You’re Not Crazy - It’s Hard.

If you have ever wondered if you’re crazy because managing people seems harder than it should be, let me assure you, you are not crazy. It is hard.

Here’s the thing, if your career followed the common path (not that you’re not extraordinary, mind you!) you began early on with some academic knowledge about your field of study, took a job that allowed you to apply that knowledge in “the real world,” had that knowledge severely tested by every day challenges and problems, and managed through hard work and good old Puritan work ethic to develop a growing expertise at it. Then you were promoted based on that expertise into a role with  more responsibility and authority. You did so well you were promoted into management. That’s when things got crazy.

The instant you began managing other people you entered a vortex of psychological, sociological, and emotional dynamics that little of your previous success prepared you for. You were a great “team player” before, but you noticed that being a team “lead” or manager is totally different. People have very different expectations and biases about you now that didn’t exist before you became a manager or team lead. And, in fairness, you began to look at the team members differently now that you are “responsible for them and their results.”

You’re not crazy if you feel things got a lot more complex; they did. I will tell you that you are crazy if you think more focus on technical outcomes (usually put in term of “goals”) is still your primary focus. Crazy is not actively investing in learning how to wisely and proactively manage the psychology and socialization of your organization. Crazy is not, with your time and money, investing in your own personal development and leadership skills.

When executives ask how to deal with the complexity they now face, I advise them to invest a minimum of 5% of their time in self- and leadership-development. For a 50-hour work week, that’s 2.5 hours per week, or 10 hours a month. That means books, workshops, retreats, coaching (yeah, you knew I’d throw that in there), management and leadership skills training, and awareness development. Imagine having invested at that level. After one year you would be so much more knowledgeable and capable. Your management life would be a lot easier and a lot less crazy.

Things don’t have to be as crazy as they seem. If you actively invest in your own development, you will notice something interesting…other people will seem a lot less crazy. You will finally (!) understand what they are trying to do. And, if you approach things well, you can strike the right balance of helping them meet their needs while achieving the organization’s key goals. How about that approach for a little sanity (and winning results)?

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