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2 things project managers do that undermine their value
Undermining is the act of weakening someone else’s efforts. It’s often seen in corporate settings when one person diminishes the achievements of another, usually in front others. The underminer is quick to point out all the mistakes made by the other person.
“The presentation was great, but you should have fixed the misspelling on slide 3 and your point on slide 8 was weak and the audience didn’t get it.”
This sounds like useful feedback, but when intended to diminish the presenter’s authority and make themselves look smarter in front of a peer or a boss, that’s undermining.
Getting in Your Way
Ironically, we can undermine ourselves too. Doing anything that lessens our own effectiveness is undermining.
We can do things like diluting our intent, not communicating clearly or not playing to our strengths. Even if we feel productive, we can undermine ourselves when we don’t explicitly move an objective forward.
For example, if a basketball player is sick and comes out to play in a game. He is present but can’t play strong in his normal position. The player lessens the overall effectiveness of the team. In a work setting, a teammate may choose to play a role that they are not trained to do.
