I’ve seen the term “player-coach” now come up enough times that I’m going to write about it while I enjoy my morning coffee.
It’s the idea that somehow managers don’t contribute enough value “managing” so rather than “manage” they are more like “coaches” (mentoring, running the show) but they should also be “players” (doing individual work). It’s two delusions in one! The first: bad leaders that believe if the organization were correctly responding to their strategy that the friction of reaching alignment and operating the business would go to zero. Nonsense. The second: That a single person can both context switch all day long operating a team well by having the big picture in their head, and somehow also be in the weeds delivering “real value.” Nonsense, again.
That’s not how people work psychologically or physiologically. And if the counterpoint is “yes, but AI” then add a third thing to the list your leaders don’t understand.
It’s the same boring contempt for middle management that’s always been there from people who have managed to fail upward. 🥱 What’re the people asking for this actually doing? What’s their version of being a player?
