Paul Riddle
Contributing Writer
Success Academy International

Let me tell you a tale of business.  A small business starts out as a one-man show—a guy who “bought himself a job.” Let’s call our guy Cal. Cal’s got no one to manage and nothing to direct. Just do the work.  Go home.  Repeat.

Then it happens: Cal succeeds. Cal’s business starts getting busy, really busy. It’s a nice problem to have but it’s a problem all the same.  Cal realizes that he needs help!!!  So, he hires Dan.  Dan is the type who seems like he can handle himself.  And so, the business gets even busier.Cal feels like he’s a natural at this hiring thing, so he hires Bob!  Bob is no slouch either, and the company seems to be in perfect shape!  Except it absolutely is NOT!  There are conflicts and details being overlooked.  Customers aren’t satisfied.  Put simply: Bob has lead to more headaches.

Bob wasn’t a bad hire—it’s just the dynamic has changed.  Coordination is needed and resources must be shared, but that’s not happening.  Cal realizes he must become a manager.

Managing is a completely new skill set for Cal. Cal may be great at what he does but that doesn’t guarantee that he is great at passing on his skills.  He always did things intuitively but now he has to consciously create systems.

Dan and Bob put up with Cal in his new role as a neophyte manager. It seems like there is a bunch of unnecessary overhead and regulation. Cal’s occasional indecision is disruptive. But hey, it’s a job. Cal’s a good guy, they say. He’ll figure it out.

Cal the Contractor Has Morphed Into Cal the Manager

Cal has now learned how to go from contractor to manager so as the business continues to expand, he starts grooming Dan and Bob for more responsibility. After all, he reasons: “I was able to step up, so can they.”

Dan and Bob have an easier time of it than Cal. Since Cal laid the groundwork, they just need to learn how he has been doing everything. Cal feels a sense of relief that he finally has some help in shouldering all the management responsibility. Everything will be a piece of cake!  Except…

Dan and Bob still seem to need to be managed. So Call has to tell them how to do their jobs on a daily basis. Cal continues to assign tasks like always. Dan and Bob don’t feel comfortable making decisions in this arrangement. So they are always going to Cal for approval on matters big and small. Cal is getting more and more frustrated because he feels like he is doing three jobs, his own and Dan’s and Bob’s.

Cal realizes that the problem isn’t Dan and Bob. Cal’s problem is Cal. He knows he needs to let Dan and Bob do their jobs. He gave them more responsibility but what he failed to give them along with it was authority. Now Cal gets scared. Giving away responsibility seemed okay, but authority? What if they make a mistake.

Let’s Stop Our Story for a Moment

Do you see what is happening here? Cal got good at what his business does before our story began. He learned how to manage as our story unfolded. But if this story is going to continue, Cal has another learning curve to master: learning to direct.

Management has to do with tasks. It is about how to do things, when to do things, and who does those things. It is about delegation, all surrounding the accomplishment of tasks.  You can manage schedules. You can manage materials. You can even manage workers. But it turns out you cannot manage managers.

The reason you can’t manage managers is because the minute you do, they stop being managers themselves. Lots of companies call some of their employees managers. But when you examine how things work operationally, you see that they are not truly managing. The issue is usually not a failure on the part of these would-be managers. No, the problem is they are not allowed to manage.

Real Managers Must Be Given 2 Things: Responsibility & Authority

Responsibility can be imposed and it must also be accepted. This usually happens without much fuss. But authority is a different matter. People can be rather stingy about handing out authority. If you want a manager to succeed, it is a necessity that they receive enough authority to carry out their responsibilities. When management fails, it can often be attributed to the lack of adequate authority.

Let’s say that a manager is giving the authority to do his job. So what is his boss supposed to do? The new job of his boss is to direct. How does that differ from managing?

Directing has to do with outcomes. It is about defining results, setting time tables, and providing resources. It is about communicating and mentoring, all surrounding the accomplishment of goals.  A good manager gets workers to do things right. A good director gets managers to do the right things.

It’s not really any harder to direct than to manage but it does require a different mindset. Most managers who rise to become directors could direct. The question is, will they? Will they stay in that comfortable place of managing or will they make the hard choice to delegate authority and then support their managers?

Cal is at that crossroads. He has had to step up before. How will his story continue? Will Cal rise to this new challenge and become the kind of director that every manager hopes for? Or will he neuter Dan and Bob and never really cede to them the control they will need to step into their new roles?

You are Cal…

It is up to you to write your own ending. Of course, it never ends. Business is of an ongoing nature. So do what needs doing, manage what needs managing, and direct what needs directing.

 

About the Author: Paul Riddle, Vice President, Success Group International

Paul Riddle has over 25 years of hands‐on experience as GM, COO, CEO, and owner of service companies specifically in the mechanical and restoration segments. Throughout his career, he has personally trained the owners and employees of hundreds of businesses, including several turnaround situations.  His hands‐on training for owners and their employees has been in the areas of business planning, sales & marketing, and company culture. Paul enjoys applying his knowledge and experience working directly with business owners and their employees to increase profits, improve the company’s present value, and unlock the intrinsic value of the business when sold. Paul joined SGI in 2009 as the VP of Operations.