What Are You Tolerating?

I’m working with a manager who’s just been promoted.  She now has a team of 12, and she’s struggling with the transition from team member to team leader.  I asked her to list all the things that got in the way of her embracing her new role.  The list included things you might expect, like not enough time and very little instant gratification.  But the biggest “aha?”   She didn’t know what she could add.  In her eyes the best managers just stayed out of the way.

As we talked I was reminded of Ram Charan’s book “The Leadership Pipeline. “ It explains the transitions individuals go through as they progress in management.  For this first transition, he says something very wise:  Managers need to learn to value managerial work* rather than just tolerate it!

I began to wonder how many managers are just tolerating their role.  And if you are one of them, what can you do about it?

On one extreme, you can stop being a manager.  That’s a valid choice.  But since I’m guessing that’s unrealistic for most people, here’s another suggestion.

Ask yourself why you are tolerating not embracing the role.  List everything that gets in your way – from your beliefs about a manager’s role, to your skills, to your organization’s constraints. Then figure out what can you change and how can you change it.  If it’s your beliefs, who among your peers can you go to for a reality check? If it’s skills, where can you get coaching or training?  And so on. Then commit to changing at least 2-3 things to start with.

If you do this, I believe you’ll feel more engaged with your work and your increased enthusiasm and energy will help your employees feel that way too.  In addition, it will allow you to turn your attention to the work that adds value to your organization – growing and developing your people and planning for their future and the team’s.

* Charan defines first level management work as planning, job design, selection, delegation, coaching and feedback, performance monitoring and measuring, rewards and motivation, communication and climate setting, relationship building throughout organization, and resource acquisition.