The Most Common (Hidden) Managerial Error

What's the one error that people being managed don't notice and many managers don't even realize is a mistake?

You think you know bad managers: The screamers. The “hurry up and wait” guys. The folks who forget about work-life balance. You’ve seen them all.

But you may have overlooked the most common managerial error that isn’t so obvious, but affects many businesses. What’s the one error that people being managed don’t notice and many managers don’t even realize is a mistake?

Passing the blame.

What do I mean?

You have to give performance ratings on a scale of one to five, with “one” meaning you’re getting fired tomorrow and “five” meaning you’re God’s gift to lawyers. (Naturally, because we live in Lake Wobegon, everybody gets “fours.” But I’ll save that for another day.)

You’re giving a person who reports to you a “three,” which is just fine. But, because the person being given a “three” is a lawyer, the person is outraged: “I’m great! I’m certainly much better than all the other people who inhabit this joint! I deserve a ‘five’! At least a ‘four’! Why didn’t you give me a ‘four’?”

Now comes the standard bad management: “I really wanted to give you a ‘four,’ but senior leadership forbade it. I know you’re great, and you know you’re great, but the folks who run the joint just don’t understand. I tried, but I can’t convince them. That’s why I’m giving you a ‘three.'”

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Notice how easy this is? Blame someone else. It avoids you having to take responsibility, and it sidesteps what might otherwise be a hard conversation.

Here’s a second example: The company has decided to conduct layoffs. You’re obligated to deliver the news to someone who works for you. This is hard.

Very hard.

Like almost-no-one-at-a-law-firm-actually-does-this-stuff hard. (Law firms leave these tasks to a select few lawyers or to people in the human resources department.)

So what do you do? Blame someone else: “I have some bad news for you. [Wait a beat here. It lets the recipient get his or her mind in gear. That’s why they teach physicians to use that silence: ‘I have some bad news for you. [Wait a beat.] The patient has died.’]”

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Where was I?

Oh, yeah: “I have some bad news for you. [Beat] You’re being laid off. Your last day is the thirtieth, and you’re being given three months’ severance.”

“That’s an outrage! Why me?”

It’s time for bad management.

“I actually think that you’re a treasured member of the team, but senior management said we had to lay people off, and they decided you’re the one.”

You then must tell other people on your team about the layoff. Again, don’t take the blame: “I’m really suspicious of this organization. Somehow, we can always find money for the important guys to fly first class and take clients to dinner. And now we have to get rid of people who are just working hard for a living. But that’s what management said, so that’s what we’re doing. Today, I laid off Cordelia as of the thirtieth.”

Nothing to it. Just blame someone else. That shows that you’re a good guy, and you don’t have to explain anything to anyone.

Except that it’s terrible management.

If you’re obligated to give some instruction, then you’re obligated to take personal (or, at least, joint) responsibility for what you do. You cannot insist that you’re blameless and an unnamed other person is responsible for the decision.

Find out why management is making a decision. Learn the justification for what’s being decided. And then own it. You’re giving the performance rating of ‘three.’ You’re laying somebody off. It’s you.

Otherwise, the object of your action — your direct report, for example — will legitimately want to speak to the person who actually made the decision: “You disagree with this? Fine! I disagree, too. So who can I talk to about this? Did your boss make this silly decision? If so, I want to talk directly to your boss! If it wasn’t your boss who made this decision, who was it? Your boss’s boss? The CEO? God? Let me speak to that person!”

If you’re a manager, you can’t pass the blame. If you’re implementing a decision, then you’re stuck with it.

I know that it’s much, much easier to say that you just work here, and you’re just carrying out orders.

But that’s not allowed.

If you’re asked to manage people, manage.


Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now responsible for litigation and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

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