Back when I was around 14 or so I signed up to be a volunteer referee for the local soccer league. Having played since I was very young I had been around a lot of referees and I knew a lot about the game so I figured it would be a pretty simple gig. So I signed up and attended the couple week training session for new refs.

When I first got there I knew immediately that I had a lot to learn, not so much about the technicalities of the game but about being a referee. Our instructor had introduced himself briefly and began the discussion with this: “The greatest compliment I ever received about one of our refs was that the coach didn’t even know he was there.”

Being a pretty young guy it took a while for that to sink in. But I still think about that to this day. And I feel it very applicable to management.

I’ve been thinking again about these words over the past few weeks as I heard two independent accounts from associates of mine that felt their manager was more or less invisible. This struck a chord with me as these accounts were decidedly negative.

At first I thought they were referring to job absenteeism, which is to say the managers lack of involvement was causing issues. This was not really the case. The problem was simply that they didn’t understand what their managers were doing to help them on a daily basis.

Implications for SE Managers
Here’s what worries me. I am a big fan of making oneself invisible in several senses. I strive to never allow myself to be the bottleneck in my team’s progress toward goals/opportunities. I also push responsibility down as far as is practical. This is similar to empowerment, but I hate the connotations marketers and seminar gurus have added to it. I also try to take myself out of process chains wherever possible. Sometimes this means removing checkpoints, other times it can be automated. My prevailing management theory is that my team should function just as well in my absence as it does when I’m around. To me this defines invisibility–again, not to be confused with absenteeism. When a manager is plainly absent, it is the polar opposite of being invisible.

Just to show this isn’t a distinction without a difference, let’s use a simple example of approving expense reports. If you submit them and they routinely get approved by your manager the same day and you never have an issue getting them paid, you have a degree of invisibility because once this is a pattern, you cease giving it attention. If, on the other hand, you have to bug your manager to approve them or are always questioned incessantly on your expense items (showing your manager is unaware of the work you are doing), this is plainly not invisibility.

To reconcile these seemingly opposing viewpoints, here are some techniques to overcome this problem:

• SEs expect a servant-leader- Gone are the days where people come to work expecting to serve their boss. SEs expect to be treated as a meaningful component of the sales team and enterprise and they expect their manager to support them in their efforts and to remove roadblocks when they inevitably arise. Always ask your people directly how you can help them and give it your highest priority to meet those commitments.
• Yes, communication – Don’t be over the top, but do involve your team in crucial decisions and do provide steady (even if informal) updates as to what work you are involved in. This is especially critical for middle and senior management as you are at least 1 level removed from your people. If you even detect a hint of boastfulness, dial it back.
• Get directly involved – This can be tricky, but SE management has the ability (and often mandate) to be involved with customers. The balance comes from not appearing to meddle with the work of your team, but to make yourself valuable enough to sales team that you are occasionally brought into deals. Not only does this give you a chance to interact with your people, but you also get the incalculable benefits that come from meeting directly with customers.

Thoughts for SEs
I definitely understand the thought process, but I would get away from the expectation of direct service from your management chain. The only time I personally expect service is when I am patroning a business. When services don’t meet expectations I simply take my business elsewhere. Those at the top of their fields can also get away with the same thing of their employer. This is why (in addition to it just being the right thing to do) I advocate management adopt a servant-leader mentality–I just wouldn’t expect (or worry about) it as an SE. Proactive SEs focus on what they can control, not on what they can’t.

It’s very easy to jump to a conclusion that if I don’t hear about what my manager is doing, they must not be doing much. I just try to keep in mind that if things are running smoothly without much interaction from them, it most likely isn’t because of accidental forces.

Going back to my referee example, it’s very difficult to call a perceived fair game to everyone. You remain invisible by consistently meeting expectations. You rarely remain invisible for long making big mistakes or by not showing up to the game at all…