We Don’t Teach Managers How to Manage

Here’s a lightweight way to give them the skills they need

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash

I watched a Simon Sinek lecture on YouTube the other day, and he said something that resonated with me. He observed that when you begin your career; you are trained to have the skills you need to do your job, and if you do the job well enough for long enough, you will inevitably be promoted into a leadership position. However, leading people typically requires a very different skill set than the job you were previously trained for, yet we do not take time to train people to have the new skills required for the new job. (Here’s a link to the specific part of his lecture that I’m referring to.)

I can relate to that. I felt ill-equipped as a manager for a long time. Self-doubt creeps in, and you think you could make a bigger impact as an individual contributor than as a leader. It took time — and it was a difficult journey — but I feel like I made it through to the other side.

Now I’m thinking about the next generation of leaders that’s coming behind me. I want to make their road a little smoother, and I’m constantly looking for “the thing” that I wish I would’ve had when I was getting started.

I recently discovered the book Behind Closed Doors, which takes an interesting approach to teaching these skills. It…