How many of you have problems with your managers managing their people?

A colleague recently emailed me bemoaning this within his team and asked what I thought.  Instead of going into a long homily I went for the short approach.  I sent him a few lines that I thought said it all.

• Getting a promotion…a title on a business card;
• Being the boss…trying in vain to prove superiority through control;
• Leading..earning respect and trust in order to help others reach success.

In other words, as I see it, managers need to stop trying to MANAGE people and start thinking instead about LEADING them.  People cannot be managed because management is about control.  The only things you can control are things; people on the other hand have the power of choice so they can only be influenced.  Influence, as opposed to control, requires respect and trust.  So the best thing managers can do is to begin asking themselves this, “how is my behavior (words and actions) influencing my team members?”  This will change the game, guaranteed.