If there is any statement I would want a manager/leader to understand, it would be the following:
"Your people are smarter than you think."
I feel sorry for those organizations that promote, deify, and plain flatter the pants off of management candidates and new hires (including senior management). I feel even sorrier for those individuals because most of the time they are not prepared to lead. It's often a case of letting words on a resume or some performance metric around revenue generation that leads to this ride to hell.
On face of it, you might say congratulations are in order for the recently hired or promoted. I wouldn't want to stop the celebration and I certainly applaud those who desire to lead people. The problem rests in not taking time to explain some key and essential truths. And one of those is:
"Your People Are Smarter Than You Think."
So You may be wondering why the emphasis on that statement? Here are the reasons why:
- People are tired of corporatese (a language that many organizations use to unknowingly frustrate) and false pretense.
- People are tired of managers who feel compelled to remind the world that they are the smartest guy or gal in the room.
- People often want to do their jobs with excellence, but they now know that Wall Street is often the prettiest girl in the room. And leaves them feeling the need to watch their back while the CEO gushes over the past quarters numbers. I think you get my point here.
- People know the world has changed, but often their leaders are vague on the subject and how it impacts them as an employee.
- People know that a title and position do not equal leadership. Thus, they won't really follow if they since an embrace of those two.