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Why are there so many bad managers? Because it's really easy to be a bad manager and really hard to be a good one. Great management means empathizing with oth
by RKoutnik 13y ago
Why are there so many bad managers? Because it's really easy to be a bad manager and really hard to be a good one. Great management means empathizing with others, putting the team goals ahead of yourself and accepting the blame when it's passed around, none of which are the defaults for us humans.
My father (a school director) summed up his philosophy on leadership in "When you succeed, it's the team. When you fail, it's you."
- actsasbuffoon 13y agoI had a manager (of the good variety) whom was so willing to accept responsibility that he would sometimes claim responsibility for failures he had no involvement in.
- smarterat 13y agoVery early on in my career I had the privilege of working with a manager who shared your father's philosophy. The experience left a lasting impression with me, and has led me to seriously consider whether management is something I'd be good at or would even want to do. Perhaps most enlightening was her stance on promotion. Our department had been, overall, falling seriously behind and, as a result, the other managers hadn't promoted anyone in many years(!). She and I discussed this one day and, to paraphrase her words, she said: "At the end of each year, there should always be someone ready for the next level or getting close. If there isn't then I haven't done my job; I haven't appropriately challenged them. My goal is the growth of my reports, and their success is mine."
- ahomescu1 13y ago> "When you succeed, it's the team. When you fail, it's you." Many bosses do the exact opposite.