Experts Share Ineffective Management Advice (And What To Do Instead)

Forbes

4 days ago

Leaders today have a variety of sources from which to learn business strategy. From industry peers and mentors to targeted workshops and formal educational programs, developing one's business knowledge and strengthening people management skills is critical to successfully maintaining a business over time.
However, not all advice is good advice. With social media enabling anyone and everyone to offer advice, it can be difficult to discern which tips are well-intentioned but ineffective and which ones are genuinely helpful. To help, 20 Forbes Business Council members share one common piece of management advice they've found to be highly impractical, as well as what managers should try instead.
1. Treat Everyone The Same
Treating everyone the same sounds fair but fails in practice, as people have different needs and motivators. Instead, be fair but personalize your leadership. Adapt your style to each team member while maintaining consistent values. This builds trust, boosts engagement and helps everyone perform at their best. - Narendra Babu Vattem, iSpatial Techno Solutions Inc.
2. Always Be Available For Your Team
Always being available for your team sounds noble, but it can burn you out and make others dependent on you. Instead, teach autonomy. Set clear expectations, be accessible at fixed hours and trust your team to figure things out. - Nitin Gupta, QRCodeChimp
3. Hire Great People And Get Out Of The Way
Hiring great people and then getting out of their way sounds inspiring, but it often leads to poor alignment and missed opportunities. Even top performers need direction, feedback, challenges and accountability. Instead, stay close to the work. Great managers enable autonomy, not abandonment, and guide without micromanaging. - Henry McIntosh, Twenty One Twelve Marketing
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4. Implement An Open-Door Policy
Keeping an open-door policy sounds good, but it often leads to constant interruptions and reactive leadership. Instead, set structured availability and hold office hours with a purpose. This boundary respects deep work while still inviting feedback. Clarity beats constant access. - Arpit Jain, SEO Sets
5. Bring Your Whole Self To Work
People often say to bring your whole self to work and be authentic. This isn't good advice for someone in a leadership or management role because there is a power dynamic to consider and it can too easily be an excuse for bad behavior. Instead, focus on credibility. This means you need to be capable, empathetic, supportive, trustworthy, likeable, vulnerable, as well as have integrity and a vision. - Jenni Field, Redefining Communications
6. Leave Emotions At The Door
Leaving your emotions at the door is the worst advice because what it really teaches is disconnection, not professionalism. Instead, managers should bring emotional fluency to the table. Teams don't need robots; they need humans who can read the room and lead with both head and heart. - Stephanie Dillon, Stephanie Dillon Art
7. Maintain A Positive Attitude
A common piece of advice that can be highly ineffective is to always maintain a positive attitude. While this is generally not bad advice, there are times that call for gravity and honesty. It's important in these moments to evaluate the situation. Maintaining a positive attitude at the wrong moment can give the impression of insincerity, dishonesty or disinterest. - Nikolaus Kimla, Pipeliner CRM
8. Be The Expert First
The advice to be the expert yourself first is ineffective. Once you know how the work is done and what to expect from the team, then you can set realistic and achievable goals. Be reasonable. - Henry Fan, Globevisa Group
9. Stay On Top Of Everything
One common but ineffective piece of management advice is to 'stay on top of everything.' This not only often leads to micromanagement but also kills trust and innovation. Instead, managers should empower teams with clear goals, autonomy and accountability. Trust drives performance far more than control. - Allen Kopelman, Nationwide Payment Systems Inc.
10. Empower Your People
The 'empower your people' phrase as blanket advice lacks nuance. Without clear guardrails, teams flounder or play it safe. Instead, managers should define clear objectives and boundaries, then coach and trust teams to innovate within those limits, fostering true autonomy balanced with accountability. Use constraints as the leverage for impact. - Krzysztof 'Kris' Garlewicz, ProsperiFi LLC
11. Keep Your Team Busy
Busyness isn't productivity — it's noise. Idle moments often lead to insight and meaningful process improvements. Instead of filling every gap, teach your team to pause, reflect and prioritize what actually moves the business forward. This cuts against the outdated 'hustle culture' mindset and introduces the idea of the strategic pause and reflection as a management tool. - Aleksandr Zemel, NYWD
12. Delegate More
One-size-fits-all management advice like "just delegate more" is overrated. Not every task or team is suited for delegation. Instead, managers should focus on understanding their team's strengths and tailoring their approach to get the best results. - Mark Berookim, High Rise Financial LLC
13. Hire For Culture Fit
'Culture fit' is one of the most misused ideas in hiring. I've seen teams lose their edge by filling seats with people who think alike. What drives real performance is culture add. You need people who challenge assumptions, flag blind spots and surface flaws early. That tension sharpens execution and protects you from groupthink before it turns into costly mistakes. - Zain Jaffer, Zain Ventures
14. Avoid Getting Too Close To Team Members
'Don't get too close to your team' is an outdated theory. People don't need a boss, they need a human. Connection builds loyalty, not distance. Try leading with transparency and trust. When your team feels safe, trusted and appreciated, they'll go further than KPIs ever will. - Braden Yuill, Virtual Coworker
15. Have Employees Bring Solutions, Not Problems
Saying, 'Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions,' shuts down psychological safety. It discourages early communication, often making employees feel like they have to figure things out alone. Instead, say, 'If you bring me what you're stuck on, we'll solve it together.' That fosters trust, learning and better outcomes. - Stephen Sokoler, Journey
16. Avoid Micromanaging
'Don't micromanage' is popular advice, but it can lead to misalignment and delays if taken too far. Blind trust without structure doesn't work. Instead, lead with clarity by setting clear expectations, explaining the 'why,' and checking in regularly. It's about direction, not control. - Janet Lam, Building Blocks Business
17. Give Feedback Only When Something Goes Wrong
I find the idea of only giving feedback when something goes wrong to be ineffective. This creates a culture of fear and defensiveness. Instead, managers should learn how to give positive feedback regularly and sincerely. Recognizing progress, effort, and small wins builds confidence, motivates teams, and creates a foundation of trust. This then makes it easier to have honest conversations when challenges do arise. - Egor Karpovich, Travel Code Inc.
18. Do Feedback Sandwiches
The feedback sandwich sounds appetizing in theory, but there's a reason some call it by a less flattering name. Bookending criticism with praise teaches people to brace for bad news whenever they receive positive recognition. Instead, be direct, be specific and separate praise from constructive feedback. People respect honest communication over sugar-coating feedback. - Laurent Valosek, Peak Leadership Institute
19. Motivate Your Team
A common piece of advice is "motivate your team," with no input on how to effectively do that and what it means. It's more nuanced than that, and you want your team focused, not just motivated. Instead of focusing on management buzzwords, look at the data around high-performing teams. That's the environment you need to create, and you only have so many levers to work with. - Jeaneane Falkler
20. Focus On Your Zone Of Genius
With our company's focus on marketing, we talk to leaders every day who say that their marketing team is the hardest to manage, especially with social media. They typically want to focus on their "zone of genius," which is what we are all told to do, but it leads to abdication rather than delegation. You don't have to be a marketing expert, but you do need to learn enough to know what "good" looks like. - Kenda Laney, Laney Media