Management Myths
One of the realities of my job has been working with other healthcare managers. In the last ten years, I've worked with many. At the risk of telling secrets, here are a few myths about managers:
Managers are trained to do their jobs.
Many managers are in their positions after being promoted from within. After years of service, they have asked for the job for the prestige or a better paycheck, or they have been asked to apply when no outside applicants have beaten down the door. Their technical expertise suddenly irrelevant, they need completely new skills. This training may not be offered and they may never ask for fear of looking inadequate.
Managers are leaders.
There may be an expectation that all problems are dealt with and major decisions made at the "management level," assuming that these are the people best suited to drive change and motivate. But managers fear change as much as anyone else. They can feel threatened by influential staff members, leaders in other departments, or the idea that their own faults will be found.
Managers have authority.
Everyone has a boss, some better than others. Managers are as likely to be micromanaged as anyone else or may be given responsibility without autonomy to make changes. Decisions can be undermined, unwittingly or deliberately, by others who are not included in the process. And managers are thrust into a peer group that can be a spectrum of talent, ability, and ego. Often, success has nothing to do with authority and depends on collaboration, timing, and luck.
I can't think of one manager (aside from myself) who enjoys dealing with personnel and politics. Yet many days that's the job. Despite this and the above, there are many good (and a few great) managers out there making the difference. Hopefully, you work for one of them.