Zero BS Leader

Chapter 2: People Manager

Most of the new managers get promoted from within, and the way we get promoted isn’t necessarily the best. You see, typically, you do a great job in your role, and you get rewarded with a promotion to a manager. My experience stems mostly from sales organizations, but I’m sure it’s the same across the board — the best individual contributors don’t necessarily make the best managers.

And the opposite is true as well — being a manager doesn’t require experience in any of the things your team is doing. Now, most people will frown upon the latter statement because nobody wants to be managed by “what does he know.”

But a manager’s job is communication and coordination. Those are the basics and the exact reasons why the best performers aren’t the best manager material.

The Peter Principle

The so-called Peter Principle (no relation to me; I hope) observes that people in the hierarchy tend to rise to their level of incompetence. It says that employees are promoted based on their success in their previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent because skills do not translate to the new role.

This doesn’t necessarily happen in the first hop of promotions, but it will, as we get promoted based on the current competence to the next level, thus eventually reaching a “Peter’s Plateau” or the final placement where we are stuck because of lack of competence for the next promotion.

Micro-management

Managing means giving up some control, and the people who fail to realize that are known as micro-managers.

Micro-manager is Latin for a person who already reached their Peter’s Plateau. And that’s a problem because very few organizations are set to demote their managers without firing them. And let’s face it, “going back” from the officers ranks takes a big man (or woman). Most of us aren’t capable of doing that.

Paradox of choices

Now, let me be clear that my firm belief is that the best thing to do would be to go exactly where you don’t want to — to your team, former peers (if not the same), and to your direct superiors. Maybe even a level higher. This is the time to get coached, seek wisdom, and admit doubts. But I haven’t yet met a young first-time manager with enough self-confidence to do these steps. Especially men, we are so weak when it comes to emotions. And women aren’t much better off either — those who take such steps get judged as incompetent. Any action might be right or wrong, and you have to make a decision. Welcome to management.

People Manager

Your job is coordination and communication, and together with your team, you have goals and objectives to accomplish. That’s what’s leading you to your North Star. But being a people manager is an everyday job with a bunch of petty tasks that all add up to how the team functions and the overall dynamic also known as the team culture. You can state or define what your team’s culture should be, but it’s something built and maintain day by day. It’s how you interact among each other and outside of the team, what each individual brings to the table, and what the collective team produces. In the meantime, there are the small things — how you set meetings, how you approve expenses, the business trips, vacation, days off. This is how you’re chalking the tone for your team — and I advise you to go mindful and intentional about it. Too often, we consider something unimportant and ignore that we’re doing it in a way that demotivates those around us. If you’re being a dick about the expense reports, that can ruin one person’s day. Being weird about approving vacation or business trips might impact how people do their job. Everything adds up. Sure, you might need to watch expenses (we all do), but how you do it might be even more important than why.

Allow yourself not to have all the answers. Being a manager doesn’t mean you know everything. The next best thing is knowing whom to ask. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know; let me check and get back to you.” That’s a perfectly fine answer. Just make sure to come back. This is your task. Don’t let people crawl back to you begging for answers. If it takes more time, give them some updates in between — this shows you’re still on it.

Not jeopardized

One of the things that can break the spirit of teams formed through internal promotions is when the new manager feels jeopardized. This happens when the impostor syndrome kicks in, and you start feeling like you’re still competing for the manager’s job. You’re not. If you have been officially promoted, you’re in. That weird feeling you have is insecurity, and we all felt it. Go ask any other management peer. If they deny experiencing it, they’re lying.

One of the main jobs of a people manager is to remove the obstacles for your direct reports. Be mindful about that. Leave them time and space to do their jobs, act as a supporting structure, and a security guard. For me, my Team’s time is the most sacred thing. Quite often I get chased by someone who wants me to set up a call or a meeting with my entire team. I prefer having such call myself (first) in order to qualify whether it’s worth my Team’s time away from doing their jobs. And I’m the one who decides whether it’s an hour or a fifteen-minute update. And yes, sometimes I decide it’s not a meeting, but an email.

It’s important to act as a time and bullshit filter for your Team — and let them be aware of this. By doing so, they’ll know to trust you when you come with an urgent thing — they will understand that you already did the triage and decided it’s super important, and they need to get right on it. Coming to this level takes a bit of time, but as mentioned earlier — you are building this with each interaction.

I once heard a statement from a sales manager from New York, and he said that you should make sure to never have more than 2 days go by without talking to each of your direct reports. It might be different in a sales role than elsewhere, but I do agree with this point. However, talking can be any check-in. We’re in a digital era, and we’re all on social media, and that’s fine too. A quick message exchange, a wink, or a funny meme is okay as well. Just keep in touch.

What I’ve most struggled with was shifting the focus away from work. That comes naturally when you’re meeting a person face to face in the office every day, but I’m writing this book after a year of the global pandemic shutdown, and it’s been eleven months since I last met any of my directs in person.

Remotely, it’s too easy to focus on tasks and then hang up or end the video call. I learned to get out of my way to schedule non-task discussions where we can discuss how they’re doing, what they’re feeling, how are the families, and what do they want to accomplish next in their lives. It’s super important to have a whole-person view of your team members, so you can better align them to proper projects. Some people won’t like to open up, so respect that too. It’s okay, it’s not you, it’s how they are. Accept it.

Over the years, I learned to work differently with different people. Some prefer to have complete freedom and will thrive in that. Others like to get a checklist to tick off. For some, you need to create templates, others like to see examples. You have to learn to listen and observe to notice those patterns and then let them achieve their objectives in their preferred way. You are the coordinator and communicator, and sometimes it’s better to invest some more time coordinating and collating your team’s inputs instead of getting them to work your way.

Think about such flexibility and freedom, for they are highly appreciated. I can’t overstate that these small things add up to the overall team dynamic. People stay or leave for such things.

+++ you are managing people now, not (only) yourself
+++ start making an impact