Management and Management style

I have not written much about management because there are many who are much better than me in expressing the finer points of management and have stronger credentials.   While I may not have followed all the management gurus and their teachings during my career, my style worked for me and for those whom I managed.   Our business was successful, the troops were eager, engaged, encouraged, and enthusiastic.   That covers all the “e” adverbs.  I could not ask for more.

Let me share some of what worked for me in my career.   If it helps you, that is terrific.

1.     TRUST YOUR PEOPLE:  This seems so logical and obvious.  However, how often do we hear that to have it done right, “I need to do it myself.”  Why would they be on your team if you did not trust them?  Yes, trust is earned, so let them earn your trust.   Provide them with opportunities to earn your trust.   Give lots of opportunities, every day, for this to happen.   Your ultimate goal in management is to develop this trust so that you can rely on them.   If you cannot develop this trust, it will be a very long and hard road ahead.

2.    EMPOWER YOUR PEOPLE:  “People do what you inspect and not what you expect.”   I heard this from a vice president over and over again in my early days.   Yes, we all need supervision, but if we do not let our people do what they are good at, nothing will get done.   We have only two hands and 24 hours a day.  We cannot do it all alone.   It starts with trust, and then we empower,  delegate,  and SUPPORT.

3.    FIND THE SOLUTION: I always had an “open door” policy in management.   The door to my office is always open, but there was a caveat.   I insisted that all who enter that open door do so not with a problem but a solution to the problem.   Finding a problem is easy, and it deflects responsibility.   Bring the problem with a solution, or better yet several different solutions, then we have a discussion.

4.    INVOLVE OTHERS AND THEIR IDEAS:  I have said many times that most of the successful ideas were not mine but from the team.  It was always important to recruit potential leaders and not just followers.   We hire them for their minds and not only for their hands.  It was always more productive to manage people who are involved than those who are not.   If they are involved, they understand why a decision is made.   The more they are part of the solution, the more they will accept and act on it. 

5.    THEY WILL MAKE THE IDEAS WORK IF IT IS THEIR IDEA:  Give everyone the opportunity to share and develop an idea.   Let it be their idea.  Encourage ideas from the team; the more the better.  They may not all be ideal, but out of all the ideas, one or two will be the right ones.

6.    MAKE  THE TEAM PART OF THE SOLUTION, NOT PART OF THE PROBLEM:  Solicit creative thinking from your team.   Never stop asking for ideas, and when the ideas come forth, support them.   Recognize the contribution and recognize the responsible party.   Recognition is a very powerful and meaningful reward.   Successful leaders are generous with giving credit where credit is due.

7.    MISTAKES HAPPEN:  Mistakes are inevitable.  Let no one tell you that throughout his career, there was never a mistake.   I looked at mistakes from a positive angle.   Let’s make little mistakes and avoid the big mistake.  Scientists try to trigger small earthquakes to ease the tension and slippage in the tectonic plates that cause earthquakes.   They believe a number of small ones is much better than a big one.   Same principle for me in management.  We will make mistakes, and the team will make mistakes.  Let them be small ones that help us to improve and guide us forward.

8.    DON’T JUST TELL THEM WHAT TO DO, LEAD THEM TO WANT TO DO IT:  These are some magical words that will always work in management: ENCOURAGE, RECOGNIZE, INSPIRE, AND MOTIVATE.  The time you spend applying these words and actions with your team will result in positive returns exponentially.   

It worked for me, and it may work for you.