Much like the XY generation, managers often feel overlooked and unsupported in their organization. It’s an interesting pattern that I’ve seen while consulting in different industries. Even companies that are voted “best places to work” have this issue. This problem isn’t the managers’ fault, it’s the company’s.

A manager often earns the title because she/ he has mastered their technical skills. This scenario for promotion happens all the time (it happened to me) and, frankly, it’s a lazy practice. Allow me to explain.

Just because you are a good salesperson, doesn’t mean you have the skills to manage and develop other people. Managers can be developed, but most organizations don’t provide the leadership training that they need to be successful in supporting the front-line staff. 

This is why managers get such a bad reputation and are frequently cited as the #1 reason why people leave their jobs. Some managers are just bad, but I believe most of them want to do well and are doing the best that they can. They just don’t know what it means to lead or how to do it. There are several skills you need to excel as a manager and here are 2 of them:

1) Care about your people, their wellbeing, and your own personal mental health. As I mentioned in last week’s letter, you have to take care of yourself first. If your energy and mood aren’t where they need to be, then you can’t bring your best self to others. It also sets a good example for those you manage. Show people that you care through your actions, like understanding their current workload before you assign them more work. 

2) Communicate better with your team and respect how they work and live. Whether in the office, virtual or hybrid, communicating well with your people is crucial. With the blurred lines of home and office these days, it’s important to have clear boundaries and parameters. For example, if you’re going to send a Slack message over the weekend to clear the task from your plate, then I hope you’ve told that person you don’t expect a response until Monday. 

As a manager, if you care about your people, then treat them well. Don’t push them towards burnout. Manage your own expectations, especially in how people complete their work. Do your best to decrease the urgency and dependency of your messages. This will reduce some of the pressure and stress your team may be feeling. 

Although managers take the blame when employees leave, in the end, the organization suffers. Companies need to have better leadership training and development plans. Promoting someone and forgetting about them is not a good practice. Everyone has room for growth and improvement. If you want the best people to stay, then develop your managers to be the best leaders and communicators.