Why Management is Hard
Here’s a good quote on why management is hard:
“You can’t make anything happen. All you can do is influence, motivate, berate, or cajole in the hope that most of your people will do what you ask of them. This isn’t control…. And it’s coupled, nevertheless, with all of the accountability for the team’s performance.” -- Buckinghamm and Coffman First Break All the Rules
That’s the truth of it. There are some things you can do to get better at influencing people, you can define desired outcomes, tweek job roles, choose who you hire carefully, and sometimes you fire people. But as a manager, that’s about all you can do.
The bad news is if you don’t do these things well, your a gonner. The good news is that all you have to do is stay on top of those 5 things and your team’s chances of success skyrocket.