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Cutting Edge Ideas from 2500 Years Ago |  |
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The No-Minute Manager 
Quite often these days, I hear in my mind the words of the man I guess you'd have to say was my first manager: my Dad. "Even when you're right, it never hurts to cut the other guy a break," was one that reverberates in my mind twenty years after his death. The thing is, my Dad was a very quiet guy. He didn't tell me what to do very often, so when he did speak I found him worth listening to. At his funeral, a dozen people — former customers, Kiwanis buddies, colleagues from his volunteer work — came up to me with tales of how his quiet wisdom was an inspiration that helped them figure out how to act in their own lives. My first manager in the software business was a man named Lewis Jackson. Lewis really didn't have a lot of time to actually manage me. In those days, managers also sold in half a territory, and Lewis was going through a painful and time-consuming divorce at the time. But I learned a lot just by watching him. I observed his work habits, how he dressed and carried himself, and mostly how he treated people. I still feel grateful, twenty-five years later, for the kindness he showed my then-girlfriend and me when he came to visit in Boston. He gave me what he felt was most valuable given his time constraints, an example, and it paid off. His region was number one in the country and within two years two of us on his team were promoted to be his colleagues in management. Why bring up these stories? I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about what isn't working in the current business climate, and I've come to the conclusion there is one major thing holding us back: hyperactive management. It started in the boom, believe it or not, when everyone became squeezed for time, when flattening company structures left most managers without a lot of support staff, and when venture capital-populated boards began to demand weekly — even daily — revenue updates. Hyperactive management is an excessive focus on receiving goal updates at the expense of fostering creativity, enabling high morale, and exhibiting leadership. And it's killing us! What people really want from their managers is a show of belief and trust so they can use their own brains and talent to help take the organization to new heights. But it is hard to inspire them if you're too busy trying to control things. And as managers today, we're not always given the choice. Even in companies where hyperactive management doesn't occur, managers are forced to obsessively focus on the revenue stream and cutting costs. It's healthy for managers to focus on revenue — especially in sales — but it's still the wrong end of the telescope. If all your consciousness is on what you're going to get, it can't be on what you've got to give. And giving is what customers respond to. The vicious cycle begins and perpetuates itself. There is an operational component to management, to be sure. One has to keep a handle on things and be able to track progress toward results. But our responsibility as managers is to be almost ecological about it. We need to put systems in place that tread lightly on our human resources and understand that it is our job to renew these resources, not deplete them. Not easy in an atmosphere in which we are expected, as managers, to do the impossible in an equally impossible short period of time. So how do we inspire our staff to run the race with us and help us win? Here are a few tips:
When it comes to management, less is truly more. As it says in the Tao: Are you able to do nothing? Giving birth and nourishing, Bearing yet not possessing, Working yet not taking credit, Leading yet not dominating, This is the Primal Virtue." Remember, the kindness you show and the faith you put in others will be remembered long after your current job ends, perhaps even long after your death. The rest — as we love to say in business — is overhead. See you on the path! ****************************************** Our thanks to the folks at SalesforceXP, a hot new magazine for sales managers, for featuring "Buddha Talks Business" in their March issue. For more on SalesforceXP Magazine, click here
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email: jim@jimschaffer.com voice: 617-529-4001 web: http://www.jimschaffer.com |
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