229: Why the Manager Role Is Crucial to Business Growth

Welcome to the She Thinks Big! Podcast. Get ready to level up your thinking and expand your horizons. I’m your host, Andrea Liebross, your guide on this journey of big ideas and bold moves. I am the best-selling author of She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary.

I support women like you with the insights and mindset you need to think bigger and the strategies and systems you need to turn that thinking into action and make it all a reality. Are you ready to stop thinking small and start thinking big? Let’s dive in.

Hello my friends and welcome back to the She Thinks Big podcast. Now I am going to admit I have not recorded an episode in a while, but I am going to go on a little roll here and record the next three episodes in this four-episode series about the roles that you need to have filled in your business so that you can lead.

And today, we are talking about what I'm going to call the missing middle. Sometimes I say messy middle, but today I'm going to call it the missing middle and why the manager role kind of makes or breaks growth.

So if you didn't catch the last episode, we talked about shifting from being a doer to being an implementer. And we talked about all the five essential roles in your business. Today we're going to dive into the next piece of the puzzle, which is really a manager.

So this mini series on role evolution, let me just say, if you're still with me and you listened to that first episode, which was episode, I believe 228, and now we're on to 229, if you listened to that one and you're still here, I see you. I see you. I see you. I see you because you are the type of person who is excited about business growth but who is probably ready to go beyond hustling, beyond to-do lists and checklists, and really have a business that actually supports your big vision. Which I am going to guess includes you doing only the things you want to do and having some freedom in your life.

So I think what makes a lot of my listeners—and probably you—different than other listeners of other business entrepreneurial podcasts and/or life balance type podcasts is that we're trying to mix both. Today, we're diving in again to what I call the missing middle: the role of manager.

And I'm going to say something right now out loud that might make you cringe. You ready? Management is sexy. Yes, I said it, management is sexy, and here is why: without a solid manager, things fall apart. And yet this role gets totally overlooked in most small businesses. We go from doing everything ourselves to hiring some help to suddenly wondering why we are still overwhelmed despite having a team.

I literally, two days ago, fielded a Voxer message from one of my clients who said, "I hired this person, and yet they are still asking me 50 gazillion questions." And the whole reason I hired them is because I don't want people asking me these types of questions. So what's going on there is there is a gap, and it's the manager role, because without this layer, this manager role, you can't truly lead, which is what my client is wanting to do.

You'll always be the bottleneck, which is what actually literally happened the other day. They were waiting for answers from her. And if you want to show up as a CEO, someone else has got to manage those day-to-day mechanics of your business.

Now, let's talk about what it really means to be a manager because it sounds not sexy. It sounds torturous, it sounds boring, but it's also where you might be stuck. And it's also knowing that this manager role is absolutely essential if you want to lead without losing your mind.

All right, so let's dive in. Let's first of all define what is a manager in our arena. I would say a manager manages people, projects, and performance. So she's not doing the work, that is the doer. Now, I'm going to say that sometimes they might be doing some things. But she's not doing the work; that's the doer. And she's not just figuring out how to get it done, that's the implementer. She is owning the outcome. And that's what you guys are looking for. You want people to own the outcome.

So the manager coordinates team efforts, monitors deadlines, quality of work. I know sometimes in my business, there are broken links and misspelled words and fonts that are off. And I have to go in and say, "Hey, hey, this isn't working for me." So I'm bringing on a manager. I've had a manager before, and now I'm bringing on another person to be a manager.

So this manager coordinates the team, monitors the deadlines and the quality, and also provides feedback and coaching to some of these doers, and even might provide feedback for the leader, for me, or you. The manager also troubleshoots bottlenecks, and then the manager translates your vision into actionable priorities.

Client story: we're going to call her Paige. She had three freelancers on her team and she kept saying, they're good, they're good, but I still feel like I'm chasing them down.

I spend half of my week in update meetings and the other half putting out fires they created. Does that sound familiar? And that's because she was managing tasks, not people. The minute she hired a manager, everything changed. Deadlines were met. Accountability improved. Team communication flowed without her intervention. She had breathing room.

A manager's judgment really sounds like this: "What's the best decision for the team and the timeline?" "How do I keep everyone aligned with our priorities?" "What system will keep this off the CEO’s—or maybe your—plate for good?" "Who needs what resources or support to succeed?"

Here's what's wild. When this role is filled, your revenue per employee or per contractor goes up. Your profitability increases because suddenly, efficiency enters, I'll call it, the chat.

But here is why founders and CEOs struggle here. You're used to doing and leading and managing. But the managing part feels eh. It feels like babysitting, or it feels like too much, or too many meetings, or too many Slack pings, or too many feelings.

And as one client put it, "I didn't start a business to become a middle manager. I want to create and lead, not track timesheets and give feedback."

But here is the truth. The reason you feel stuck in your business might be because you're missing this layer. You're playing leader or visionary while still doing the manager's job. And you're exhausted.

This is where this whole CEO title starts to crack. This is where I get pushback from some of my clients when I say, "You are the CEO," and they say, "I don't feel like it." The reason you don't feel like it is because if you're still managing timelines and tasks and team drama, you're not leading. You're juggling.

So let's take Jessica. She built an agency with 12 team members and zero managers. She was the only one with decision-making authority. And the result? Every client issue, every creative decision, every deadline adjustment landed on her desk.

She was making $800,000 but working like she was making $80,000. But when we restructured to add two dedicated managers, her capacity really doubled. Not because she worked more, but because she worked smarter.

So now I think you get the point about the manager and how crucial they are. But you may be asking, "Who delegates to who, then?" All right, so the visionary, which is probably you, the CEO, you’re the one that delegates priorities and vision to the manager. The manager delegates execution to the implementers and the doers. But the manager reports progress and feedback to the visionary.

So if you're still giving daily assignments to your doers, you're skipping a level, and the chain breaks. I want you to think of it like this: your business is an orchestra. You're the conductor setting the tempo and bringing out the best in the whole team. But you need section leaders who can sort of translate your vision to these individual musicians.

Okay, so we got the orchestra, we have a conductor. The conductor sets the tempo, right? Brings out the best in all of the musicians. Then we have these section leaders, like who's in charge of percussion, who's in charge of strings? Section leaders are translating your vision to these individual musicians. And without them, you are running around adjusting every violin string yourself. Conductor does not adjust strings.

All right, so now you're going to say, "Okay, yeah, but how do I know what's my sign when to hire the manager?" Here's your sign, my friends. You feel like the middle of a very messy sandwich. Your calendar is full of update meetings that really leave you kind of drained. You're holding all the mental post-its. Team members are constantly asking, "What should I do next?" You're spending meetings giving updates rather than making decisions. And every problem gets escalated to you for resolution.

So when is it time to hire a manager? This person could be an ops manager, it could be a marketing manager, it could be a project manager. The title doesn’t matter. What matters is that they own the how things are going to get done, in a timely fashion, accurately, so that you can focus on the why.

So one CEO I worked with actually calculated what her time was worth. It was worth $1,500 an hour. And she realized that she was spending 15 hours a week on $50-an-hour management tasks.

So that's $21,750 a month spent on the wrong task. Times that by 12, you're up to $250,000 working on the wrong things. So when she hired a manager at $75,000 a year, she immediately started working on the right things and saw her business grow by 40% in just six months. Because when you fill this role, you finally create breathing room. And guess what? That’s where your CEO brain thrives.

All right. So here's your homework. Number one, I want you to make a list of what you're currently managing, people, timelines, inboxes, feedback, quality control, client expectations.

This is also, my friends, kind of exactly what I'm talking about from shifting from becoming a passive listener of a podcast to a massive action-taker leader in your business. And this is sometimes where coaching is most valuable, to help you shift and actually do the work that needs to get done.

So what I just said: make a list of all the things you're currently managing. You probably have a mental list, but has anyone ever said to you, "No, you need to get this down on paper," and held you accountable to doing that?

All right, now I want you to circle the things that only you can do right now. This should be a very small circle, by the way. That's a hint. Circle the things that only you can do. Then I want you to calculate how many hours per week you spend on management tasks, probably too many.

Next, number four: ask yourself, "If I had someone to own just one of these buckets, what would it be? What would free up the most mental space?" And I want you to start drafting the job description for that role, even if you’re not ready to hire yet.

Simply defining the role will show you how much you are carrying. And your CEO self? She's waiting. But she can’t step forward if she’s stuck chasing deadlines and giving updates. The manager role is the bridge, my friends. When it’s filled well, everything changes.

And if you’re nodding along like, "Yes, please. I need this yesterday," coaching can really help you get clear on what you actually need. I can help you write a job description that attracts the right people and prep your business, and your brain, for that real manager, for that real delegation.

So here's another massive action step: direct message me on Instagram or book a call with me at andreaslinks.com. That’s a massive action step that you can take. You and I can talk about whether or not I can play a role in helping you do what you want to do, be the visionary and be the leader. Then we can talk about how I can help you get this manager into place.

Because in the next episode, we’re going to move one layer up to leadership. Because management is important, but leadership? That’s where the culture is created. So, meet me in the next episode. As always, until next week, keep thinking big, because when you do, big things happen.

And pass this episode on to someone who needs it. You're going to be respected by them. Pass this episode on to another woman who feels like she’s dotting all the I’s, crossing the T’s, she needs a manager too. All right, my friends. I’ll see you next week.

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