The Manager - Edition 73 - Getting the best out of people - by Rob Lambert
The Manager - Edition 73
This week I've been mostly thinking about:
Why getting the best out of others is a job for managers
Hi
I hope you've had a cracking week and are looking forward to the week ahead.
Sorry I missed last week's newsletter - many things conspired against me. But have no fear, I'm back.
Hope you're all doing well.
Rob
Getting the best out of others is a job for managers.
I was speaking to someone the other day who told me that they are doing an amazing job but they were struggling to get a little bump in benefits to bring them in to line with others. "In to line" being important here, because this wasn't about more, it was about becoming equal.
They told me how their manager also agreed that they had been doing a great job, and would put in a good word to their manager. Who in turn would have to speak to my friend before maybe putting in a good word with their manager. And so on through the chain until the final decision about the equal perks could be made by the CEO.
There is so much wrong with this it's actually exciting - well, to someone who likes to ponder management problems.
Ignoring the obvious hierarchy and decision making latitude, the important point for me was that my friends manager agreed they'd been doing a stella job. So much so that they said "you deliver more value in 1 hour than others do all week". Yet, these others are still employed and my friend is fighting for equal perks.
Management is about getting the most out of people. It's about bringing the right people together, with the right skills, at the right time, to do great work.
Management is not about tolerating very poor behaviours and work output, and merely praising people who do well. It's about dealing with low performance and rewarding those who add value.
Imagine how much extra value my friend could add to an organisation if they can deliver a week's worth of work in 1 hour. Imagine how much more the organisation could get done if they had more people capable of higher and better quality output. Imagine how fulfilled my friend would feel if they could bring even more to the role, develop themselves more, help others more, do more.
And instead, my friend is fighting for equality in perks. And looking for another job.
And when you lose good people how much does it cost to replace them? It's likely a lot more than aligning perks with others.
The best managers I've worked with pushed me to levels I never knew I had. They listened to what I wanted to achieve - and they helped me get it. And I gave them my best work. My proudest work. And I didn't leave the companies they worked for.
Cultivated Managers bring out the best in others.
Rob..
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Nearly finished one of the many I am reading.
Cultivated Content Of The Week
This week's content I reckon you'll enjoy.
1 - Time track to prevent burnout. I'm not convinced many cases of burnout are actually caused by working too many hour per-say. I see people burining out by working any number of hours in toxic, leaderless, rudderless or confusing work places. And there are many of these. Sadly.
2 - Interesting - women perform better cognitively in warmer offices.
3 - Interesting article about Employee Engagement around the world.
4 - Would you tell your boss if you'd automated your own job?
5 - Some good tips on creating good persuasive presentations. As with most presentation advice - take it with a pinch of salt and test it yourself.
6 - Be a generalist not a specialist.
7 - Entire school learn sign language to welcome a new student. How awesome is this?
8 - What is the question for? Why are people really asking you the question - it's often not to get your answer to the question.
9 - Men have no friends - and women are paying the price. Interesting read.