Unless you are a mentalist and can read people’s mind, it is likely that you rely on your perceptions – when it comes to understanding what people think about you.
This is true for me, you and almost everyone.
Research conducted by Great Manager Institute with 4,296 Indian managers, over the last 6 months reveals that unfortunately these perceptions that managers carry, are largely INACCURATE.
As a result, gaps exist between our self-perception and team’s perception – the Dunning Kruger effect. This effect suggests that we tend to overestimate our competence in areas where we lack information.
I have some interesting data for you below:
We asked 4,296 Indian managers to rate themselves on their ability to:
Candid Communication (Giving straight answers to questions)
Involvement in Decisions (Taking the team’s opinion in work related decisions)
Reliability (Keeping their promise)
Care (Moving from transactional to relational
Expectation Setting (Proving clarity on expectations)
…..and 12 more areas
Based on self assessment and team feedback data of 4296 unique managers. Date of data collection – August 01, 2022 and February 03, 2023. Team Feedback includes feedback shared by Direct Reportees, Peers and Colleagues? – Typo in Blind Spots in the figure above
And we were surprised.
More than 70% of the surveyed managers rated themselves way higher than what their team members experienced, on all the above areas.
Why?
In depth understanding of ANYTHING takes years of study and practice – formally or informally. I’m a management graduate and I have been trained to develop good marketing plans.
However, I don’t recall learning about setting clear expectations, involving people in decisions or any of the points mentioned above.
And that’s precisely why I was compelled to write this.
Nobody wakes up in the morning, with the intent of being a “Bad Boss”.
70% managers don’t know that they aren’t managing effectively, and those who know may not be doing anything about it (the KNOWING – DOING GAP).
In the end, we end up being a country where people are universally unhappy with managers.
