Be a good manager. Help others find their purpos!

Be a good manager. Help others find their purpose!

This week is going to be fun, we’ll talk about how can you find meaning at work, from a manager’s point of view.

For starters, I’ll assume you’re a manager who works in a corporation and you – still – ask yourself: “How can I find meaning in work?” 

Short answer: By helping others find their purpose.

Let’s look at this situation; a dialogue with a manager. 

Manager: “People don’t want to find their purpose at work.”

What do they want?

“To get paid and go home asap.”

Are you sure?

“Yes.”

How do you know for sure?

“Well… they don’t do anything extra, just the bare minimum and don’t want to do overtime.”

What if you could give them a reason to get involved more and work harder?

“I can’t pay them more and if they don’t care, why should I? We can always find someone else.”

I’m sure you know what type of manager I’m describing here.

Let’s analyze a bit. Why are some managers like this?

First of all, in theory, the people who are promoted should be really good at their job, but that doesn’t mean they are good managers as well. 

The problem is that, in a lot of companies, there isn’t a “manager training”, yea ok you call it “leadership training”, but let’s be honest, is that a real training program? You can’t make a leader in a few hours. Being a manager isn’t a skill that you can learn overnight, especially if you’re not a person who knows how to handle difficult situations and teach people how to work like a team. 

Most of the trainings for “how to become a boss?!” That’s not hard, just tell people what to do, yell at them if they screw up and/or fire them. You blame people, don’t take accountability, take credit etc.

“You think it’s easy being a boss while nobody listens and the people can’t get anything done right?”

Of course, not everyone can do this. I can hear you yelling at the screen. It’s fine. 

My question is: “Who hired those people?”

“Not me, the HR department.”

Didn’t you have a say?

“No, they just gave me the people.”

Cough not taking accountability cough.