You're not Managing Machines
20 May 2025
You’re not managing machines. You’re leading humans - messy, brilliant, emotional humans.
Being a get-things-done person with a high sense of urgency myself, my wife often says to me,
"Wait, I’m thinking. I’m not a computer that can just spit out an answer!"
And she’s right. People need time. Space. Patience. Context.
We’re not logic processors -we’re layered, unpredictable, full of emotion and brilliance, often at the same time.
In the workplace, that messiness shows up as frustration, silence, overthinking, or emotional reactions that seem ‘off-topic.’
The brilliance shows up in unexpected insights, deep loyalty, creative problem-solving, innovative ideas and small acts of leadership you never asked for.
And the emotion? It’s not a problem - it’s data! It tells you what matters to someone. What they care about. What they fear. What they’re fighting for.
If you treat people like systems to optimise, you’ll miss the very things that make them valuable. One strategy won’t work for everyone.
And the way you naturally interact - even if it works well for you - can backfire or even cause real harm when you apply it the same way to everyone.
You can’t lead humans well if you don’t make space for their complexity.
So step back.
And when someone reacts in a way that catches you off guard, don’t fall into the trap of trying to 'fix' them — lean in, get curious, and start truly understanding who they are.
Remember: You’re leading humans - layered, emotional, unpredictable, and full of potential.
They don’t need you to fix them.
They need a leader who sees the human behind the role.
Written by Mark Deavall
If you would like to talk to me, please call me on +2782 465 5481 or email me on markd@markdeavall.com
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