Why Do Good People Become Bad Bosses?
Sally is a genuinely nice person. She’s also knowledgeable, creative, and hardworking. She believes in what her company does. But a year after she was made a manager, things are going badly.
Her team is rebelling, she’s burned out, and her projects are failing. She finds herself getting impatient, which she never used to do. What happened?
Good people become bad bosses for five reasons, and bad bosses are expensive. Asking certain candid questions will help senior managers avoid promoting the wrong person, saving everyone a lot of grief.
3 Key Points
- Kind and bright people can fail as managers for five reasons
- Most managers are unclear about their role
- Managers can recover if they find the one true motivation
Question 1: Are they asking for (or accepting) the management job for the right reason?
Most managers start their careers for one of three wrong reasons: some just thought they should be a manager, others want to gain influence, some just want the money or status. It is often only after years of struggle do they come to the right reason—serving others.
A good early indicator someone will succeed as a manager is if they have an innate curiosity about how organizations work—they’re genuinely interested in the science of management. They’ll be the people asking good questions, researching best practices, and observing how other organizations work.
Question 2: Do they really understand the manager’s job?
There’s damaging confusion about manager vs. leader vs. supervisor. If you don’t believe me, tape up all your manager job descriptions side by side and see if there are any inconsistencies or gaps… The standard definition is “a manager is someone who helps people work together,” one of the hardest things in the world to do. See the Milwaukee Model for the 1-page summary (and free self-assessment).
The point here is, how could Sally possibly succeed as a manager if neither she nor her organization really know what that means?
While the ideal manager could work in any setting, it’s realistic to make sure the new manager has sufficient technical competence in their team’s work. Dedicated and accomplished generalists have extremely high security.
Question 3: What kind of training and support will they need and get?
I was made a manager with zero training. Basically, it was “tag, you’re it!” New managers need help developing the character and competence of a good generalist. A good mentor can help them develop their character (see term 5.5.5 Mentoring), and they can turn to The Index to become competent in the requisite knowledge. Watching a few videos or attending a few workshops isn’t going to do it. It’s an investment. Unfortunately, most MBA programs turn out specialists, not generalists.
Generally, the organization must value managerial competence: it needs executives who can delegate effectively; it needs a plan so everyone can set priorities; it needs a code of managerial ethics that clearly defines how managers should and should not use their power.
Question 4: Are they overloaded?
A regional manager I know had twenty direct reports; he should have had at most eight. One organization had 160 major projects shared by its ten top managers; they should have had sixty. Almost every manager is hugely overloaded but because everyone’s the same, the organization accepts chaos as normal.
The organization must determine and adhere to guidelines for its staff to manager ratio. New managers should of course start on the low side. Good managers allocate at least 30% of their time to communicating with their teams. A friend of mine, Barbara, was made the first woman to lead a practice group at her law firm. I asked her how much non-billable time the firm had allowed her to serve as manager. “None.” She quit after a year, costing her firm millions.
Question 5: Do they have the rare strength of character needed to be a good boss?
A great manager has compassion, wisdom, and strength. I’ll elaborate on these in latter posts, but they imply the extreme seriousness and potential in the manager’s responsibility. They have so much power over other people—even if, like me, they started with a staff of one—that they need strong internal control. Power can make good people go nuts.
Good managers have the depth of character that lets them put others first. That doesn’t mean they’re a pushovers. On the contrary, it means they have the compassion, wisdom, and strength to deal constructively with team members who are upset or are being disruptive.
While good managers don’t draw attention to themselves, you can notice that they are the people on whom everyone relies. You can see that people listen to them. You can see that their teams feel safe, appreciated, and excited about the work they’re doing together. They have team spirit.
Close, with a twist
Good people can recover from being bad bosses, once they discover the deep, if deferred personal rewards of helping others reach their full potential. Everyone has a slightly different path to this transformation, but a good question that uncovers how to help them to that moment is, “When did a manager, teacher, coach, or spiritual leader help you become a better person? Tell me about them…”
Action
- Work managers through the Milwaukee Model’s self-assessment
- Ask the five questions above about each manager
- Ask all your managers if they actually like being a boss
