Are you a reluctant manager?

So many people get into business because they love the work, or because they enjoy the excitement of exploring new ideas, but then get bogged down by the fact they have to manage people as well.

A recent article I read from E-Myth Worldwide explores this concept by running through a case study of a physical therapist who had been going along to their coaching sessions.

The story goes as follows…

‘For a long time, Rick showed up in our coaching calls complaining about how hard it was to work with his team. He didn’t consider himself a good manager and I sensed that he didn’t want to be ‘the manager’ any longer. His common complaints were:

•  I can never find the ‘right’ people

•  I’m uncomfortable interviewing job applicants

•  My employees don’t understand what I want them to do

•  Even when I know it’s the right thing to do, I have trouble firing people

•  I’m not sure when to give employees raises or how much of a pay increase they should get

•  When I’ve tried performance reviews in the past, they led to more trouble than they were worth’

How many of you can recognise yourself in this picture?

Rick is a strategic thinker. He’s an entrepreneur at heart. He thrives on the thinking and the dreaming behind his business, not necessarily the doing.

Rick felt burdened by the idea of being a manager. He had zero interest in managing people, nor did he particularly excel at it.

Given this, it was suggested that he might have more success if he simply approached the whole idea of management from a strategic perspective. He could be ‘the manager’ in the sense that he could create a management strategy for the business, without actually doing the management work.

Ultimately, Rick only needed to define the management work that needed to be done; then he could let others do the managing.

Follow this link to read the article in full and find out in more detail how Rick managed to change his whole approach to ‘managing’.