Managers are people too.

Just like becoming a mom, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.

Today is Boss’s day. And it reminded me of one painful lesson early in my leadership journey:

I gave someone a "meets expectations" rating, when they were expecting a promotion.

The person was devastated, and chose to leave the team. Honestly, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰.

I thought I was being fair based on what I saw.

🫣 But I didn't see how much effort it took them to deliver those results.

🫣 And I didn’t know they needed more guidance on what it takes to level up.

Before I became a leader:

I expected my manager to recognize my hard work.

And proactively create opportunities for my growth.

Once I became a leader myself, I realized:

✨ 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. I saw outcomes, but missed the extra hours, the obstacles they overcame to get there.

✨ 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥. Even with the best intentions, business goals and org priorities competed for my attention.

That’s why now I always remind myself, and the people I work with:

✨ 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

Even the best-intentioned managers need YOU to take the lead, and make your intent, effort, and goals visible.

On Boss’s day:

💭 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 YOU 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 (𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨) 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶?