Somebody said a truth to me recently: "People don't quit companies, they quit managers". Stopping to think back on my own and some friends' careers, I realised this was very true.
If you've been in the workforce ten years or more, particularly in the field of marketing, it's pretty likely you've experienced more than one boss. And perhaps have already made a jump from boat to boat.
The manager who interviewed you the first time and spoke those magic words: "You've got the job" has invested some personal capital in the decision. If you don't live up to expectations, it looks like they made a bad judgement, so they’ll try that bit harder to steer you straight.
But then one day they go elsewhere, and you find yourself unprotected. If you're lucky, the new manager likes you, supports the same footy team, you get along swimmingly together. On the other hand you may be seen as "the old guard" with no personal loyalty to them - and there’s someone waiting on the outside who has worked for them for years.
Now in these days of advanced management skills, you'd expect these blinkered attitudes to be a thing of the past. Not a bit of it.
It's over 40 years since Dr Lawrence J Peter wrote The Peter Principle. In it he stated that in a work hierarchy, an employee can expect to be promoted to a point where they reach their level of incompetence and be incapable of rising further. So then they stay where they are, and fit into a similarly incompetent management.
This is where they are given charge of a team, keen, willing to achieve - and before long manage to disillusion them. When the employee finally quits it is not because of the job, the salary, the environment or the company. It's because they have nowhere further to go, and the boss is doing their head in.
In the world of advertising, creatives are notorious for this fault. Someone is a brilliant writer, or a stunning art director, and gets elevated to creative director, perhaps even managing director. Suddenly they need a new set of skills.
The artist works from the inside, playing with ideas and generating new concepts. The manager works from the outside - setting goals, directing people, giving feedback, smoothing problems. Totally different skill sets are needed, maybe a different personality.
The same thing happens to top gun salespeople. Their ability to compete, shoot down the opposition, glorify themselves, pulls in huge amounts of business. Often promotion is a step back from the commission they were making - more than the boss.
But as a manager you can’t compete with your own staff. Showing them how inadequate they are, how much better you are at the job, is not going to win you any loyalty.
You have to set goals and targets, sure. But then communicate clearly to your team.
You’ll have to let go of the secret recipes for your success, and teach them to the others. Not easy to do, give up your advantages.
Most importantly, stay awake to what’s going on - within your staff, your company, your industry. I see so many managers who sit behind closed doors (even with open planning you can keep your doors closed) and one day wonder why their best people are leaving. They never saw it coming.
ray@ebeatty.com
