“Leadership is not a license to do less. Leadership is a responsibility to do more” (Simon Sinek)
This month, May 2022, marks one full year since my formal appointment as manager.
Reflecting back, it has been one of the most challenging tasks that has really pushed and challenged me beyond my comfort zone, all while questioning myself if I’m doing the right thing while I confront this massive impostor syndrome in taking up these heavy responsibilities.
Quoting these two books perfectly sums it up:
Being a boss for the first time in your life is not as glamorous as everyone thinks. At times, it’s thankless.
It’s awkward and uncomfortable at times. You get angry. You sometimes feel alone and lost. Doubt starts to creep in. You start second-guessing yourself. There are times you don’t feel very bright—maybe even feel like you’re on the verge of total failure. You feel no one really “gets” you and your situation.
(William Gentry, "Be The Boss Everyone Wants to Work For")
I remember my three primary emotions navigating the choppy waters of my new role: fear, doubt, and am I crazy for feeling this way? Everyone else around me seemed to be doing just fine. Everyone else made it look easy. I never thought managing was easy. I still don’t.
(Julie Zhuo, "The Making of a Manager")
Having said that though, on the other hand, being a manager is also the most fulfilling, satisfying, engaging learning & development experiences of my professional experience.
Of all the things I learnt, if I feel there was ONE important lesson I want to share to all the future managers and my fellow managers out there, it boils down to this one thing: Intention.
WHY do you want to be a manager? What are you trying to achieve with this role (that you can’t already accomplish in your current state)?
Our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said,
إنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
"All deeds have their intentions, so each person will attain what he intended” (Al-Bukhari & Muslim)
As Jim McCormick writes:
In many ways, transitioning from the role of an individual contributor to a manager is similar to the diference between being a technician and being an artist. The manager is an artist because management is often nuanced and subjective. It involves a different mindset. (“The First-Time Manager”)
If you are going to navigate through these turbulent, stormy path ahead, you need a strong drive and motivation to keep you going. And a clear conscience of your purpose.
Out of curiosity, I ask this same question to other people: WHY do you want to be a manager?
Honestly, many of the answers aren’t very encouraging.
Many people say they want to be manager "because I don't want to be TP". To avoid being a technical specialist or SME (a position our organization designates as "Technical Professional", or TP)
While it seems relatively harmless on the surface, the real issue starts to surface when you dig one level deeper: ‘why don't you want to be a TP?’
And these are the top 3 frustrating answers I've got:
1. Courage: "Because I don't dare make tough technical decisions. I am afraid I make mistakes as a TP""
2. Convenience: "Being a manager is easier than a TP. Less work. Besides, I don't have to study anymore."
3. Competency "I don't want to be TP because I have poor decision-making skills."
Could these answers be a reflection of what kind of leader they will be?
If the 3 thoughts above crossed your mind, what I’d like us to do is to take a step back and ask ourselves these questions:
🤔 Would you want to work for a manager whose intention to be a leader because he lacks courage or avoids responsibility?
🤔 Are you saying that you are deliberately avoiding difficult decisions? And would rather make mistakes and unleash your ‘poor decision making’ with people’s careers and livelihood, and the trust upon you to drive the organization?
Make no mistake, managing people requires a LOT of courage and very difficult subjective decisions. How do you set performance KPI’s to objectively evaluate staff performance and remove any semblance of bias, while simultaneously challenging them and moving the needle? How do you set direction for matters you have no precedent to follow from? How do you handle underperformers? Demotivated team members? Toxic individuals dragging others? Giving honest, tough feedback? Being questioned about your credibility in front of others – including your superior, your colleagues, and yes, your own subordinates?
The above are just some of the challenges I faced, often alone. Yet we cannot afford to break down. Too much is at stake. In fact, if anything, these are the moments that the courage to act is most needed.
The silver lining, though, is that these moments can become turning points towards many great things, if we have the drive to persevere and handle them well.
Taking up the role of manager has much bigger consequences that simply “climbing the corporate ladder”.
Here’s a reality check, especially for us Muslims: being a manager – taking up a role of leadership – is more than just “career progression” and a bigger paycheck. It is RESPONSIBILITY.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said,
“Each of you is a shepherd and each of you will be questioned regarding his flock” (Al-Bukhari, Muslim)
The main lesson in this hadith: Everybody has responsibilities. The higher your rank, the heavier your burden of responsibilities, the more you will be answerable for. Not just to your annual performance appraisals. But more importantly, to Allah on the Day of Judgment.
Which is why the Prophet ﷺ discouraged the companions from taking up leadership roles. Abu Dzar Al-Ghifari, one of the companions once asked the Prophet: “O Messenger of Allah, will you not appoint me in a position of authority and leadership?”
The Prophet stroked Abu Dzar’s shoulder with his hand, and said,
يَا أَبَا ذَرٍّ إِنَّكَ ضَعِيفٌ وَإِنَّهَا أَمَانَةٌ وَإِنَّهَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ خِزْىٌ وَنَدَامَةٌ إِلاَّ مَنْ أَخَذَهَا بِحَقِّهَا وَأَدَّى الَّذِي عَلَيْهِ فِيهَا
“O Abu Dzar, you are weak (i.e. you are not competent for this role).
Authority is a trust; and on the Day of judgment it is a cause of humiliation and regret, except for the one who takes it up with a full sense of responsibility and fulfills what is entrusted to him (discharges its obligations efficiently)." (Muslim)
In another narration, the Prophet further clarified to Abu Dzar,
يَا أَبَا ذَرٍّ إِنِّي أَرَاكَ ضَعِيفًا وَإِنِّي أُحِبُّ لَكَ مَا أُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِي لاَ تَأَمَّرَنَّ عَلَى اثْنَيْنِ وَلاَ تَوَلَّيَنَّ مَالَ يَتِيمٍ
“O Abu Dzar, verily, I love for you what I love for myself. Do not accept the responsibility of commanding even two people, and do not manage the property of an orphan.” (Muslim)
It is worth noting that Abu Dzar wasn’t a sinner or an oppressive person. Quite the opposite: he was a very righteous individual; however, his capability and personality – perhaps in people management – were simply not suited for leadership. When it comes to other companions whom the Prophet witnessed were genuinely capable of leadership, the Prophet wasted no time in appointing them as leaders, such as Amr ibn Al-Aas, who was appointed general of an army as soon as he embraced Islam.
Don’t become a manager because you are lacking courage or seeking what’s convenient. Don’t become a manager without knowing the responsibilities that lay ahead, and taking the conscious decision to own up to it.
And, it goes without saying: don't become a manager to abuse authority for personal gain.
In fact, I would go out on a limb and say: if your heart – your intentions – aren’t in the right place, then do the organization a favor, and don’t step into the role.
On the other hand, if you do well as a leader, you have the potential to be the driving force of positive change and making the team - and subsequently, the organization, and a part of the world - just that bit a better place.
So, if you have that sincere intention of being a manager because you want to enhance the organization as a whole, removing inefficiencies, maximizing value; to be the change that you’ve always wanted to see; to take collective responsibility of the struggles and shortcomings the team faces by embracing the challenges that lay ahead, with the hopes to turn the ship around and turn adversity into success; to passionately bring out the best in the organization’s talent by driving competency and personal development; to face those uncomfortable “people issues” and be the leader that the people need, to create that great place to work that fosters collaboration, healthy competitiveness, transparency, synergizing talents, and leaving behind a positive legacy for others to pick up the torch and advance it further..
.. Now if all of those are your intentions, then ahlan wa sahlan, please do step forward. We need more leaders like you to step up, as did Prophet Yusuf said to the King of Egypt:
قَالَ اجْعَلْنِى عَلَى خَزَآئِنِ الاٌّرْضِ إِنِّى حَفِيظٌ عَلِيمٌ
“Appoint me over the storehouses of the land; verily I am a competent, trustworthy guardian” (12:55)
May Allah purify our intentions, grant us the Guidance, Ability, and Perseverance to carry out our responsibilities with Justice and Excellence (adl and ihsaan).
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