🔨 Is Your Manager Crushing Your Motivation?

🧐 What You’ll Discover Today❓

👉 How someone can be a great manager and an awful leader at the same time.

👉 Understanding that leadership has nothing to with the position one holds in the organization and seniority level.

👉 You will learn how a good manager can make a challenging job more bearable, while a bad manager has the potential to turn even a fulfilling job into an intolerable experience and even negatively affect your mental health.

Ready to dive deeper? Let's explore together...🚀

🍾 Once Upon a Time, There Was a Manager Appointed to Lead

Well, we all know how that story goes, right?

REMEMBER the enthusiasm you once had when you started your new job, like a glowing ember within you. Each morning, you'd enter the office and sit at your desk, filled with a clear sense of purpose and motivation, eagerly looking forward to the chance to tackle your tasks and take pride in your work.

But then, gradually and surely, you'd start to notice how that spark began to fade, day by day. Yet, as time passed, you couldn't help but see the shadow that followed you around – your boss. So you looked to them hoping to find strong leadership, for that spark of enthusiasm to be rekindled, for clear direction, but never got it.

As days turned into weeks, those initial moments of uncertainty would manifest as small, unnoticed cracks forming in the foundation of your motivation.

A sense of resignation replaced the motivation you once had, and you quit.

DURING YOUR EXIT INTERVIEW, you stated that an awful manager made you leave a job you loved. They tapped you on the shoulder and thanked you for your feedback.

The end. Until the next awful manager.

So why they are all around us, and how there are so many of them?

Despite how common and relatable this situation is for many of us, the biggest misunderstanding about leadership is that it's only about your position in the organization and seniority level.

EVEN with all the interminable books and seminars with topics on leadership, this mistaken belief is still present.

👣 Leadership Is Influence

I remember when I first encountered the bad leadership it was not what you would expect. A boss that is constantly yelling and putting pressure on you all the time? Nope. He was a very kind and approachable person, always ready with a friendly smile.

Back then, I was not aware of the fact that this person was a terrible leader.

The project was facing hard times, and strong leadership was desperately needed.

DECISIONS had to be made, problems required immediate attention, and, most importantly, people's morale needed to be lifted due to the tumultuous times.

I remember how every team member eagerly expected the new leader to show the way forward. But instead, the worst possible thing happened.

We got an ineffective manager whose incompatibility went unnoticed so long that every team member eventually left.

But at the same time, this person has some good knowledge of how the job needs to be done on the operational side. Making him an expert in a technical sense.

DESPITE their strong technical knowledge and skills, this person's leadership shortcomings were evident. It was hard to imagine how much confusion and the absence of a strong guiding presence and mental fortitude would cause.

This left the team feeling adrift and anxious all the time, with a constant sense of aimlessness.

It was a dreadful situation. When you lose your sense of purpose in a job you once loved, it can lead you to a very dark place.

THIS STORY serves as a reminder that management is what you do and leadership is the person you are with the influence and impact you have upon the people you come into contact with.

Management is not synonymous with leadership. Leadership is synonymous with influence.

🪞 Leadership is Character in Action

The good news is that your leadership ability is not static.

Although it’s true that some people are born with greater natural gifts than others, the ability to lead is really a collection of skills, nearly all of which can be learned and improved. But that process doesn’t happen overnight.

A LEADER’S CHARACTER shapes their decisions, actions, and the overall direction of a team or project.

So if you want to improve your leadership skills, you should first start with improving your character skills.

• Credibility: Credibility makes the difference between being an effective leader and being an ineffective one. Credibility will determine whether others want to follow you or not. With that being said is the foundation of leadership.

• Self-Reflect: Leadership starts with you. Before you can lead others, you have to lead yourself and have mental strength. You have to believe that you can inspire and influence others. Remember, the greatest obstacle you will ever encounter is yourself.

• Humility: As one of the most valuable qualities of leadership, humility enables leaders to remain open to learning, acknowledge their limitations, and treat others with respect.

• Empathy: The ability to understand and connect with people around you helps you to understand their perspective.

Developing new character habits and breaking the old habits takes time and a great deal of effort. It means we have to behave in new ways.

It means we have to CHANGE.

Keep in mind that the best leaders are the most persistent learners.
LEADERSHIP is not an abstract concept but rather a visible collection of practices, behaviours, and a distinct set of skills and abilities

💡Little Lessons Learned💡

🫴Throughout my career I have encountered many managers, but only a few of them were real leaders.

🫴Our new manager was a friendly, talkative person, always wearing a wide smile. However, they were terribly indecisive and lacked a clear vision. They micromanaged excessively, overwhelming both themselves and everyone around them.

🫴The first sign of terrible leadership for me was the moment when I realized how high a level of responsibility I have with such a low level of autonomy.

🫴Leadership is all about character. About doing the right thing, winning those battles in your heart and mind between what you want to do and what you should do.