2The Four Critical Behaviors
When you read in the previous chapter about results and retention, you were probably surprised. You're not alone—whenever we teach managers, those objectives are the first content we share, and virtually no one has ever heard it before, unless they've listened to our podcasts.
How is it that that kind of knowledge isn't common knowledge among managers? It's a terrible state of affairs, and it's why managers are generally thought to be terrible at their job. Why is there a Pointy‐Haired Boss in Dilbert? Why does The Office (the US version) revolve around Michael's idiocy and ineffectiveness? Because something routinely that bad deserves derision. Because in all humor, there is truth.
Think about it for a second. If you're a software developer, they make you write some pseudo‐code or do a regression analysis or debug something to prove that you really can do a software developer's job. To become an engineer, they make you build some test bridges before they let you build one someone would drive across. Copy writers have to submit writing samples.
But not so for managerial roles. We're getting better at not just reflexively promoting ...
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