I’m tired of bashing managers!

They don’t know enough about Agile, they don’t cooperate, they don’t understand. Managers need to stop doing all kinds of things. And oh yes, they need to give up their decision-making power to teams and stop micromanaging. You can’t open a report or a professional magazine without managers getting a hard-on. The conclusion is often: managers are in the way and superfluous. I’m actually a bit fed up with all this manager bashing! It solves nothing. I propose an alternative. Both for team members and managers. Will you help?

Okay, first I have to confess something to you: ‘I understand this manager fatigue somewhere too’. In our work with clients, it is indeed sometimes difficult to reach management. We too have to work hard to involve managers in what we are changing at the team level. And it is indeed true that those are often the very things that those managers can and should influence. Yep, so it is sometimes a drag and a tug. At such times we recognize outcomes from State of Agile reports that management is a blocker in the Agile transformation. So that’s out. Time for positive energy!

Fire in Liverpool

We need managers you want to go through fire for. And vice versa. A manager who makes the work more fun, interesting and smooth for you and the team. A manager who wants to get the most out of you. And those managers exist. My son is a big fan of Liverpool soccer club. When I watch with him and see what the role of the manager Jürgen Klopp is, and how every time he fires up the team to perform at its best, I think: we all want such a team leader, such a manager, don’t we? Players run away with him. And back and forth: manager and team members stand for each other.

From exchange comes…

Let’s get to the basics. What is actually the mutual relationship between a team member and a manager? A team member exchanges his available time and skillset, expecting the manager to provide the right direction, strategy and facilities to achieve peak performance as a team. The manager exchanges his time and coaching skillset, trusting that the team member will make every effort to be fit and committed to executing a good plan within the set direction. This exchange hinges on trust that you want to get the best out of each other with 100% good intentions and motivation. From swapping comes: top performance.

Formative manager

Remember that one manager who really didn’t get you and the team moving at all? You probably have a name in your head right away. But now this question: which manager or team leader from the past really did get you and the team next level? I immediately have a name in my head here myself, and I’m still grateful for the lessons I learned from this manager. A good manager, team leader, is formative. And that will benefit you all your life.

Stop bashing. Start talking.

You don’t get the formative manager who “fires up” the team by bashing or by pointing out all the things he doesn’t do well. You get that manager by talking to each other. About your deepest ideals, visions, human images and desires. So that you find each other at the principle level and from there work towards a new version of the relationship between manager, team leader, professional and team. This requires leadership. But not just leadership from the manager. Personal leadership from each team member as well. Where passion, drive, humility and curiosity prevail.

Ready to build?

The other day I heard a beautiful phrase, I think by the highly respected Deep Democracy coach Frank Weijers: ‘you don’t build a bridge from the middle’. To expand on that; you do build a bridge from the two different sides. You do build that bridge by asking yourself: ‘how do I contribute to the other person becoming the best version of himself?’ You build that bridge by continuing to look at each other while building it; not to tell the other what he is not doing right, but to make sure that in the end you can connect exactly with each other.

So let’s build that bridge, and build it further and further, as we walk across it. As a manager. As a team member. Step by step. I’m tired of polarizing. Let’s look for each other and bring out the best in each other. How do you see your (or yourself as a) manager in your (Agile) context? Let me know. I’m ready.