The Manager 99 - Not good or bad

THE MANAGER - BY ROB LAMBERT

Hi,
 
I hope you are all safe and well. 
 
Things are good at Lambert HQ. The kids are on their summer break and I’ve been spending some quality time with them.

Lots of walks and visits to the spacious New Forest - an ancient forest with wild ponies, horses, donkeys and cows. My kids and I are still amused at how these animals wander the streets, hold up traffic and have free roam. Beautiful place - worth a visit if you’re ever in the south of England. 
 
I published another video last week on remote interviews - it’s a fun video with 15 tips on how to conduct amazing remote interviews. Worth a watch if you’re hiring right now and needing to run the interview remotely.
 

Good and Bad

 
If you’re currently going through some good times at work; products and services are in demand, processes are working, people are productive and happy, no major fires to put out and your people are all doing well - then consider that the opposite of these things will happen at some point. 
 
If you’re currently in a bad place at work; products and services are hard to get out, demand is lacking, processes are failing and causing pain, people are unhappy and discontented, there are fires everywhere - then consider that you will get past this and good times will likely happen. 
 
The trick to management is consistency, relationship building, process and a focus on the big picture.

By doing the right actions with the right intentions - hard times will be ok. There are always good times. There are always bad times. 
 
The real trick though, is to change the story you tell yourself about each of these times, and of course the journeys in between. 
 
If you can detach emotions from what happens you’ll be the manager people flock to. In reality, there are no good or bad times, just times. It’s the story we tell ourselves about those times that makes them good or bad. 
 
The best managers look at their world of work as it is - just things that happen, not good, not bad. And they turn up, do the work, look after people, keep going and see the growth in everything that happens.
 
Whether you’re a manager or not, this approach of just seeing events at work as just that, events, is a great way of staying sane and moving forward. It takes a lot of practice.
 
So today, is your world of work good or bad? Or is it just work? 
Do you need to attach an emotion to the work? Or simply sit down and take action?
 
Paint a picture of the future, have strong principles, build a strategy, take right action, stand up against awful behaviour, build a great team, develop good habits and behaviours, and learn about how to make work better.

But above all, try to look at everything that happens on that journey as simply events meant to test your integrity and resolve, events that help you learn, events that just happen, events that help you grow.
 
After all, the only thing we can control in our lives is our effort, intentions, principles and how we respond to what happens.
 
Until next time. 
Rob..

FOOD FOR YOUR MANAGEMENT BRAIN

1. We need our offices back. A nice piece musing on the fact that not everyone enjoys remote working. I see so many people extolling the virtues of remote working and how they never want to go back to work. Consider though, that we are all different. - https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/need-offices-i-cant-bear-working-home-rest-career/1690500

2. Some digital engagement strategies for remote workers and those on furlough. If you're a manager - worth a read. If you're in HR - almost essential. Good advice indeed. - https://www.poppulo.com/resources/digital-engagement-strategies-for-remote-workers-and-furloughed-team-members/

3. Want to develop a core behaviour in the workplace to help your career? Develop the behaviour of being able to ask for what you want. And not annoy everyone else in the process - https://reading.supply/@justina/asking-for-things-you-want-1a8tDZ

4. Lots of interesting points about remote work - the core premise being that remote working is a platform. Like it. I still want to be back in an office someday though :) - https://m.signalvnoise.com/remote-work-is-a-platform/

5. Straight forward versus complicated people - https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/straightforward-vs-complicated-people/

6. Stop trying to induce willpower - it's over-rated - https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-willpower-is-overrated

7. Improve your relationships - advice from counter terrorism specialists - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/aug/01/improve-your-relationships-with-advice-from-counter-terrorism-experts?

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Thanks
Rob..