Read each statement below. If it sounds familiar, select “I Agree.” You may discover that your business has a management problem you need to address.
If you’re nodding your head yes to any of these, you could use our “Promote Yourself to CEO” workbook.
01
Fire starter.
You are always coming up with new projects, often with overlapping and conflicting demands on your people. Employees have difficulty setting priorities and following things through to completion, because there is always a new thing which must be done right now.
02
Open door.
Your door is always open; accessibility is a virtue. Your tacit message is, “I let everyone else set my agenda.” So it’s hard for you to focus on things that require concentrated attention—financial analysis, planning, creating new materials, writing.
03
The business is moi.
Your actions say that you are the only one who really matters in the business. All the others are appendages. You are afraid that if you rely on your people, they will let you down. The burden this places on you is inexorably wearing you down.
04
One big family.
You don’t think you need job descriptions or tracking systems. You want to avoid the image of a numbers-driven, impersonal business.
Turn ‘em loose vs. Hold ‘em tight
05
Laissez-faire manager.
You hire a good person, then turn them loose and expect them to learn their own job. You give them inadequate guidance, training, and feedback. They feel frustrated, thwarted, and impatient. You feel that they’re not doing the job. They begin circulating their résumé.
06
Micromanager.
You hire good people, but then never let them do their jobs. Instead of giving enough responsibility and authority, you look over their shoulders and second-guess them. You allow other people—both employees and customers—to go around them and come to you.
Strong workers and managers thus give up taking initiative, and ask you every little thing. You make decisions and solve problems that they should handle. Then you wonder why they don’t take any initiative, and why you are still overworked.
07
From one to the other.
You may employ both these styles by vacillating between giving people too much freedom and too much guidance. After ignoring them for a while, you come down hard on them when they make mistakes, and micro-manage for a while.
You allow things to build up—perhaps for a whole year—then dump all your gripes on them at once. No wonder you hate doing performance reviews! From the employee’s perspective, this is the worst manager.
REASONS THAT APPLY TO YOU
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If you’re nodding your head yes to any of these, you could use our “Promote Yourself to CEO” workbook.
