The Manager - Edition 101 - Get Along

THE MANAGER - BY ROB LAMBERT

Hi,
 
Hope you are all doing well and had a good weekend.
 
This newsletter is a little late today as I’ve been away Glamping, in a big Safari tent in the middle of Somerset.
 
We had a great time, despite the weather. The kids loved it, my wife – less so, me – I was in my element. A chance to spend quality time with my family, no internet signal, no video games, lots of outdoor time and being back in nature. Most importantly, a chance to recharge my batteries.
 
During the quiet, calm days of nature I got thinking about who I’ve hired and why. So, I mused on it some more.
 
I was thinking about why I spend so long in the hiring process, looking for people who are “warm” and “good” and “interesting” and “caring”. Fluffy words for sure, but you know these people when you meet them.

They are nice people. They are kind. They care about something. They are easy to get along with. They want to help people. They are perceptive. They are creative. They are happy. They are hard working. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They are excited about bringing their experience to our company.
 
This doesn’t mean they aren’t tough, honest, courageous and hard-headed. It means they are all of these qualities but respectful with it.
 
The mainstream media and LinkedIn is full of dross about hiring people who are uber successful, who will stop at nothing to bring their dreams alive, who have a proven track record of results, who don’t take rubbish from anyone, who never take a day off, who never quit or give up, who don’t do bad work.

It’s painful scrolling the news feed on LinkedIn recently – I don’t seem to be able to get away from over-night successes and dream setting go-getters. 
 
But these people often make terrible employees.
 
A successful company is not successful because of a single person.
 
It is the sum of behaviours and results of everyone in the company.

In order to have good, solid, successful behaviours you need everyone to be looking out for each other. You need people to respect each other, support others in their goals, align around common work and come together to respectfully deliver the service or product to the customer. You cannot do this when you have an individual who is brimming with self-confidence and has an ego the size of a planet.
 
Self-confidence is insanely important and valuable, but not when it bubbles over and becomes tyrannical. As a manager the worst people to manage are those with a sense of self-importance, over the top self-confidence and giant egos. I have managed many of these people and they are draining. You spend your time dealing with the fires they create and the personal damage they do. They bring down a team. They refuse to budge on their ideals, they have "one" way of working - and if it doesn't fit in - they try and make it. They don’t delegate, they often don’t co-operate, and they are strongly opinionated – and not in a good way.
 
They may get results in the short term, but they destroy the team in the process.
 
The team is made up of many people.
 
As a manager I encourage you to build a diverse, creative and respectful team. Deal with people who bring the team down. And don’t hire anyone who is so full of self-confidence that they will destroy what you are building; no matter how impressive their resume is.
 
Businesses are built by people, working with people to achieve something for other people. And the best businesses I’ve worked with, in and on, are full of people who want to get along.

My advice is to always nurture an environment where getting along and co-operating is prized above achieving personal goals at all cost. And always try to hire people who are “warm” and “good” and “interesting” and “caring”.
  
Until next time.

Rob..
 

FOOD FOR YOUR MANAGEMENT BRAIN

1. No matter which industry you work in, it's likely that AI is coming your way. But be careful, AI is often wrong - https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-ai-predictions

2. Working from home? The ergonomics of your home work space matter for your health - https://arstechnica.com/features/2020/08/work-from-home-01-ergo/

3. How to do an interview via Zoom - https://www.manager-tools.com/2020/07/interviewing-zoom

4. Do you watch or read the news? Be careful. It shapes us more than we may realise - https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200512-how-the-news-changes-the-way-we-think-and-behave

5. Boeing 747s are still updated by floppy disk - sometimes the best still works - https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/11/21363122/boeing-747s-floppy-disc-updates-critical-software

6. How working from home can turn in to a nightmare - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/15/working-from-home-was-the-dream-but-is-it-turning-into-a-nightmare

7. Amplify your strengths. https://seths.blog/2020/08/amplify-your-strengths/

8. As a manager - try not to lose your temper - it can derail the team. Here's some advice on how to fix it - https://lattice.com/library/like-a-boss-i-lost-my-temper-and-created-tension-in-the-team-how-do-i-fix-it

9. The circular problem with insomnia - if you suffer from it (I do), then worth a read - https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/sep/22/dreamland-insomnia-sleep-cbt-drugs

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Thanks
Rob..