We Ruin Good People By Promoting Them

“Sometimes a Silk Purse or a Sow's ear is Just That”

Do automotive technicians make the best service managers? Do great athletes have what it takes to be a successful coach? Just because some people are good at what they do, does it also mean they'll be good at teaching someone else what they know?

Daniel Goleman, in his ground breaking book Working With Emotional Intelligence, summed it up best when he said: "We're being judged by a new yard stick: not by just how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also by how well we handle ourselves and each other. The new measure takes for granted having enough intellectual ability and technical know-how to do our jobs; it focuses instead on personal qualities, such as initiative and empathy, adaptability and persuasiveness."

Making the transition from worker to manager is very difficult. The things that helped you get noticed on the shop floor are important and there's no question you'll need to bring those qualities with you in your new position. But you'll also need to add some new ingredients if you want to be noticed in the corner office. Your success as a manager will be judged on your department's overall performance, not on individual efforts. If you don't like being around people and teaching people what you know, then you're going to be lousy at managing because managing is all about people. Managing is about giving your staff the tools that they'll need to perform their jobs and then getting out of their way and letting them do it.

It's been my experience as a College Teacher that we are graduating students who are technically very competent at what they do but lack good people skills. People skills seem to be the one subject we aren't teaching in business school. What skills will you need to be successful as a manager? Do you have to be born with these skills or can you learn them? Some people believe you either have it or you don't. I think if you believe that, then you're selling people way too short. Can you learn to be a good communicator? Can you learn to be a good listener, to be patient, to show empathy, to be consistent and dependable? I think you can learn all of those.

To be a good manager, I think, is a matter of being F.O.C.U.S.E.D.©. and developing your management style around my Seven Principals of Management. Managing people is about being Friendly, Observant, Consistent, Understanding, Sincere, Energized, and Dependable. You need to be able to demonstrate all of these qualities if you want to be successful as a manager. Having your MBA is great. Having an MBWA (Managing By Walking Around) specialty is even better.

Being knowledgeable is important, but managers don't need to have all of the answers. I believe it was Einstein who said, "I don't have to know everything; I just have to know where to go and look it up." Who are we to argue? We ruin good people by promoting them before giving them the support and training that they'll need to be successful.

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