I came across a spate of articles lately proposing different reasons why it’s rare to find a good manager. The reasons ranged from rising to their level of incompetence, becoming corrupted by power, promotion by favoritism, and not being a “born leader.”
I suspect the reasons are less nefarious.
I suspect managers fail because they haven’t developed the skills to be a good manager.
I don’t buy that good managers are “born leaders”. I believe that good managers have skills and abilities related to both management and leadership behaviors. And my experience is that, except for those rare birds who just don’t like working with other people, people can learn the skills and develop the abilities to be successful managers. (Assuming reasonable emotional adjustment, self-awareness, and the ability to inspect and adapt their own behavior.)
Of course, it’s harder to develop the qualities of a good manager when there aren’t good role models and when a new manager doesn’t have coaching and support to improve.
Would you or someone you know like to work on their management skills and abilities? Start by building a foundation of trust: For Managers: 8 Ways to Build Trust, 3 to Break It.
