I’m a huge fan.
There is no limit to the admiration I have for the life you lead and the work you do.
You are the heart of an organization.
The things you do and say—
And the things you choose not to do,
And not to say—
Have significant, direct, and immediate impact.
On the lives of your team members.
On the lives of their families.
On the communities they belong to.
Teachers of the Workplace
In my simple mind, I equate your impact to that of teachers.
I’ve been a professor in the classroom.
A program manager outside it.
A dean sitting in an office.
And I know this:
The immediate—unmediated—impact of a teacher
On the life of their students is immeasurable.
The further you are from the classroom,
The more mediated the impact.
So it is with managers:
C-level executives,
VPs of every sort—
They get the attention.
But your type of impact?
Immediate. Real.
Life-changing.
The Challenge of Being in the Middle
You are a manager.
You also have a manager.
Sandwiched between them, you create an environment
Where your people can get their work done,
Even while living in the environment
That your manager builds for you.
And we all know:
These do not necessarily align.
The devastating impact of a micromanager—
Could anything make it clearer?
You rely on your team’s talents,
On their readiness—
That mix of ability and willingness
You know so well.
And yet,
There they are,
In all the splendor of their self-importance,
Barking orders from above,
Sweeping in over your head,
Into the lives of your team members.
The Transition Paradox
What makes us successful at one level
Does not guarantee success at the next.
Being an excellent individual contributor
Does not make you an excellent manager
Of individual contributors.
It’s not automatic.
It requires different skills.
Different types of experience.
And yet, how often do we believe
That others will succeed
Simply by doing what we say?
The same is true for you.
What made you successful as a manager of individual contributors
Isn’t necessarily what will make you successful
As a manager of managers.
Different skills.
Different experiences.
More politics.
More complexity.
What I See in You
I see you.
I hear you.
In our coaching conversations,
I admire you.
Resilience.
That’s the word that comes to mind.
And wisdom—
That ability to separate wheat from chaff,
Day in and day out.
In the mix, I see those
Who truly care for their team members
And those who are focused on their own promotion.
These need not be mutually exclusive.
But sometimes, they are.
A Glass Office
Your team members see you.
They see everything about you.
Even if you’re not on site,
You’re in a glass office.
They see what you do.
They hear what you say.
And they notice—
What you choose not to do.
What you choose not to say.
They see your efforts to connect.
And the times you don’t.
They see the priorities you make:
Your promotion—or theirs.
Your success—or their success.
These need not be mutually exclusive.
But sometimes, they are.
An Ode to You
It’s a complex, layered, multi-faceted existence you lead.
And I applaud you for it.
I see you.
I admire you.
And I’m a big fan.
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photo by Mel Poole