The Manager - Edition 32 - from Rob Lambert
Cultivated Management Newsletter
Hi,
I hope you've had a great weekend and are looking forward to starting a brand new week. As usual, links are below to some articles but I've been a little pre-occupied this week with managers who tell people what to do.
You know the type:
They tell more than ask
They talk over people
They interupt
They always have the answers
They are always right
They provide tactical answers to questions about emotions and feelings
They have little strategic vision
They are effective. Let's get that straight. Work often gets done and it gets done quickly. But it's a short term view.
As you know, if you've been managed by people who tell, you rarely buy in to their leadership style. You avoid them. You rarely ask questions and you're even less likely to share an opinion. What's the point? It won't be appreciated or listened to.
There is a challenge here though. Some people are just naturally like this. It is their style. And they don't see a challenge with it, or if they do, it's just very very difficult to change it.
But for long term growth, if you're naturally a manager who manages in this way, you must find a way to fight your natural tendencies.
Delegation of work and growth of skills and abilities, are how companies grow. It's how more work gets done and it's also how you free up more of your time to do systemic problem solving (which is one of the core roles a manager).
If you're naturally a "teller" rather than listener you'll need to find ways to spot that behaviour and make a change. We're lucky as humans that we have the ability to stop and think and change behaviours. It's not easy, in fact, it can be brutally hard.
But when we, as managers, ask questions, listen and let others make their own decisions (and sometimes mistakes), they grow, we grow and the business grows. This is why we're a manager - to get business results.
When I find myself "telling" I tap my wrists twice and take a breath. This physical act gets me out of the moment and triggers a thought process - "Am i telling people what to do?"
And from there I can make a choice and decision.
Sometimes there is a need to tell, but if you find yourself telling more than listening and asking, then you may need to find your own way of changing a habit and associated behaviour.
We're after long term success as a manager and this comes from letting others grow in skills, responsibilities and business intuition. This comes from making their own decisions - supported by a great manager. The best way to learn how to make decisions is to make decisions - this is impossible when someone tells them what to do.
Tapping my wrists has helped me loads and saved me from telling people what to do. It might work for you - it might not - search for what works for you and go forth and listen more than tell.
Until next time
Rob..
Stuff To Click On :
1 - As what if questions to get to the underlying assumptions.
2 - Why startups fail to scale.
3 - This is me - why people don't answer the phone anymore.
4 - Microsoft bought GitHub - for a lot of money - here's an interesting article on why some companies are worth a LOT more than others who might make more money per year
5 - I posted a blog post! First one for a long time - sorry - been dithering too much. This ones got a free onboarding and induction checklist included for ensuring people become effective quickly and have a great first few weeks.
6 - I do digital transformations...sometimes.. and here's what they have in common, apparently. Not sure I agree with everything but many points are spot on.
Thanks for reading this week's edition of The Manager.
Thanks
Rob..