I was watching Ted Lasso last week when a line really stuck with me: 

“There’s a reason the rear-view mirror is smaller than the windscreen.”

It got me thinking about business, leadership and particularly how we manage and develop our people. 

In business, it is very easy to spend a lot of time looking backwards. 

We think about the employee we should have managed differently. 

The supervisor we promoted but didn’t properly prepare. 

The conversation we should have had six months earlier. 

The process we should have implemented. 

The training we should have provided. 

Or simply the decisions we would make differently if we had our time again. 

And reflection is important. We absolutely should learn from what has happened. 

But we can’t drive a business by constantly looking in the rear-view mirror. 

Mistakes are part of running a business 

I run my own business, and like every business owner, I can look back and identify things I could have done better. 

There are decisions I would change. 

There are people I could have supported more. 

There are things I probably should have addressed earlier. 

But that’s business. 

It’s also leadership. 

Managing people isn’t something most of us get right every single time. We learn through experience, conversations, mistakes and sometimes uncomfortable situations. 

The important question isn’t: 

“Why didn’t I do this better?”

It’s: 

“What am I going to do differently next?”

The same applies to developing supervisors 

I regularly speak with business owners and senior managers who recognise that their supervisors haven’t received enough support or development. 

They might say: 

“We’ve never really trained our supervisors.”

“We promoted them because they were good at their job.” 

“We’ve expected them to work it out.” 

“I probably haven’t spent enough time mentoring them.” 

Recognising that is valuable. 

Beating yourself up about it isn’t. 

You can’t change how you supported someone two years ago, six months ago or even last week. 

But you can decide what happens tomorrow. 

Maybe that means sitting down with your supervisors once a month. 

Maybe it’s giving them some practical training in having difficult conversations. 

Maybe it’s teaching them how to coach rather than simply tell. 

Maybe it’s involving them more in WHS, planning and decision-making. 

Or perhaps it is simply asking: 

“What do you need from me to help you do your job better?”

None of those things require you to fix the past. 

They require you to look forward. 

Learn from the mirror – then look through the windscreen

The rear-view mirror still has an important purpose. 

We need to know where we’ve been. 

We need to learn from mistakes. 

We need to understand what worked and what didn’t. 

But there’s a reason the windscreen is much bigger. 

Most of our attention needs to be on where we’re going. 

So, if you’re a business owner or manager thinking: 

“I haven’t done enough to develop my supervisors.” 

Don’t stop there. 

Change the question. 

What am I going to do next to support them? 

Start with one conversation. 

One coaching session. 

One piece of training. 

One responsibility you can help them develop the confidence to take on. 

You don’t need to completely rebuild your management structure overnight. 

You just need to start moving forward. 

Use the rear-view mirror to learn from where you’ve been – but keep your eyes on the road ahead.

#Leadership #rearviewmirror #Management #SmallBusiness #LeadershipDevelopment #PeopleManagement #BusinessOwners #CHDPartners #CIRT  #MichaelHuggett #HumanResources #CareerGrowth