Seeing What’s in Front of Us

Seeing What’s in Front of Us

Years ago, I was offered a job as an office manager for a construction company. It was an unexpected opportunity. At the time, I was teaching high school Algebra and Geometry—a job that, to put it lightly, wasn’t going well. With six large classes and a study hall, I barely had time to breathe.

The manager position came about thanks to the father of one of my students. Jay figured that as a math teacher, I could handle cost estimating and the day-to-day office tasks. He wasn’t wrong—but the job turned out to be so much more than that.

On my first day, he took me to construction sites and began teaching me the basics of quality homebuilding. I learned about footers, cantilevered homes, quoin corners (brick), drywall mudding, crown molding, and chair rail - all details I’d never noticed before. Suddenly, I started to see homes differently. Walking into a house became a new experience. I noticed craftsmanship (or lack thereof) that I’d been blind to before. My perspective had shifted, and I began to realize how much we miss simply because we don’t know what to look for.

This lesson stayed with me into my next role as a training manager. Once again, I was in a new environment, learning to "see." At first, everything felt overwhelming and unfamiliar, but after a few months, a pattern emerged.

I noticed a hard-working manager. Outside her office employees would queue up, one or two at a time, waiting to speak with her. One would leave, and another would step in. It wasn’t an occasional thing—it was constant. For a while, I didn’t think much of it. But one day, it hit me like a ton of bricks: the manager was micro-managing.

Her team either lacked confidence to act independently or didn’t know how to make decisions without her input. She was knowledgeable and well-intentioned, but she hadn’t developed her people. They were stuck, and so was she.

By the time I recognized what was happening, it was too late to intervene effectively. She was reassigned to a role that didn’t involve managing a team. While the outcome worked for everyone, it underscored a critical insight: sometimes, we fail to see what’s right in front of us until it’s too late to address it.

Training Managers to See

The ability to recognize what’s happening around you—time management issues, communication breakdowns, or gaps in execution—is a skill that can be developed. It starts with learning how to observe patterns and ask the right questions:

• Are team members frequently waiting for your input before they act? This might point to micromanagement or unclear expectations.

• Do you find yourself handling the same issues repeatedly? This could indicate a need for better delegation or process improvement.

• Are deadlines consistently missed or stress levels high? These might signal time management challenges or an overburdened team.

Helping managers "see what’s in front of them" is a crucial step toward empowering their teams. With the right training and tools, managers can shift from being reactive to proactive, creating an environment where employees are confident, capable, and engaged.

What BizCoachTN can do

Just as my construction job taught me to notice the details in a house, my experience as a training manager taught me to see the dynamics in a team. The key is learning to observe, interpret, and act before problems become crises. With practice, managers can train their eyes to spot growth opportunities - not just for themselves, but for the people they lead.

Contact us at BizCoachTN for help in transforming your life and business.