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Managers Need Training, Too
Sep 15“We consider management an art, not a craft, so we don’t train managers as if it were a profession.” — Jeff Angus, author of Management by Baseball, in an interview with Fast Company.
About the Author
Sarah Chambers
Sarah founded IFRACTAL with Frank nearly seven years ago after working at PwC and Mercer. With a B.A in psychology and also an MBA from the University of Michigan, she’s won numerous awards for her communication work.
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I’m looking forward to hearing more about this topic…managers and “management” are so important, yet, we find that they’re often overlooked skills. It’s amazing how good technicians are promoted to management positions often without the management skills traning that can help them be as effective as motivators as they are as technicians (and I’m not talking about superficial “feedback seminars” and the like as a proxy for real, in-depth training).
He’s saying that’s what we do, and not what we should do, right?
There is art in management leadership, and there is a great place for sheer talent. But we do need training to harness the art and the talent to get it up to potential. Baseball is an apt metaphor, often. The best teams start spring training every year with the basics — how to throw, how to catch, how to hit, how to run; how the pitcher covers first base when the first baseman chases a ball, how the shortstop covers second, how the outfielders back each other up, etc., etc. Constant practice.
When do we ever rehearse in management? How the hell do we expect ever to get to Carnegie Hall if we don’t rehearse?
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.
I love that one. And it’s so true of managers. Ed…what you say about the basics is compelling. L&D often forget about that to chase after the “latest and greatest” management theory when a little pitch-and-catch might be in order every now and then.