5 Lies Shitty Managers Tell Themselves (Are You One Of Them)

If you want to be a great leader, you’ll avoid these mistakes.

I’ve been a shitty manager. I’d expect others to have telepathic capabilities to the inner workings of my head.

I’d abdicate until someone screwed up following my half-assed instructions, then, I’d be the far too familiar “helicopter manager.”

There are lies we tell ourselves as managers that make us shitty. And downright wrong.

To be an effective leader, you’ll avoid these five lies managers tell themselves.

1) Nobody else can do it but you.

I use to tell myself this. Shit, I still tell myself this.

I’m wrong.

Everyone is replaceable. There’s always someone better. And there’s always someone willing to learn.

The critical question is, are you willing to search to find this person, to pay them well, or train someone to do it?

2) You have to make sure your team is working 8, 9, 12 hours a day.

I’ve used a time clock to track my teams time. Time in, time out.

How stupid! Like they couldn’t screw around in their office.

Silly me.

Managing time is a terrible benchmark. It’s a morale killer. Manage by results instead. In the end, that’s all that matters.

My executive team and I talk about this regularly.

If members of our sales team are crushing their quota and they want to take a 2-hour lunch…why would we say no?

Imagine us stupidly waving a finger and saying, “no, no, no, that’s against policy.”

They’re a significant contribution to our team. They’re meeting quota. A great cultural fit. They’re kind and sincere.

They need to go live life. Be human. And keep kicking ass.

This is true for any position.

3) You have to review all their work to make sure it’s getting done, and no one is making mistakes.

How can anyone effectively learn without making a few mistakes? Impossible.

Hence why doctors don’t start training on live patients. They fail and make mistakes on dummy dolls. So I assume.

And let’s refer back to lie number two. If you’re managing by results, then you don’t need always check their work.

There will be times when you have to micromanage underperformers. You need to drive the results for your organization.

I get it!

But spending a lot of time managing here is a mistake. It’s a lie to tell yourself otherwise.

Lead your average to star performers. Spend time developing them.

This is your A & B level activities.

4) No one wants to work. Everyone is lazy and thinks about the end of the day.

We’re human. So do you!

We want to do human things. Sitting at a desk, pounding at a keyboard like a giant ape for 10 hours is daunting.

We burn out quick.

The reason people don’t want to work is you hired the wrong person, or you’re not motivating them to the bigger picture of their work.

You’re not engaging them. You’re not finding ways to spice up their work life.

Of course, they can’t wait to get home. Home is where tv, love, and fun is.

Work is their second home. Make it feel that way.

5) You know it all and don’t need to read.

It’s amazing how many interviews I’ll go in to and ask, what’s the last book you read, and I’ll get some partially constructed answer.

If you’re not reading and learning daily, how can you possibly grow and lead your team? You can’t!

You might as well be a professor teaching outdated information.

If you want to be a great manager you must be a great reader.

As Harry S. Truman said:

“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”

If one or more of these sounds like you, stop the madness. You’re telling yourself a lie. It’s an excuse.

Fix the problem and become a better manager today.

Thanks for reading!

Be safe. Be humble. Be you!

Your wings,