A Manager’s Job is Not Just to Direct Work and Drive Results
Most managers of people think their job is to direct work and drive results. Not my colleague Scotty. Does work get done well under his leadership? Definitely. Does his area of responsibility achieve results? Yes! So, doesn’t that mean he’s doing his job as a manager? He would say no. He says that his job is to build people who are capable of great work and achieving results.
What’s the truth about how you view your role as a leader?
An Example From The Field
Markus Spiske via Unsplash
Recently, Scotty sent a broadcast email about work that had been performed by someone on his team, and the results that the person achieved. It went something like this (I’ve made minor edits for confidentiality and clarity):
Team,
Kyle just completed the 2nd year-long program at ABC Client and received a 90% net promoter score and a 96% voice-of-the-customer score from over 20 responses (almost 100% response rate). There were an overwhelming number of comments about Kyle’s facilitation including the following:
- This program changed the way I think about my career and relationships.
- The experience has re-framed my thinking in ways that will be beneficial personally and professionally.
Notice how Kyle helped change people’s thinking. That’s what we’re trying to do when we facilitate: Help people improve not just what they do, but how they think.
These results help the client achieve their goals, they help Kyle achieve his goals, and they help our team achieve our objectives of X and Y. We have two more programs scheduled with this client that will continue to make an impact for the client, for Kyle, and for our team.
#BTQ!
(BTQ stands for “Breathtaking Quality,” which is one of our team values.)
Can you see how the emphasis of this email is on building Kyle along with the entire team?
Scotty could have just talked about the results achieved for the team. But he went much deeper. He highlights how the results were achieved so that everyone can grow, and why they matter so that everyone will care. Also, he chose to do it in a way that says to everyone on the email: Kyle belongs here.
Be a Leader Over a Manager
Management can feel complicated when you’re caught up in directing work or driving results. It can feel overwhelming as deadlines approach, results seem out of reach, or work isn’t being executed as well as it should. Because of that, managers are tempted to fight fires, solve problems, and point to the scoreboard. But when they do those things, managers can lose sight of their real job.
Do you realize that, according to Gallup, 70% of the variance in team-level engagement is based on people’s perceptions of their manager and how well the manager leads the team? Think about that. Seventy percent of the team’s ability to do work and drive results is based on how much their manager is helping them see where they’re going, why it matters, how to get there, and whether they are an important member of the team.
As demonstrated by Scotty, great managers describe their job like this:
- Reminding everyone where they’re going and why it’s important. Publicly and privately, reinforce the objectives, mission, and methods. Reinvigorate people’s awareness of what’s at stake.
- Reminding everyone how that connects to what matters to them. Make the team objectives meaningful to each person. Help people see how they benefit when the team wins.
- Telling people that they belong. One of the greatest human needs is to belong. People constantly forget that they do. People wrongly conclude that they don’t have what it takes, that others are more important to the team, or that others don’t care about them.
Consider what your job really is.
Is it to direct work and drive results?
Or is it something deeper than that?
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