Ernesto introduced himself to the class. “Hello, my name is Ernesto, and I have been in management for ten years. I have one person reporting to me. My biggest challenge is making sure they do the job right. I have so much experience that I seldom make mistakes and I think that is why I was promoted. It’s important we don’t make mistakes because mistakes cost the company.”
I smiled. Ernesto was everything his boss had described. True he had been a “manager” for the past ten years, but it was just last week that he was assigned his only direct report. His company had tried that several years ago, but three people quit on his team in one month.
Time had passed. Ernesto had grown. He had matured and his company was willing to risk it again. His company needed Ernesto to step up to the plate. In fact, it was necessary, if Ernesto was going to continue to contribute.
It was time for Ernesto to move to the next level. -TF
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“If you don’t make mistakes – its because you have not tried enough things.”
I think Ernesto needs to realize this. He needs to take a risk by giving some degree of flexibility to his direct reports but he needs to ensure that the mistakes that they make are not fatal ones (From your previous post). The degree of risks that he takes will gradually increase with time as he builds some confidence and learns to delegate.