Program management—not a job for heroes
Program managers are all about getting others to do things. They know who the domain experts are and they harness all of that wonderful expertise to get a program across the line. They facilitate rather than do the work themselves. They are objective, focused on the program and how it moves the company strategy forward. Once in a while I encounter someone with hero tendencies. They see a big problem and rather than gathering the domain experts together to determine a solution and ensuring the way is paved for that work to move forward, they jump in and do the work themselves. Their excuse is that the experts were being difficult or resistant or were busy and it was just faster to do the work themselves and get the thing across the line. Regardless, I’m not going to reward that kind of behavior as it not only goes against the idea of harnessing the expertise of those around them but it’s not scalable! If you had to do the work yourself to get things across the line, you’ve missed an opportunity to help them improve on their skill set and/or be more of a team player. And what happens for the next one or 20 programs they’ll be a part of? And you’re stepping on toes and likely damaging that working relationship. Once you realize what you’ve done and curb that tendency, I’ll be the first in line to reward you–this time for your teamwork and collaboration!
