Stop Focusing on Your Own Performance to Become a Better Manager

Content

For most managers, one of the hardest lessons to learn is that their role is to help others do their jobs rather than concentrate solely on their own, individual performance. Focusing on selecting, guiding, helping, training, and enabling the team to thrive and achieve success is far from easy for those who have reached the pinnacle by doing things by themselves.

For most managers, one of the hardest lessons to learn is that their role is to help others do their jobs rather than concentrate solely on their own, individual performance. Focusing on selecting, guiding, helping, training, and enabling the team to thrive and achieve success is far from easy for those who have reached the pinnacle by doing things by themselves.

Content

As a management researcher at Costello College of Business at George Mason University, I focus on employee relationships that, without crossing any lines of propriety, promote trust and mutually beneficial collaboration. The benefits abound: greater employee engagement, higher retention, and enhanced productivity.

As a management researcher at Costello College of Business at George Mason University, I focus on employee relationships that, without crossing any lines of propriety, promote trust and mutually beneficial collaboration. The benefits abound: greater employee engagement, higher retention, and enhanced productivity.

Content

Business leaders wax rhapsodic about the importance of healthy working relationships between managers and employees. But my research shows that in most cases, such talk exists in inverse proportion to the amount of attention managers devote to fostering relationships and relationship dynamics. In the battle for managerial bandwidth, relationships routinely lose out to more immediate bottom-line issues and whether the "work" is getting done.

Business leaders wax rhapsodic about the importance of healthy working relationships between managers and employees. But my research shows that in most cases, such talk exists in inverse proportion to the amount of attention managers devote to fostering relationships and relationship dynamics. In the battle for managerial bandwidth, relationships routinely lose out to more immediate bottom-line issues and whether the "work" is getting done.

Content

Most of what bosses say about “collaborative” and “close-knit” corporate cultures is a form of gaslighting. And employees know it. That’s a major reason disenchantment and disengagement are running rampant inside organizations, as seen in phenomena like quiet quitting and employees tackling side hustles during formal work hours.

Most of what bosses say about “collaborative” and “close-knit” corporate cultures is a form of gaslighting. And employees know it. That’s a major reason disenchantment and disengagement are running rampant inside organizations, as seen in phenomena like quiet quitting and employees tackling side hustles during formal work hours.

Content

During a recent Costello Executive Education training course involving a national fast-casual dining chain, we took steps to address this issue. Participants were asked to focus on the relational aspects of their jobs, intervene where necessary, and document their results. Giving systematic attention to relationships not only improved the interpersonal atmosphere in their units but also helped them personally and professionally in four main ways.

During a recent Costello Executive Education training course involving a national fast-casual dining chain, we took steps to address this issue. Participants were asked to focus on the relational aspects of their jobs, intervene where necessary, and document their results. Giving systematic attention to relationships not only improved the interpersonal atmosphere in their units but also helped them personally and professionally in four main ways.

Content

1. Deep, high-level conversations. Managers stopped seeing things purely from their individual point of view. They started using the input of others to gain a more comprehensive perspective and asking for opinions and ideas regarding problems rather than punishing or criticizing. This approach elevated their awareness from a limited focus on what directly affects them to a broader mindset that encompasses more context.

1. Deep, high-level conversations. Managers stopped seeing things purely from their individual point of view. They started using the input of others to gain a more comprehensive perspective and asking for opinions and ideas regarding problems rather than punishing or criticizing. This approach elevated their awareness from a limited focus on what directly affects them to a broader mindset that encompasses more context.

Content

2. Less reactive decision-making. Relational attention separates stimulus from response, leading to less reactionary and more thoughtful responses during meetings and email exchanges. As a result, decision-making became less knee-jerk and more deliberate and effective from a strategic standpoint.

2. Less reactive decision-making. Relational attention separates stimulus from response, leading to less reactionary and more thoughtful responses during meetings and email exchanges. As a result, decision-making became less knee-jerk and more deliberate and effective from a strategic standpoint.

Content

3. Reinventing restrictive roles. More intentional “relational job crafting” enabled managers to embrace unprecedented partnerships and collaborations. Cooperation across roles and attention to interdependencies between individuals and teams opened possibilities for solutions.

3. Reinventing restrictive roles. More intentional “relational job crafting” enabled managers to embrace unprecedented partnerships and collaborations. Cooperation across roles and attention to interdependencies between individuals and teams opened possibilities for solutions.

Content

4. Escaping middle-manager entrapment. Managers stopped playing caretaker or being the “answer man” for their teams. Not jumping to solve problems for other people empowered team members to grow their own confidence. And by looking outward and focusing on how their teams collaborate, managers could identify trusted and reliable team members who were candidates for greater responsibility. This approach removed the feeling of risk that often prevented managers from delegating day-to-day. They moved from saying, "Fix things this way" to asking "What do you think is the best way to address the issue?"

4. Escaping middle-manager entrapment. Managers stopped playing caretaker or being the “answer man” for their teams. Not jumping to solve problems for other people empowered team members to grow their own confidence. And by looking outward and focusing on how their teams collaborate, managers could identify trusted and reliable team members who were candidates for greater responsibility. This approach removed the feeling of risk that often prevented managers from delegating day-to-day. They moved from saying, "Fix things this way" to asking "What do you think is the best way to address the issue?"

Content

My research and experience support the argument that taking the focus off themselves and their own achievements and paying close attention to others allows managers to effectively step off the stage and onto the balcony. They remove themselves from the play to better see what is going on around them. Managers become attuned and responsive to the complex relational environment, and they can confidently coach their people through issues affecting business performance. Ultimately, these managers enable themselves, their teams, and their organization to achieve success.

My research and experience support the argument that taking the focus off themselves and their own achievements and paying close attention to others allows managers to effectively step off the stage and onto the balcony. They remove themselves from the play to better see what is going on around them. Managers become attuned and responsive to the complex relational environment, and they can confidently coach their people through issues affecting business performance. Ultimately, these managers enable themselves, their teams, and their organization to achieve success.

Content