A Manager’s Role Is to Coach Employees, Not Supervise Tasks

I was a manager for many years and one of the worst mistakes I made was expecting others to be like me.

I’d been a star employee before I became a manager. Responsive, organized, always going above and beyond. My boss once told me that the company would be amazing if she could have ten more of me.

I could see the shortcomings in my peers, who eventually became my subordinates. No worries, I thought. I could help them learn to follow in my footsteps. Replicate myself.

My mistake was thinking there was only one way to get work done: my way. That, because my way worked for me, it could surely work for other people.

No surprise, it didn’t work. Because people’s brains, motivations, and experiences are unique. It’s not a “copy-and-paste” from a successful employee situation.

Uncover an employee’s strengths

One of my employees was disastrously disorganized. He managed multiple projects at any given time and could never figure out what to work on next, often prioritizing the wrong work.

His approach (or lack thereof) had a cascading impact across the department. Everyone complained that projects were delayed.

After I became a manager, I vented my frustrations to my boss. This employee had been with the company for a long time, but I was certain we could do better. Surely, we could find someone else who could do this job far more effectively?

My boss pointed out that this employee had a very specific skill set. And, due to his tenure, a significant amount of industry expertise that would be hard to replace. She said, “He’s here for a reason.”

Message received. The disorganization, while problematic, was more than offset by the employee’s other strengths. He was still valuable.

When other employees would complain in the future, I repeated the phrase: “He’s here for a reason.”

Become a coach

While I could accept that this employee had some really unique skills, disorganization was still a huge problem.

I didn’t even realize what a problem it was until I became the manager of the department. When I’d collaborated with this employee before, my projects had always been delivered on time.

I asked the employee why this was. He told me that I always set really clear expectations for due dates.

I realized part of the disconnect. I had assumed the role of a project manager. This employee, due to a combination of the role and lack of organization, wasn’t a project manager. He would go to the next due date on his list, and if those due dates weren’t clear, they were overlooked.

I began to coach other employees in the department to set more clear deadlines. They grumbled. “Isn’t that his job?”

Technically, it wasn’t. The role of the project manager had been somewhat unclear. I thought everyone was operating in the same way, and they weren’t: the expectations had been interpreted differently. Because of this, I could step in and more clearly define the project manager role.

Figure out why something isn’t working

Even with the project manager role more clearly defined, there were still problems. Every project had multiple steps with a lot of dependencies. And since there were now multiple project managers, this employee still needed to make decisions about prioritizing work.

That type of decision-making also seemed to be outside of this employee’s skillset. He’d get paralyzed when faced with competing priorities.

But in reality, no two projects should ever have the same deadline. And that was an issue: he was allowing it to happen. When the other project managers gave him a deadline, he was trying to meet it — even if another project had the same deadline.

We set up a new process: no two projects could have the same deadline. If the same date was requested, it was first come, first serve. Subsequent projects would be pushed to the next available “slot.”

The other thing happening was that if a dependency was missed, this employee was still trying to meet the original project deadline. Often this was due to waiting on information from the customer. I empowered the employee to push back: if a dependency was missed, the overall project deadline had to be adjusted. This meant that a customer could lose their spot and have a project pushed back by weeks.

Because the employee lacked organization, we outlined specific steps before a deadline was reassigned, including informing the project manager and warning the customer. The communication had to be clear.

Find the right tools to help

One thing I realized about employees with different skillsets: they need the right tools to enable them to do their best work.

Overall, the company lacked good project management tools. This was fine for me because I was highly organized. I created my own systems for keeping track of work. But for less-organized employees, the lack of a good tool was hindering work. It also meant less visibility across the department.

I selected and implemented a project management tool within the company. Because I’m a systems-minded person, I did the configuration and then explained to the disorganized employee how this would help his work. I created templates for different types of projects.

But I made one thing clear: the tool had to be used. Work would only get better if the tool was allowed to do its job.

I touched base with the employee frequently, talking about what was working and what wasn’t working. I tweaked the templates.

As a manager, I was able to clearly see all projects, which were on track, and which were falling behind (and why). Employees could tag each other with updates or issues.

Was the employee still scattered? Yes, a lot. Tools didn’t magically turn him into a more organized person. He still struggled with prioritizing work, and I was often a sounding board for decision-making. But the tool was a prompt, a way to stay on track — far better than a “hope this project gets delivered on time” approach.

Recognize your own limitations

I fixed a lot of things in the department’s processes. Projects ran more smoothly and many of the frustrations were removed.

But still, sometimes I was frustrated. I still wished the employees would act “more like me.”

And that was my own shortcoming, as a manager. I couldn’t mold people into versions of myself. And while I could put processes and systems in place, I wasn’t equipped to help them be the best versions of themselves.

That’s often the problem when individual contributors are promoted to management roles. Just because they did well on their own doesn’t mean they’re fit to lead a team. And the reasons for promotion are because their bosses think they can guide others to replicate success (which was certainly true in my case).

Eventually, I left the company, for reasons unrelated to being a manager. I pivoted to an entirely new career, which landed me back in an IC role.

And throughout that transition, I realized something: I don’t like managing people. I don’t think I’m particularly good at it. I can manage work, but being a manager shouldn’t be about managing work (if so, that’s a micromanager).

But I still have a strong desire to make work better. To see what’s wrong and fix it.

So, instead, I branched out on my own. I’m now a solopreneur. It’s the best fit for me, fueling my desire to control the outcomes of work.

A manager has to be able to meet people where they are and bring out the best in them. To balance the employee’s needs against the company’s needs. It shouldn’t happen because an IC is bored in their current role and management is the only way to get a promotion or earn more money. But far too often, that’s the case.

And, as a result, the world is full of bad managers, all making the same mistakes I once made.

If only managers could truly recognize their roles as coaches, seeing the value each employee brings. Work could be a lot better.

You can read about the future of work and career pivots on my Substack.