Becoming a Manager

So you want to be a manager (or you think you do)? Maybe someone tapped you on the shoulder to become a manager. But you’re not sure what you want for yourself or what “becoming a manager” even means.

The go-to EOS® resource I recommend for up-and-coming managers is How to Be a Great Boss. It’s the first stop on the journey from individual contributor to manager, but it is by no means the final destination.

What’s Love Got To Do With It?

One theme worth exploring further on this journey is a topic in my latest book, People—Dare to Build an Intentional Culture, with co-authors Mark O’Donnell and CJ DuBe’. That topic is love.

What’s love got to do with managing people, you ask? Everything.

A culture oriented toward love and abundance versus scarcity and fear exemplifies positive, healthy attitudes and behaviors. When done well, that attitude can be felt at all levels of the organization.

Yet those who dare to lead bear the unique responsibility for creating such an environment. These leaders have to have the courage to do the hard work, with grit and determination, for the sake of their people and the greater good.

These people are who we call managers and leaders.

Really committed managers have a certain set of skills or developed attributes (and, let me tell you, there’s nothing soft about them!). This skill set enables their teams to be open, honest, vulnerable, real, raw, and trusting.

That’s because genuine care and concern are foundationally understood, felt, and appreciated when in the presence of their manager and their leadership.

No business has a 100% orientation to love and abundance (or scarcity and fear). Rather, we operate on a continuum where, at our best, we stretch to get just a little closer to exhibiting greater love every day.

How Does a Committed Manager Show Love?

As a manager, your actions shouldn’t result from trying to gain something for yourself or to buy affection, status, or anything else to support your ego. Committed managers should only be motivated by wanting what’s best for someone else married with what’s best for the organization.

As a manager, some real-world, practical ways you can show love for your team include:

• Giving a team member your total focus and attention during a Quarterly Conversation
• Genuinely striving to help members of your team reach a peaceful resolution
• Digging deep and “entering the danger” to truly get to the root of an issue, even (actually, especially) when it is hard.
• Challenging each other’s thinking and putting as much care into decision-making as possible
• Regularly taking Clarity Breaks to prepare for and show up with the right energy and intentions
• Apologizing when you’ve made a mistake or hurt someone’s feelings because compassion and kindness must prevail

Great managers understand the value that these actions, words, and behaviors create in building the best teams rooted solidly in intentional love and care.

These teams create unparalleled results. Recruiting new members becomes a non-issue. You’ll have a line-up of people waiting to join a team that looks and feels this way. Plus, the experience of working together this way is pretty amazing.

Daring to Become a Manager

If any of this interests you, continue asking questions of other managers, both those who’ve succeeded and those who’ve failed. I urge you to keep reading and learning before you decide if becoming a manager is for you.

While you’re deciding, I’ll leave you with one universal nugget. This sage advice, once given to me, never changes over time, distance, or generation, and could potentially save yourself and others immeasurable pain and frustration.

Please do not become a manager if you don’t have a genuine love for people: the good, the bad, and the ugly. You have to love people, especially on the really hard days when we humans are not at our personal best.

Becoming a manager is not for the faint of heart. It’s often grueling and thankless. Yet the rewards for those who have the passion, desire, and drive are priceless. So, I’ll leave you with this question: Do you dare?