With permission, I’m posting here about a coaching session I just finished. The manager I’ve been working with (we’ll call him “Stan”) has been in various positions over the past ten years, but says he’s never been trained in what it means to be a manager.

“I can’t believe how these leaders just tell you what to do but don’t provide any big picture; no coaching, no training,” Stan said.

“At my last job the guy over me treated people like they were stupid. He belittled us and talked down to us all the time. Who wants to put up with that?”

It’s a story that’s WAY too common. 

And while many workplaces don’t provide much in terms of management skills training, we don’t see too many managers jumping up and down, saying “Train me! Train me!”

I’ve written about it before, but I’ll say it again: One cause is Adult Syndrome.  I give the affliction this name because it affects most adults: They think they should know things just by virtue of being an adult.

Especially hard hit are managers and leaders: “I’m a manager – I must know how to be a manager, or they wouldn’t have made me one!”

As a result, many private-sector managers avoid management training. Their thinking?

a) It might say to my teams that I need help being a manager, and they might start questioning my authority.
OR
b) It might say to my boss that I don’t think I can cut the mustard, so they might not consider me when the next promotion opportunity comes along.

The ripple effect is a whole lot of managers blindly stumbling through their responsibilities.

Managers: It’s okay not to know everything. Only one entity in the universe has that capability, and it’s not you.

Leaders: It’s okay that your managers don’t know everything. Hundreds of thousands of “Stans” are our there hungry for someone to show them the ropes. You can play a huge role in building your organization if you build your management teams. Learning to train them in HOW to be a manager will pay big dividends.

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Filed in Work, Business, Opinion, Training, Motivation, Management, Leadership, Team Building, Workplace, Train the Trainer, Corporate Culture