Management Mistakes to Avoid if You Want to Remain Credible
27 August 2014
Read by 4335 persons
There are many ways for a manager to lose credibility with their teams. It is in critical or stressful situations that one can measure whether a manager has the appropriate attitudes inherent to their function. Reacting in anger, shouting, counter-attacking or, conversely, apologizing, constantly justifying oneself and remaining passive are reactions and behaviors unworthy of a good leader.
The job of manager is learned and not improvised, and it is wrong to believe that because one has a strong character, one will know how to manage people and earn respect. To be followed and respected by one's teams, one must be able to take a step back and gain perspective on situations and the people with whom one collaborates and, above all, set an example.
Here are the most common mistakes to avoid if you want to remain credible with your teams and maintain your authority.
Making people believe that you alone are competent
There is nothing more irritating for an employee than to hear their boss constantly grumbling that without them, everything would fall apart in the company.
Not only is there nothing more demotivating for teams, but also, stop believing that you are infallible because, generally, unless you are a machine, this is far from the case, and when you yourself make a mistake, you will only be more discredited in the eyes of your teams.
Talking and listening to yourself talk
The lack of active listening on the part of the manager is one of the worst things for teams to experience. A manager who is always right, who interrupts and who is unable to listen attentively loses all credibility with their teams.
On the contrary, they will end up annoying their employees, who will put on a good face in front of them but will denigrate their speech as soon as their back is turned.
Hearing you yell from morning till night
Some managers are always irritable and always find a way to shout at someone or something throughout the day. Besides stressing their teams and unnecessarily increasing the pressure, they create a bad atmosphere and drain the energy of their employees.
The strangest thing is that some managers use this way of being thinking that it is a way to assert their authority by being feared by their teams. Not only are they not feared, but on the contrary, they lose even more credibility by becoming the laughingstock of the teams who, behind their backs, make fun of their repeated shouting and outbursts, which ultimately look more like hysteria than authority.
Not knowing how to manage your emotions
Faced with the attacks and discontent of an employee, the manager must be able to keep their cool and very quickly set limits to the discussion. Shouting and protests must not be tolerated on either side, and it is the manager's role to manage their own emotions and quickly frame the conversation before it degenerates.
Allowing employees to freely express their protests, especially in the presence of the teams, will definitively kill the credibility of the manager who has not been able to manage this situation or, worse, has only fueled it by losing their temper in turn.
Remaining passive
Conversely, a passive, effaced manager, unable to assert themselves in a given situation, loses just as much credibility with their teams. Teams need to be "driven" and feel supported, and they will not ultimately respect a manager without personality who, on the contrary, shows anxiety and fear in having to impose their decisions.
A manager who is unable to resolve thorny issues, as well as simple problems, who delays operations as much as possible, who gives up at the slightest decision-making and avoids conflict, will not be taken seriously by their teams because they will represent a considerable obstacle to their success.
For all managers, if you are not credible, people will not trust you; if they do not trust you, you will not be able to convince them; and if you cannot convince them, you will not be able to innovate and lead.
Of course, universal credibility does not exist. Even within the same company, credibility will have several definitions, and certain actions and decisions will not have the same impact on all employees. However, there are universal behaviors that do not deceive: not saying hello, getting angry, often being in a bad mood, cruelly lacking empathy, giving more importance to results than to interpersonal relationships, making distinctions, not knowing how to take the right measures at the right time... are among the most significant behaviors and which, over time, end up considerably eroding the credibility of managers with their teams.
Philippe Montant
Chief Executive Officer of ReKrute
The job of manager is learned and not improvised, and it is wrong to believe that because one has a strong character, one will know how to manage people and earn respect. To be followed and respected by one's teams, one must be able to take a step back and gain perspective on situations and the people with whom one collaborates and, above all, set an example.
Here are the most common mistakes to avoid if you want to remain credible with your teams and maintain your authority.
Making people believe that you alone are competent
There is nothing more irritating for an employee than to hear their boss constantly grumbling that without them, everything would fall apart in the company.
Not only is there nothing more demotivating for teams, but also, stop believing that you are infallible because, generally, unless you are a machine, this is far from the case, and when you yourself make a mistake, you will only be more discredited in the eyes of your teams.
Talking and listening to yourself talk
The lack of active listening on the part of the manager is one of the worst things for teams to experience. A manager who is always right, who interrupts and who is unable to listen attentively loses all credibility with their teams.
On the contrary, they will end up annoying their employees, who will put on a good face in front of them but will denigrate their speech as soon as their back is turned.
Hearing you yell from morning till night
Some managers are always irritable and always find a way to shout at someone or something throughout the day. Besides stressing their teams and unnecessarily increasing the pressure, they create a bad atmosphere and drain the energy of their employees.
The strangest thing is that some managers use this way of being thinking that it is a way to assert their authority by being feared by their teams. Not only are they not feared, but on the contrary, they lose even more credibility by becoming the laughingstock of the teams who, behind their backs, make fun of their repeated shouting and outbursts, which ultimately look more like hysteria than authority.
Not knowing how to manage your emotions
Faced with the attacks and discontent of an employee, the manager must be able to keep their cool and very quickly set limits to the discussion. Shouting and protests must not be tolerated on either side, and it is the manager's role to manage their own emotions and quickly frame the conversation before it degenerates.
Allowing employees to freely express their protests, especially in the presence of the teams, will definitively kill the credibility of the manager who has not been able to manage this situation or, worse, has only fueled it by losing their temper in turn.
Remaining passive
Conversely, a passive, effaced manager, unable to assert themselves in a given situation, loses just as much credibility with their teams. Teams need to be "driven" and feel supported, and they will not ultimately respect a manager without personality who, on the contrary, shows anxiety and fear in having to impose their decisions.
A manager who is unable to resolve thorny issues, as well as simple problems, who delays operations as much as possible, who gives up at the slightest decision-making and avoids conflict, will not be taken seriously by their teams because they will represent a considerable obstacle to their success.
For all managers, if you are not credible, people will not trust you; if they do not trust you, you will not be able to convince them; and if you cannot convince them, you will not be able to innovate and lead.
Of course, universal credibility does not exist. Even within the same company, credibility will have several definitions, and certain actions and decisions will not have the same impact on all employees. However, there are universal behaviors that do not deceive: not saying hello, getting angry, often being in a bad mood, cruelly lacking empathy, giving more importance to results than to interpersonal relationships, making distinctions, not knowing how to take the right measures at the right time... are among the most significant behaviors and which, over time, end up considerably eroding the credibility of managers with their teams.
Philippe Montant
Chief Executive Officer of ReKrute
