I heard the saying “That dog just won’t hunt” the other day and it made me think about how managers of people often don’t take the meaning of this saying to heart. Sometimes we try to put our people into positions that they are just not equipped to handle or are not going to succeed in. We do it with all the best intentions, but nevertheless we are setting them up to fail. Where I have seen it the most is when someone who is a “doer”, a boots on the ground type, say a programmer, or designer gets promoted to a project manager or strategic “vision” type position. They are equipped for and passionate about doing their jobs and are so good at it that they stick around long enough that we want them to move up in the company. They may even talk themselves into wanting to move up. The reality though is that many of them may not have the additional skills needed to move into a position where they may be managing people, setting priorities or establishing the long term vision of their group or the company. If they are not proficient in these areas they will struggle and may ultimately fail.
My first time pheasant hunting we were with experienced hunters who had their bird dogs with us. My brother in law had brought along their Springer Spaniel Daisy along to see if her natural instincts would kick in and if she “could hunt”. The guy with the most experience training dogs to hunt said the easiest way to test her was to fire off a round from a shotgun and see what she did. So he fired the round into the woods and Daisy promptly made a puddle where she stood and then took off back to the truck where we found her scratching at the door and shaking like a leaf. Needless to say, that dog would not hunt. She was not equipped to handle it, she was “gun shy” and probably would never get over that. She was a great family dog, good with kids, but she would never be a hunter.
At the end of the day, that is ok. The key to being a good manager and leader is to recognize what people’s strengths are and helping them grow to their full potential. That may lead some to management, which is great, but it also may keep some people in a role where they remain hands on getting the important work done that keeps everyone collecting a paycheck.
Justin Himebaugh leads the accounting department at HRU, (or The Necessary Evil Group as he calls it). A Graduate of the Haworth school of business at Western Michigan University, Justin has specialized in systems implementations and streamlining the accounting function for the companies he has worked with. Besides having a well rounded skill set when it comes to accounting he can still hold his own in the pool if a game of water polo breaks out. You can follow him on Twitter, @necssryevil
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