Kit Barber argues that managers who do all the work themselves, closing sales and solving problems, actually harm their organizations. These hero managers never develop their teams or make them self-sufficient. True management means making your team not need you.
I'm going to tell you why your best manager is quietly wrecking your business, and it's not for the reasons you think. You probably think it's because they're overworked or because they might leave. That's not it. It's because you're proud of them, and that pride is exactly what's stopping them from ever becoming a real manager. Every time they save the sale, solve the problem, take the call that nobody else can take, you tell yourself that you've got yourself a great manager. But what you've actually got is a hero, and a hero never takes the cape off, never builds anyone underneath them. And hopefully this is the bit that's going to wind some of you up. If you're bragging about how good your manager is at doing the job themselves, you're describing a weakness, not a strength. A good manager isn't the best person on the floor. A good manager is the reason the floor doesn't need a best person at all. Tell me I'm wrong. If you've got a hero on your team right now, I want to hear why you think that that's a good thing.
