The role of manager is often the weakest link for firms in transition. When managers fulfill their responsibilities, they create bandwidth for partners to do firm-building work, they develop staff to be competent and engaged, and clients enjoy working with them. Yes, managers are pivotal in every firm.

So, how does your firm equip managers?

Too many leaders promote people to manager and assume they will figure it out themselves. They may eventually get there, over time, after many missteps and much anguish. But learning from experience alone is not only inadequate, it is misguided.

It’s like grooming golfers. Imagine a seasoned golfer (partner) who says to his bagger (new manager), “You’ve watched me play over the years, so you should know how to play and handle different situations. You don’t need any lessons. I’ll guide you in what you need to know. Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out. Besides, that’s they way I learned it.”

For today’s managers, like new golfers, experience without instruction delays their confidence and they learn so many bad habits. What they know and are comfortable with is to assist the partner, so they tend to settle there. On the other hand, instruction WITH experience reduces “trial and error learning” and gives them the knowledge & skills that accelerate their success.

No longer does giving people a title, pay raise and increased responsibilities make them managers. It probably never did. It’s time for leaders to accelerate their managers’ capabilities with instruction AND experience. Both are required. One without the other is insufficient.

Don’t leave your managers hanging.