There is a long list of reasons why people fail in management roles.
However, an article in Harvard Business Review identifies four frequent types of failures, based on a recent research study. Be on the lookout for these for yourself and share with others.
*Lack of Self-Awareness. In the world of leadership development, self-awareness is gold, and many people don’t seem to have an ounce. Managers should use a “developmental mindset” so they are open to feedback; even asking colleagues regularly for input for improvement. Executive coaching and assessments can help with this.
*Empathy is a One Way Street. Total Team Empathy is important for the group to work well together. It does not help to have an empathetic boss if the rest of the team does not follow along. Spend time teaching your team the importance of empathy between one another and upwards to you as the manager as well. We all need some understanding.
*Manager-Employee Relationships are Not Productive. Fewer than half of the employees surveyed for this research study said they did not derive value from interactions with their bosses. Some ways that interactions can be improved include: fewer “ad hoc” vs scheduled meetings, encourage team driven agendas for meetings, and use more team meetings vs individual meetings for problem solving.
*Employees’ Work Does Not Align With Organization Goals. Managers need to take care that there is full alignment between overall organization strategy and goals and the projects that their team is working on. Otherwise this could lead to lots of effort for very little benefit. Make sure you have strategic alignment among all team members. Ask yourself “how is this person’s work advancing our organizational goals and strategy?”
Managing people is hard. Often there are too many direct reports and the change to hybrid work has been a challenge for everyone. But if you address these four key issues, you will be many steps ahead in turning your group into a high performing team that makes a significant Mission Impact.
*Ideas for this blog taken from: Basu, S., Das, A., Bretas, V., and Shepp, J. “4 Reasons Managers Fail,” Harvard Business Review online, April 11, 2024.
