How to face a hard truth

A hard truth.

You are going to be someone’s bad manager at some point, despite your best efforts. And it’s going to creep up on you, when you least expect it.

You can go one of two ways with this. You can kick off into a sea of despond, and have a good wallow in the muck and mire of ‘why didn’t I see that before,’ ‘I’m complete shit at this job...’, and ‘if only I’d ... ’ is always refreshing for the ol’ imposter syndrome.

Or.

You can look at it as a learning experience. Yes, there was likely something you could or should have seen before. How can you catch it sooner next time? Perhaps you could have given better, more direct feedback. Great. Start doing that with your team. Maybe there was a disconnect between the things you were saying and the things your report was hearing. Learn to communicate more directly and clearly going forward.

And realize that — as much as there’s always opportunity to grow and be better as a person who manages humans — that those same humans are complex beings, who are each perceiving the world around them differently. You only have so much control over how you, in particular, can be perceived through the actions you take and the way in which you interact with your folks.

This article is my 10th oldest. It is 226 words long