Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Sometimes we encounter some of those "cute" sayings that make their rounds and end up circling over and over again to be heard and heeded. We must learn which ones really have meaning and which ones are worthless. The reason why is that we incorporate them into our thinking and strategies, and at times implement them into our managing style.

I remember at a conference when a woman was relating a story about when she married her husband, he smoked, and in her mind she said that she was going to change him once they were married and he would stop the habit. She was wrong. The point she was making was that we can't make decisions in management based upon thinking that people will change.

Have you ever seen great employees being rewarded for doing good work and promoted into management to utter failure? I have, and the results are lose/lose for everybody. You lose a great employee when you must tell them that they aren't doing the job or aren't made for it. The employee loses as most of the time they're shamed and won't accept a downgrade in their career and so leave the company.

We as managers must understand that every employee is different and has limitations. Great managers understand that not  many people will have unlimited potential. I know it's fashionable to say everyone has, but if that really was true, we'd have overwhelmingly powerful leadership all over the world. It's really hard to find that anywhere.

Great managers understand that there is only so much that can be done to change their workers.

Now the thing that managers who understand do, is to comprehend the strengths and weaknesses of their employees and enhance and work on that which they already have. To try to fit someone into a specific mold that they could never go into is truly setting them up for failure.

This doesn't mean that training isn't important, but that the training must fit what the person is already strong in and make it even better. That is what will bring success to the employee and the company.