Serioulsy. I'm a little tired of this story.
I read an article last night in Fortune about how middle managers are STILL burned out. They are overworked and understaffed.
I don’t need a survey to tell me this. I see this every day. I hear it from tired leaders and confused CEO’s.
It seems no matter what they do, there is never enough money or time to solve the burnout issue.
And isn’t at all surprising to me.
Because it’s true.
There will never be enough time or money to solve for burnout because leaders are throwing energy at the wrong problem.
Don’t worry…I’m not about to throw the millennials under the bus. I don’t think America suffers from a work ethic problem.
I think we suffer from a skills problem.
Most companies do not have any idea how to train new leaders for a modern workforce.
We throw our middle managers into the fire with a proverbial handbook scribed in 1975. Manager training is limited to a case study in “how to follow the rules.”
This falls grossly short in our hybrid, digital, dynamic and values based workplaces.
New managers are responsible for delivering highly complex outcomes in a people focused environment and they are not trained on how to actually lead people. They are trained to build and enforce policies and processes.
Leading and managing people requires training in human behavior.
It requires an understanding (and curiosity) about ourselves, others and how we all come together to affect results.
If that expectation seems high for your 20 and 30 something leaders…you are right. It’s a very high bar….but it exists nonetheless.
How do we do better?
Manager training must evolve. That’s what we do at BauerHouse. We teach new managers how to:
1. Identity their personal belief systems that get in the way of objective leadership
2. Have truly effective conversations with everyone in the company
3. Manage their own time and energy
4. Focus on the right metrics
5. Develop their teams
We do it 1:1. Yes, there’s a framework based on best leadership practices, but it’s personalized to the business and the individual leader.
You’re looking in the eye of your teacher for 8 weeks. It’s uncomfortable (at times) and it’s incredible.
I honestly wish I saw more companies doing this level of personalized training. I believe it’s what must be done to modernize the workforce and finally get rid of burnout.
There’s nothing wrong with business. We just need a new approach to management training.
May you Live & LeadWell,
~E
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