Great Managers

jeff September 2nd, 2009

I wonder how many great coaches were great players. I’m not one to follow any player, team or sport closely enough to answer this. In football I can list a few who I believe were some of the greatest coaches; Lombardi, Shula, Landry, perhaps Walsh and Parcells. I’m sure there are more but my question is Where are the any stars as players?

Here’s a key point for up and coming managers to remember…Great managers are rarely excellent at the things they manage.

My first management opportunity came at 30. I stunk. By age 32 I was above average. At age 35 I had become a decent manager, at least I believe so. The key came when I accepted the fact that I could not do everything. I was not good at everything and was not the best at most things.

I am far better handling 10 things at a time than one. There are too many details to deal with in the one. I learned and accepted that my detail abilities were not my greatest talent. One of my soccer coaches once told me “You’re not the best player we have but you see the field and how the game is developing quickly and can put the ball where it needs to be better than the others.”

Once I accepted my limitations and focused on my talents it all came together. I surround myself with detail people, those who love to handle the i dotting and t crossing.

If you are the star seller in an organization and have aspirations for management think about your skills and your managers skills. Look at what your manager deals with day to day. Are they the things you enjoy?

We often see VP of Marketing or VP of Finance people elevated to President or CEO only to crash. We forget that they are the VP of Marketing because they are excellent at Marketing and relating to the people in the Marketing department. They don’t relate to penny pinchers. They don’t handle HR or company PR well.

Great coaches, great managers, generally are not star players. They have broad talents rather than highly focused ones. They have high assist numbers and low scoring stats. They relate to teammates better than cameras.

Great managers are rarely excellent at the things they manage.