I’ve discovered among the many managers I’ve encountered:
There are too few coaches and too many fixers.
Fixers aren’t bad bosses mind you. They are responsible managers who care about quality, but they do far more telling than teaching.
If there were a Fixer’s Creed, it would be this:
Bring me your problems and I will give you solutions. Show me your work and I will improve it, even if it means doing it for you. It’s my duty as a boss.
Fixers get the job done, but through micromanagement and control . Coaches learn to let go of all that and achieve even better results. How do I know? As I tell the managers in my workshops:
“I stand before you as a recovering fixer. If I could learn to be a coach, so can you.”
Three Sins of Fixers
That last point is very important. Being a fixer can lead to burnout. I want you to take better care of yourself. So I did just a little bit of editing ot hammer home my message. I fixed the Fixer’s Creed:
The Coach’s Creed:
Bring me your problems and I will help you discover your own solutions. Show me your work and I will improve it by coaching, but I won’t do it for you. It’s my duty as a boss.
I think that’s a change for the better. What do you think, coach?
Jill Geisler holds the Bill Plante Chair in Leadership and Media Integrity at Loyola University Chicago. She teaches and coaches leaders worldwide and serves as an ethics professor at Loyola. She is the author of the book “Work Happy: What Great Bosses Know” and produces a podcast for aspiring leaders on iTunes U: “Q&A: Leadership and Integrity in the Digital Age.” Each episode tackles a specific management question. Click “HERE” for Jill’s podcast.
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Thank you
Donna you are most welcome!