Have you ever faced a situation where you’ve clung to an old “story” about an employee even if the circumstances have changed? For example, let’s say you’ve been dealing with a “renegade” employee for at least a year.

You don’t want to loosen your grip over him, because you believe this old scenario is still current. From your perspective, “He’s still out of control” or “I don’t want the management headache”.

But some new skills have surfaced that could be valuable for this team. Instead of embracing and encouraging them, you still use a short leash based on the past.

This is management myopia.

The easy thing to do is to do nothing. After all, you already assessed the situation, and the person has abided by the status quo. He’s “under control”.

The harder action is to take a fresh look, evaluate what may have changed, and determine how the person’s skills and talent can now be best utilized.

It’s a dangerous management practice to pigeonhole employees based on old stories. Using this example, if the person was really a renegade, he would have marched to the beat of his own drum regardless of your warnings (or quit).

By doing nothing, you’re not managing. And, if you do this with one person, who knows what other opportunities are being lost because of your inaction.

The more spirited the employee, the harder the management task. But the upside is also probably greater. If you’re not willing to do your job and manage, maybe you’re in the wrong job.

Open your eyes and make sure you’re seeing truth rather than fiction. You may be surprised at what doors open next.

“By all these lovely tokens September days are here/With summer’s best of weather/And autumn’s best of cheer.”
– Helen Hunt Jackson

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