When I first got a job in this industry, 20 plus years ago, I wasn’t aspiring to become a manager/director. I was focused on learning everything I needed to know to be able to do the best job possible. And the managers that enabled me to do that are the people that I looked up to. But no matter how good or bad of a manager you are, you will have some blind spots. I’m going to talk about a few that I’ve experienced, what I’ve learned and what I now practice as manager.
Whether you’re first starting out or you’re a seasoned manager, I think it’s important to be aware of these blind spots.
Overshielding
This might be my biggest misstep as manager. In my early years of being a creative director, I had a young team and I thought that it was my job to protect my team from everything that had nothing to do with their work. That includes office politics and all the other things that would only worry or distract them from doing their work.
Some might think that a good manager should protect their team from all of that. While I agree with that, I’ve also learned that, fast-forward to after my departure from the company, I didn’t prepare the team for navigating through all of that. I was getting phone calls and emails talking about how different it was and questions about how to deal with such and such. It became clear to me that this was all new to them and that they didn’t know what to do.
Nowadays I practice a little more transparency. I discuss some selected conflicts with the team and talk about possible ways we can resolve it. I offer more frequent one-on-ones to team members that want or need to talk through their challenges. And I tell them about how I’ve resolved similar problems in the past. Lastly, and importantly, I know my limits. It doesn’t help anybody if I’m giving advice about something I know nothing about. Instead, I find someone who has that wisdom or insight to help with the problem.
Pigeonholing
Once, I was in a situation where my creative director was replaced by someone who worked at the same agency I did years ago. This person only knew me by reputation. When we started working together, they insisted that I should just keep doing what I was great at and nothing else. While I tried to explain that I’ve grown and I’m now flourishing doing other things, I was unsuccessful in convincing them to see past my old accomplishments. Sadly, soon after, I had to leave my friends and colleagues there to pursue the challenges I’d originally set out to do at that agency.
I think it’s great to recognize someone’s talents and accomplishments but I don’t think it should be held against them when they are looking to grow or explore other skills and interest. Just because they are good at something doesn’t mean they actually like doing it. Maybe they’ve grown tired of it. Just imagine what they could accomplish if they are working on something they love. Also it’s hard enough trying to figure out how to get better at something new, and it’s that much harder if you don’t have the support of your superiors.
I’ve encountered different variations of this throughout the years. From wanting to make a lateral move, acquiring new skills to working towards a senior or managerial role. It’s best to provide the framework and support for an employee’s growth. Set measurable milestones to keep track and assess ways for how the new skills they’re stretching into might best be used for future projects. Talk about how a person’s role can transition if/when the opportunity arises.
Business as usual
It’s critical to know how to make use of the “business as usual” times — that period when the dust settles after a period of intense work, and things return to a certain comfort level. I think this time period is best used to reflect and make changes. Otherwise, it will simply pass and everyone will say, “We could have! We should have! We didn’t!” Right when the opportunity was there.
In my experience, this is a great time to make decisions and actions that will contribute to the company’s mission and vision, or the goals I’ve set out for my team. The way I see it, making moves with a clear mind leads to clear direction.
I see this as one of the biggest blind spots for managers because it’s very easy to refrain from doing anything. I realize that this might be the only time we have to rest and slow down, and this can be a very good thing, especially after completing a gruelling project. But there isn’t really a more opportune time to make changes that aren’t heavily influenced or pressured by extraneous matters.
If things are going very well, I’ve often taken this time to celebrate and show appreciation to everyone’s hard work. If things are just okay, I use the time to make moves/decisions to get my team/company to the next level, like exploring other verticals or other opportunities we haven’t tackled before. And if things aren’t going as well as planned, then maybe it’s time to make some hard decisions or try something different, from evaluating the team and structures to working with the leaders on revising the company’s vision.
These are just a few that I chose to review because they’ve made such an impact on how I lead today. I hope that reading this inspires you to attempt to see/recognize/review your own blind spots and share them in the comment section. And by doing so we can all learn from each other and guide others as they emerge as future leaders.
