Читать книгу Influence and Impact - George B. Bradt - Страница 20

Managers make or break a job experience.^vi The problems with managers are legion—from micromanagers to laissez-faire, from domineering to passive, and from abusive to neglectful. Some managers are poor managers. Some were promoted because they were a strong front-line worker, or they have seniority. Others are given unrealistic responsibilities and are browbeaten themselves. More have the right technical skills but have no training or experience in managing. Management is, after all, a learned skill rather than an innate talent.

At least as often, there is a mismatch in style or misalignment of objectives between manager and employee. When the two expect different things, or have different workstyles, problems are likely to follow. A hands-off manager may be exactly what one person, who is self-confident, risk-taking and focused, needs to be successful. That same manager may be exactly the wrong one for a person who needs clear, specific direction, tries to avoid missteps, and works best with detailed plans and timelines.

When you and your manager are misaligned, tensions grow. It invariably leads to anger and disappointment for both. For example, an employee thinks their job is to collaborate with their manager to develop ideas and brainstorm in a meeting, while the manager is expecting a well-considered proposal with pros and cons and a recommendation. Unless the team member accepts the manager's view of the job, they are frustrated by the manager's refusal to help them, and the manager views the employee as underperforming.

We try to get our managers to give us what we think we need, or what has worked for us in the past. But as a supervisor once advised, “Bill, you'll be much happier if you figure out what your supervisor is good at and learn that. Trying to get your supervisor to give you what you think you need to learn is much more frustrating.”