisation network that connect and align people with the priorities and ambitions of the organisation.

In fast changing times, developing a great stock of people managers is key to success and executing changes in strategy. 

Avoid promoting great professionals into management roles if they are not going to be good people managers. 

If getting a professional up in pay grade is the motivation for doing so, that's a mistake. Increase the pay grades of your professionals and keep them doing what they are good at if they are that important to you, but don't inflict bad managers on good people.

Your organisation is only ever as good as your people management team.

I highly recommend embracing this leadership priority with vigour and commitment.

You wont regret it.