The Measure Of A Manager

How can a manager know that they're any good at what they do? The manager's manager will rarely see what they do on a daily basis, they just get the end results. And the people that are supervised will very likely never give their honest opinion for fear of reprisal. So the manager ends up in this nebulous zone within which they as they please and think as they wish, with no real feedback.

The easiest and most common measuring stick is the end results. The big deadlines, the ongoing projects, the new initiatives, the paperwork, the meetings. As long as those goals are met and they look good, that's all that we ask.

And the means to that end? Bah! It's too hard to measure easily and superficially. Threaten the employees, intimidate them, use sarcasm and derision, "constructive" criticism, expect unpaid overtime, withhold the next pay raise, etc. Whatever gets the job done, right?

There's still the tell-tale sign of employee turnover, but we can attribute that to the employees being selfish and immature. There is the option of the ominous Exit Interview but that requires a certain degree of trust, honesty, openness and genuine curiousity. Plus, it's uncomfortable to do, so it's easier to just let people leave and draw our own conclusions.

By definition, most people hover around the average. Most managers are average, most employees are average, most results are average. It's much harder to develop or find superstars in the professional market. It follows that most managers are merely adequate in their roles, and yet most of them don't realize this.

Many managers are simply promoted from another job, and no realizes that the skills of management are entirely different than their previous skills. And that experience and talent that they may have had as a programmer really doesn't translate into making people feel good about their jobs and not exhausting the talent. It's assumed that natural instinct and clever ideas are enough, so managers don't bother to research or study or assess themselves in any meaningful way.

The biggest problem with a bad manager is that they do not realize that they're bad. The biggest problem with an average manager is that they think they are good. Only the best managers continue to grow and become even better, recognizing their own weaknesses and strengths, whilst the rest become accustomed to the status quo.

Actually, that's incorrect. Poor managers aren't just accustomed to the status quo. They actually like it, and like it a lot. They will defend the status quo with every political and psychological trick in the book, even at the expense of everything else.

If you're a good manager, you will look for real feedback. You will want an honest reflection of your professional skills and the opinions of those with whom you work. You want to see the mirror clearly and won't be satisfied with anything less.