Grow Where You’re Planted: Service Management in a Small Town. Careful What You Wish For.

I work for a midwest green tractor dealership group. We are a multi store enterprise with more than a dozen locations. All but one, are in towns of 5,000 people or less.

Middle management. One step below the full on corporate hierarchy, one step above the masses. Seems like a pretty comfortable gig. Little more money and a step up on the ladder. Overseeing a group of people that know their jobs and will help train/assimilate new people into the collective. Piece of cake, RIGHT?

It’s kind of exhilarating when interviewing for supervisory positions. It’s the next step of progression and you are at the doorstep! It’s funny how the interview process goes. You are brought into the room with a bunch of smiling faces. During the discussion, you are reminded what a privilege it is to be considered for promotion. If you weren’t so absorbed in the moment, you might actually see through the smiles.

First problem is the popular saying, ‘everything you did to get there, doesn’t prepare you for the next level’. Herein lies the root of why middle management is so tough and why there is higher turnover. Say you are a technician or even a shop foreman. All of your efforts are production based. Running the endless line of equipment through your stall. A foreman is tasked with getting rid of hurdles to optimal production. You get noticed by excelling in each capacity.

There are the aged technicians that live by work ethic, loyalty and integrity. These usually get promoted as a means to not have to physically work as hard anymore. Technicians have a shelf life. It is a job that takes a toll on your body. A lot of times it is a promotion by default, due to age and experience. The only way to finish out the career with the company, is to jump into a supervisor position.

No matter what got you to this point, you are staring at moving into what you have possibly viewed as the worst job in the company. Shop guys sometimes view the foreman and/or manager as the lazy guy that got promoted to not have to “work” anymore. Regardless of industry, a person promoted to middle management is viewed as a betrayer, gone to the dark side. Trading in a wrench for a whip. Accepting the new role automatically transforms that person into someone you don’t even recognize. They used to be good to work with, until they became a manager.

Let’s jump back to that moment in the interview. Even if there are several internal applicants for the position, they already have the person they are hiring in mind. Doesn’t matter the size of the company, open interviews are a formality. Typically their target employee have been encouraged to apply. That in itself is a “hook”. Upper management wants me to apply? Wow, my hard work is finally going to pay off! Externally, you act surprised and humble. Might even skoff at the idea to a coworker. Don’t want to come across as too eager to go to the dark side. Inside you are telling yourself, “Damn right! It’s about freaking time!”.

Now back to the room with the smiling faces. You are asked questions to put you on the spot, looking for the most obvious answers you could possibly come up with. Questions that draw from your knowledge of the team you will be managing. “How will you handle conflict in your team?” I have come to the conclusion that short of suggesting that we settle disputes during break time “fight club”, just about any response will be commended. The decision has already been made. You are being made to believe that you are fighting for the position. More often than not, they are more nervous that you will decline. Ironic that roles play out in reverse of reality.

If you have never seen the movie Office Space, it is a must see if you are to survive in any sort of office environment. There is a scene where the main character, Peter goes into a meeting with “The Bob’s”. He responds to every question with an indifferent response. His dress, demeanor and actions are irreverent to the situation. He excuses himself before the interview is over. Opposite of everything that would be considered appropriate. The Bobs are completely overwhelmed and roles reversed. They are completely impressed by Peter. It is a comedic play on the true dynamic.

To get to the point, that HOW you will do your job is the smaller concern. Once you accept the position, the real importance is brought to light. Everything is fantastically bundled up into your training. I use the word fantastic, because the training should be a sign. True corporate intentions are on display early in management training. Instead, it looks like you are being given the key to the company. Management training is all about taking the production of the team or department you will be overseeing, and turning it into money. Bottom line. At the end of the day, it’s all about making the intangible, tangible.

You get so caught up in learning all the systems, programs, policy and procedures, that you fail to realize that you have to know how to manage and lead the people that you used to be a part of. How do you convince Bill that he has to eat better so he doesn’t go to the bathroom 10 times a day. How do you navigate entitled workers that are demotivated by being driven for more production. How do you coach the old employee that should have gotten the job that you stole from them. Within the first week, you realize that you have been added to every email list in the company. There is a lot of outside noise that you didn’t consider. You are overwhelmed with all the things that you are learning and you are wondering how you will ever be able to even log into a business system without your user/password cheat sheet. Your trainer assures you that it gets easier and give it time.

Day by day goes by and you are getting more and more alienated from the personal connections with your team. You are now the guy that you used to grumble about. There are so many “boxes” to check in effort to remain in compliance with corporate requirements. More and more you feel like you have to work in triage mode. Shifting priorities based on corporate deadlines. Always feeling like you are behind. Possibly because it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?

That can be true if you allow it. Many of the people that start at the bottom focus on saying and doing the right things to get noticed. They fail to progress as a person. The vast majority of Americans haven’t read a book since high school. Even fewer have ventured out of fiction into areas of self improvement. We are taught through school to sit for hours, complete tasks and conform to the mold. You need that skillset, so you can learn about “spinning straw into gold” for the company. There is a different way. Why not learn some things to make the job easier? Simple things that can transform your work life. Easy things that can set you apart from other managers. Take time to develop the habits of growth. There is no such thing as “having arrived”. You need to constantly be looking for ways to challenge yourself, your management style and what you know.

Don’t be enamoured by “family” business, atmosphere, feel, culture, or any other monikers made of smoke. A corporation does not try to solve turnover. Exit interviews are a thing of the past. There is never reflection as to why a manager washes out. Corporations build systems that can accomodate a new person as often as needed. If you are 2 1/2 years into a management stint, it’s time to now is the time to evaluate and reinvent yourself. If you are 2 1/2 months into being a manager, your honeymoon stage is about over. Learning the systems are a requirement of the company. Learning soft skills and key management tools are vital for solving the stress, that contribute to the volatility of the job.

I mentioned the system that allows for plugging in new people as needed. This system is a “cookie cutter” set of process and procedure that requires completing certain things on a daily, weekly, monthly schedule. These tasks are designed to maximize financial performance. All have deadlines. Add to that, interaction with customers, other departments and your techs. You are engaged in a juggling act, all day long. This is the point where you trend towards being reactive. Barely making or missing deadlines. Pushing stuff to the back burner to get what’s due, done. Weeks and months of extra hours and stress start to weigh on you. Two things happen at the very same time; Burn out and Push out. You will literally burn yourself out and render yourself a candidate for corporate push out.

I want to help. I have experienced burn/push out. I understand the battle. There are things that you can do to thrive in a position that chews people up and spits them out. This series of articles will have valuable tidbits that can be applied to any manager.

This is the beginning of my writing journey. I have been in the workforce full time for 37 years. My passion is coaching other managers through the daily challenges. Middle management can be very fulfilling and rewarding. It can also shorten your lifespan and make you miserable. My intentions are to help people make the most of their management opportunity. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more from the Common Businessman