New manager learns he needs to let his team communicate

From the Corner Office interview of Girish Novani of eClinicalWorks, in the New York Times. Adam Bryant, who writes the Corner Office columns, has a new book based on that work: Quick and Nimble: Lessons from Leading CEOs on How to Create a Culture of Innovation.

My first role was at Fidelity Investments. I was 27. I had this team of five people, and every one of them went to my boss and told him that I was terrible because I had stifled them from talking to others, and that I only wanted them to tell me what was going on. One person said, “We can’t be on his team.”

I changed pretty much overnight. If people felt that they couldn’t really maneuver as easily as they did before I was a team leader, then I wasn’t doing my job. A team leader should be a coach.