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Showing posts with the label Managers Not Messengers

Not Easy Being a Manager, but It's Worth It

It is not easy being a manager because you're always being squeezed in between. First you have to take care of your subordinates and yet take care of the company's bottom-line. As a Manager, you are assumed to have the know-how and you're expected to know everything. Unlike your subordinates, it is not easy to measure a manager's performance because much of what he does is of long term in nature and cannot see short term results. Like training and development of staff. Often it is during special situations that you will know whether your manager can perform or not. Like in solving difficult problems, getting new business and responding to crisis. But you know it's worth it to be a manager because at the end of the day, it is the manager that get things done and provide answers to the bosses. So the question is how can we be a more effective manager?  Effectiveness means not just doing things right but doing the right things.  There are 10 things that a

Excuse Me, Are You a Manager or Messenger?

The other day I talked to one manager about how to upgrade his team so that they can perform better. He answered me, "I don't know, if I upgrade them, wouldn't they be more capable than me and soon take over my job?" This is a clear example of the thinking of a messenger not a manager. There are 7 ways that you can tell your manager is just a messenger and not a manager: Never Develop himself or his team .  You'll be shocked to find out that there are many managers out there that have never attended any non-technical courses since they left school.  Some of them don't even know that such courses exist!  Unbelievable but true! Good in Passing the Buck .  As we know, a manager must take up the blame even though he has no control over the hiring of his team.  As long as the team is under his responsibility, he must be responsible for ALL their actions Hardly Motivate, Inspire or Encourage his people. Worse still, such 'managers' often de-motivate