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I have lived a life where I have to constantly be taking personal inventory, and when wrong, promptly admit it. I think that helped make me a decent manager. At least, my employees seemed to think so. But I could be wrong.
I especially like OP’s point #1. “I know I did x, sorry about that” is so much more powerful than “Sorry you let yourself get upset that I did x”.
I have lived a life where I have to constantly be taking personal inventory, and when wrong, promptly admit it. I think that helped make me a decent manager. At least, my employees seemed to think so. But I could be wrong.
I’d rate this comment a “10”, ha. Good stuff, I’m with you on that road. I especially like OP’s point #1. “I know I did x, sorry about that” is so much more powerful than “Sorry you let yourself get upset that I did x”.
Another important aspect is the context. A lot of people are good at public excoriation, and private apology.
If I show my ass in front of a bunch of people, the apology is not an apology, unless it's made in front of the same people.
Oh no. Not another LinkedIn insight from a new dad about how managing humans in corp is just like parenting. Just fucking enjoy being a parent and don't apply your obvious empathy epiphanies to your career out loud.
IME the gap in management between ICs is accountability. It's easy to say you are sorry, or say things won't happen again but good management, and what I strive to do is hold myself accountable. To me, that means 1. To identify the issue that occurred (especially when you caused it), and much more importantly, 2. Put systems into place that prevent it from happening again. Employees can feel very clearly when a manag…
He was also close to retirement and didn't care about moving up the ladder. Many bad managers do and will sacrifice you and the rest of the team to make themselves look better.
Acknowledging what happened, taking responsibility, and reconnecting.
...is a reflex, not a tactic.
I think this goes for Engineers as well. In fact, I say the biggest skill I want from a SENIOR developer regardless of years of experience is humility. Someone who "cannot do wrong" and is a toxic about it will poison the rest of the team with their toxicity. But the seniors who are more open to feedback even from Junior developers, those are the ones everyone else follows to hell and back because they're there with…
> The ~~Management~~ Skill Nobody Talks About. Getting on with people long term is often about making them feeling acknowledged and being clear about what makes them valued. The real trick to 'repair' is not to make hollow promises. Managers can be perceived as failing when an external event happens and they haven't planned for it, or they bet against it happening. This can kick off a whole chain of events, including…
I always made that clear to my employees, but after that, my employees' interests generally came second (over my own).
It seemed to work. I was a manager at the same company for over 25 years, and my bosses were really tough (but fair).
Love this book! Just read it. Must read for parents, IMO.
Implementers are not babies and managers are not our mothers. I think the management skill nobody talks about is how managers should realize they are part of a team and their focus should be on whatever the team's goal is, not in finding the perfect way to apologize. As the article says: "Your job is to ship working software that adds real value to users, to help your team grow, and to create an environment where peo…