When training people, don't start with the basics

I have done a whole lot of manager and leadership training, and I get pretty much the same request every time:

“We just want to start with the basics. Help people give more frequent feedback, ensure they are having 1:1s, etc.”

I totally get where people are coming from, but hear me out on why I believe this approach is so ineffective.

Let’s start with statistics:

• 82% of managers are the wrong person for the job

• Only 21% of leadership teams are trusted by their team

• Only 26% of feedback is helpful

On the surface, these statistics seem to show that about 4 of every 5 managers aren’t even good at the basics. But look deeper and you’ll see that managers are still bad, even when they do know the basics. Why? Because teaching a manager the basics is like teaching a toddler how to start a car. You’re giving them the skill to start something they have no idea how to finish.

Managers suck not because they are missing basic skills but because, deeper down, they don’t understand what their job actually is. Here’s what most of that 82% of crappy managers believe their job is:

• Tell people what to do

• Trust the gut that got me into this role in the first place

• Explain how they would do it differently / better

• Other dumb stuff

When managers hold these beliefs, one of the worst things we can do is encourage them to jump head first into a set of “basic” actions that will act as vessels of their incorrect beliefs. All that does is…

• Ensure their team has consistent, miserable 1:1s

• Ensure their team gets more frequent feedback that misses the mark

• Ensure their team endures extremely difficult difficult conversations

• etc.

Instead, managers need to learn how to update their most fundamental system of beliefs about what their job actually is and how it is done well. Managerial actions like feedback and 1:1s are just the “what” part of management. Managerial beliefs are the “why” and “how” that go with the “what.”

So, instead of teaching the basics, here’s a vastly superior agenda for manager training:

1. Learn what managing is actually about

2. Learn what success looks like

3. Why you, in particular, got this job

4. How your team’s brains actually work and what that means for effective managing

5. How to connect people’s minds to each other and their work

6. How to build an excellent “system” for actively managing the team

That last part is where people learn the “basics,” once they actually understand how to and why to apply them.

I can guarantee you that 4/5 of your managers (unless you work at a top 1% company) have no clue what managing is actually about, what success actually looks like, why they actually got the job, or anything about how minds, connection, or well-conceived management systems look like. Armed with basics, they will just be the toddler in a running vehicle, plowing over mailboxes and terrorizing neighborhood pets.