Being a Manager Can Be Hard, Really Hard

20 ways to make it easier

Being a manager can be a thankless job, with demands from your boss, co-workers, employees, and just about everyone else. It can feel like all the work is falling on you. You don’t get much respect and, in many cases, not much acknowledgment. You are being pulled in a million different directions at one time, and most days, you can’t seem to get the smallest tasks accomplished. 

But here you are—a manager. You excelled at your last position; you were considered a subject matter expert in your area. You were the go-to person, and your bosses saw something in you. Work energized you. 

Then you were identified as a “Manager.” Congratulations! You’re moving on up. It’s every dream you’ve ever had. You always wanted to be a Manager! 

Wait, it’s not your dream job? It’s not as easy as you thought. You struggle with the people who were your friends before. Notice, I said were your friends. 

You wanted to move up, but you wanted to be a Director, VP, CEO, or an expert in your field. You thought it would be easy. After all, you knew you could do it better than the managers you had in the past. You knew you would be more effective and productive. 

But here you are, a manager who is frustrated, exhausted and spinning your wheels to get something important done vs. putting out fires all day. 

Breathe! There is hope! Instead of being frustrated or overwhelmed, and everything you have experienced, know there is help. This is a temporary stop on the road to bigger and better things. Here are two things to keep reminding yourself:

1. This is a temporary stop on your career growth
2. This is the time to learn and master the skills you need to grow your career. 

20 Ideas

Here are 20 ideas to master that will help you excel in your role and prepare you to move to the next level of your career.

Ideas for your personal growth

1. Change your mindset. Own it and become the best manager/leader you can. 
2. Commit to learning one new management technique each week.
3. Identify your values. Identify what’s important to you. How do you want to be? How do you want others to see you? 
4. Decide how you want to be remembered by your staff, peers, and bosses, and then live it.
5. Ask your staff, peers, and bosses what your best skills and behaviors are. 
6. Get better at productivity skills
7. Become curious. Ask better questions – open-ended questions
8. Learn about your emotional intelligence
9. Become a continuous learner
10. Stay motivated
11. Improve your listening skills

Ideas for your team growth

1. Learn new and better communication skills. 
2. Learn team-building skills
3. Learn coaching skills
4. Learn to have difficult and crucial conversations
5. Become a critical thinker
6. Learn about delegation
7. Build good relationships with your team members
8. Help your team become good decision-makers
9. Set realistic goals for your team and projects
10. Bonus: Use your management position as a training ground for bigger and better things for yourself and your team.

Action Items:

Commit yourself that you will continue to learn and grow your management skills. 

If your organization provides opportunities, take advantage of them. If they don’t, many sources are free or low-cost for you to take advantage of. Read, read, read.

Identify 3-5 skill areas you know you need to work on.

Choose 3-5 areas and set some goals around those areas. Get feedback from peers and bosses on which areas you should start with. Then go for it. 

Follow up and measure how you are doing.

Ask, are things getting better, worse, or staying the same? Then make adjustments as necessary. Remember, there is no end to this process. You should always be in a state of continuous learning.

Watch this space for additional information on these skills and more. In the meantime, you can download our ebook, The Managers Guide to Success.