The Myth of the "Bad Manager."

Here is the story that I've seen unfold in more companies than I can count:  I like to call it "The Myth of the Bad Manager."

"The boss really likes Joe.  He is a hard worker, conscientious, and consistently outperforms his peers.  Even better, Joe gets along well with everyone on the team, and he is always ready to help others out.  The boss looks at Joe, and says "I'm lucky to have Joe on my team.

Over the years, Joe continues to do well and get noticed.  Unfortunately one of the supervisors, a woman named Betsy, didn't cut it, and was let go.  The boss suggests Joe for the opening. 

Joe is elated.  He works very hard, but management is confusing.  His peers have stopped talking to him, and his new manager is pretty busy.  The team starts to make mistakes, and Joe does his best to fix things, but work has become hard for the first time.  His boss is unhappy with him.   Joe gains 10 pounds and has stopped smiling. 

One day, Joe is fired.  It's sad, but there is this great employee named Jill that everyone has been watching.  They offered her the job.  She's elated."

I was taking to a Fortune 50 organization a while back about doing some coaching work.  I asked who they offer coaching to, and they specified that only their best people got coaching.  "We separate our coaching process from our disciplinary action process" they said.  Basically, they offer support to those who are already doing well.  While this is good, I suppose, I think it misses a big opportunity.

Having coached plenty of "bad managers" over my time and having seen them transform into these amazing productive leaders, this story makes me sad.  There are a lot of good people being tossed out when a little support and education could help them shine.

It's expensive.  It's depressing. It's also very common.  I wish it wasn't.

I wonder how I can help organizations see that some of those "struggling" new managers are diamonds in the rough?  It's something I continue to think about.

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Comments

[girloutatexas]

This is near and dear to my heart...when resources are available, coaching should be provided for anyone promoted from within! Transitioning from "one of the guys" to a leader sets everyone up for intense power struggles and hard feelings. Guiding people through the process is a powerful investment.