If you are going to be successful as a manager you must recognise three very important basic facts about your role:

Fact #1.  Management is getting things done through others

Fact #2.  You need your team members more than they need you

Fact #3.  You get paid for what your team members do, not for what you do

These facts were proposed by Ferdinand Fournies in his book “Coaching for Improved Work Performance”. Originally published in 1978, the book has become a management classic. Let’s examine why these three facts are true.

Imagine that you’re a manager with eight people reporting to you. For some reason you are off sick today but all of your direct reports have gone to work. If the total production or work output to be completed by you and your team is 100%, what percentage do you think will be completed by your team in your absence?

Generally I find that  managers think something in the range of 80% to 95% of the work will be accomplished.

Now let’s take the reverse situation. You’ve gone to work today but for some reason all eight of your direct reports have called in sick. For a variety of reasons you cannot use replacement staff for the day. In this situation, what percentage of the total production or workload will you be able to complete in the absence of all of your staff?

Generally I find that  managers think something in the range of 1% to 5% of the work will be accomplished.

This clearly suggests that your ability as a manager is measured by what your team members accomplish, not by what you do. You clearly need your team members more than they need you. And consequently you get paid for what your team members do, not for what you do.

When you do things yourself you are a technician. When you get things done through others you are a people manager, a leader. Our job as an effective leader is to do everything we can to ensure our people are successful. The most simple and useful measures of your success are the level of employee motivation in, and workplace productivity from, your team.

If motivation is low amongst your team and you want to understand who is responsible, take a look in the mirror. If productivity within your team is less than desirable, take another look in the mirror. You’ll find the person responsible right there staring back at you. Unfortunate  but true.

I understand that you may have your role as a  manager because you were an outstanding technician. You were really good at doing the work. But now your job is to bring out the best in your people, to do everything in your power to ensure that they are successful. Because your success is totally dependent on the success of your team.

Photo by Denis Collette