Managers: what I wish I knew then

Managers: as a someone who worked for years in various managerial posts and found themselves often anxious, overwhelmed and stressed, this is for you. I’m now a coach who works with managers every day, and this is what I wish I knew then that I know now.

💡 Everyone questions whether they’ve made the right call – it's easy to look at the CEO or Director confidently strut onto the stage and them deliver the big decision about the restructure or new vision and think they are totally 100 per cent sure of the way forward. But what we don’t see is the internal dialogue they may be having about the decision. They just learn to accept that nothing is 100 per cent guaranteed and some things are out of their control.

💡 Being the manager or leader doesn’t mean being the best at everything – being a good manager requires very different skills to being an expert in the field. You are paid to support the team to deliver the goods not to deliver them all yourself. Support them and they will respect you for what you do, not what you know.

💡 All managers and leaders struggle with confidence at times – there are always situations that people less comfortable in, what they learn to do is recognise the moments and triggers that will make them feel less confident and they build strategies and habits to manage them. You just see the performance, not the work that (continually) goes in. It takes practice.

💡 It's more than ok to show your team you are fallible – the old approach of the manager always gets it right and is invulnerable is thankfully this is something that is becoming a view of the past. Showing your team that you make mistakes too helps them to share their worries and frailties too, that helps you understand each other and that helps build trust which is fundamental to the managerial relationship.

Are you a manager needing some help? Get in touch for a free chat.