The best managers
Business schools, law schools and management classes of all kinds spend a great deal of time and effort teaching us how to get what we want through a variety of what I would call “hard” management tools and techniques. They are “hard” like a tool of any kind is hard. You do this, and this is the result you can expect….. This approach is a black and white world that aggressively seeks to stamp out gray areas.
But what about the very best managers…the ones who inspire us to do better than we thought we ever could? You know the ones…the ones we would do our utmost to please, the ones that make coming to work an absolute pleasure--a humanly and professionally rewarding experience. Hopefully all of us have had the experience of working with or for someone like that at least once in our lives.
You can feel it in the atmosphere of the organizations that are run by such people. It is refreshing, energizing and inspiring. Some small organizations of a few employees have this; but so do some large, multinational organizations. What characterizes such places? Here are some thoughts, please feel free to add!
- They are attuned to the markets they serve—in fact they are so attuned they are sometimes seen as trend setters. They are what others want to be.
- The managers of such organizations walk the talk. And what’s more, they somehow attract and create other managers just like themselves. The whole place takes on their personality!
- A person’s word is their bond in such organizations. If you say you are going to do something, everyone knows you will—or die trying.
- They are high energy places that stimulate creative thinking. They are FUN places to work.
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Comments
Here's another one to add to your list:
Managers are less concerned about taking credit for the successes of their team members and more concerned that their team members receive credit for their successful contributions to the team/organization.
Posted by: Aaron Wolowiec | June 30, 2009 10:37 PM
The recent Gallup books offer some research-driven insights on this topic, particularly the Q12 engagement scale.
Posted by: Jeffrey Cufaude | July 1, 2009 10:58 AM
One of the things I've always loved from the Gallup books Jeffrey refers to is the idea that a key measure of employee satisfaction is a simple one: Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every single day at work? When you work somewhere where the leadership makes it a priority to make that happen throughout the entire organization, you're working at a special place.
I'd also say that, when I've worked for the best managers, I felt that the organization treated employees fairly, overall. If you did good work (or even great work), you were rewarded accordingly. If you helped other departments do great work, you were rewarded accordingly. People who were roadblocks or empire-builders weren't rewarded.
Posted by: Lisa Junker | July 1, 2009 12:58 PM
Novations Group has had (don't know if they still offer it) a management training session called "Manager's Mindset." It's based on the concept of "capacity building," which sees every individual as having a capacity to learn and grow, rather than being "cast in concrete." It changed my view of how management can contribute on a daily basis to the well-being of every employee. And when employees feel challenged in a way that suits them, they are eager to get to work, enthusiastic about what's in front of them, and each accomplishment leads them to another step forward.
Novations found that organizations that walk this talk had exemplary employee satisfaction reviews. We all know that most people leave employment because of some reason related to the boss they reported to, not because they want more money. And when you think about other reasons people leave -- greater challenge, opportunity for growth, sense of accomplishment -- capacity building management satisfies all of those. Such a management style benefits the employee -- and the organization.
Posted by: Ellen Behrens | July 3, 2009 11:52 AM