Learning #33 : Good management is a honed skill

Not everybody is a good manager.  In fact, some people are pretty terrible managers. 

This is not something that’s generally discussed, officially, in a business setting.  On the contrary, the open exploration of what makes someone a really bad manager is a pretty taboo subject around the old conference room table.

And so, as someone who reads a lot of business books, I found myself genuinely surprised at the frank honesty of “Multipliers,” which tackles this sticky subject head-on.  This book teaches us that those great managers, the Multipliers, the ones under whom people stretch themselves and work their hardest and best, can increase the collective IQ and consequent effectiveness of an organization.  Whereas the bad managers - the Diminishers - suck the intelligence out of their organization, leading to a literal brain drain that dumbs down even the once-bright folks who have given up but stick around anyway.  (The "Quit and Stay," as its called in the book.)

This kind of frank discussion about both the qualifiable and quantifiable effects of bad management and bad managers, specifically, may be an uncomfortable subject for a lot of people to address directly, particularly given that the subject of bad management is most effectively addressed with the bad managers themselves.  But it’s crucial that senior management address the topic, because avoiding the subject doesn’t quell the conversation.  It just moves it.

Frustrated employees will start these conversations with peers over lunch, in carpool, behind closed doors after a particularly awful meeting, and in other secreted places so as not to be overheard by others who might either be negatively affected by their observations, or simply in a position to punish anyone making them.

Like all bad leaders, bad managers eventually frustrate and demoralize their employees.  People frustrated by an absence of good leadership will, inevitably, band together in a sort of dysfunctional camaraderie that will ultimately lead to a downward morale spiral if the root cause isn’t addressed. 

And once morale is shot, it’s really difficult to bring it back.  Bad morale systemically destroys once-healthy departments and can spread to others, the last of which is much more likely if the management dysfunction causing the problem in the first place is peppered throughout an organization.  Uninspired, unhappy people deliver, predictably, uninspired and unhappy work. 

So: to avoid creating a work environment that inadvertently rewards bad management by ignoring it, it’s imperative that we learn to recognize and discuss both good and bad management styles.  Remember, the conversations are going to happen anyway, so you as an organization should want to participate, learn, and move forward.

“Multipliers” gives us a guidebook for recognizing and understanding both excellent and terrible management, complete with charts and matrixes for those of us who appreciate such cheat sheets.  It also relies on extensive research and data to let the most left-brain of us know why this is important, as well as a staggering number of personal anecdotes to drive the point home for the right-brainers.

Basically, it’s “Goofus and Gallant” for the workplace.  Read it.