Behind Closed Doors

Introduction

Most of us have seen bad management at work, and you might learn what not to do by watching bad management. But to be a great manager, avoiding what not to do isn’t good enough—great managers actively learn the craft of management.

It’s worth learning how to be a great manager—both in human and in economic costs. The costs of bad management are enormous; we’ve been in numerous situations where we’ve seen the company fold because the managers couldn’t manage their groups effectively.

Because managers amplify the work of others, the human costs of bad management can be even higher than the economic costs. We’ve seen people who were invaluable to the organization leave because they refused to work with poor managers—managers who ...