Stop trying to be a better manager!

Yes, you heard me right. Stop. Cease. Desist.

In my final post on Leaders as Humans, I want to talk about focusing on people, not performance.

I realise I run the risk here of sounding a bit woolly and switching off leaders who need to grow top and bottom-line performance. But stick with me.

I used to worry about whether I was a 'good enough manager'. Fixating on process, getting anxious at annual review time, obsessing about ratings, frameworks.

Was I setting SMART objectives? Was I delivering to deadlines? Was I giving clear direction?

Every now and again I'd have a chat about how people were. What were they learning. What they wanted to develop. And I always felt a lot more human in those moments. More me.

But then the process-y stuff came back, and I'd lose the connection. Become "the boss" again.

There was no shortcut around this (sorry, no aha moment on this one), but I did find over time that I got the best out of my team when I treated them as individuals, rather than units of delivery. Asked more questions.

One time, I remember having an awkward conversation with someone in my team during their weekly 1:1. On the face of it, we were talking about her growth into a new, bigger role. I was outlining a pathway towards this role, but she just wasn't buying it. I was getting polite responses.

So I asked her – what's going on?

She was very reticent to open up. But I persevered. I assured her – just talk to me, no judgement, no issue. And she eventually did start to share.

She was scared to tell me that my grand plan for her future wasn't what she wanted. And she'd been a bit scared to tell me, as she didn't want to disappoint me. Wow. Again – a moment to reflect on the environment we create to help others speak up (see my post yesterday).

Hearing this, I closed my book, shut off the laptop, and we went for a coffee. I showed her I cared about her, not some "neat" org design I'd come up with.

And she felt able to share. Her ideas, her ambitions, her aspirations for the future. All perfectly aligned to her strengths, but a totally different kind of role to the one I had earmarked. And that was cool. Now I knew what she wanted, we could work on this together.

Shifting the focus from process to person meant she had the framework and space to bloom. In fact, these days? She's flying – moved several rungs up and having quite an impact. On performance. Yeah – that thing I told you to forget about.

Once I reframed leadership from fixing performance to growing people – performance came.

So, as managers – stop worrying if you are 'doing enough'. Ask yourself 'am I helping them grow'? You may find you all get better outcomes that way.

I work with managers and leaders on all aspects of their role. If you think I could come and help you and your team – individually or collectively – get in touch.