Stop Managing! #Leadership #Management #Howwouldyoulikeit
Stop Managing!
Think about it, do you want to be managed? What if in your next team or staff meeting you asked your people, “How many of you want to be managed?”? How many do you think will raise their hands? I can already tell you not one of them will.
No one wants to be managed, including you. But our title is manager! Processes, projects, time lines etc. need to be managed. When we start managing our people, we build a culture and environment of compliance and complacency. They wait for you as their manager to tell them what to do and then the next thing you want them to do and so on...the cycle repeats. And if something doesn’t go well the response is often, “Well that is what I was told to do”.
The next few blogs will highlight opportunities to stop managing your people, but for now I want you to think about this: If I reported to me, would I say to others “I am being managed by my boss.”? Remember, no one wants to be managed, including you!
Defined by Actions, Judged by Reactions #wisdomwednesday #leadership
Everyday, each one of us adds to our personal legacy by how we go about our interactions with people. On some days, that legacy is impacted positively, and unfortunately, on other days we detract and negatively impact our legacy.
As we go through each day, right or wrong, we are defined and judged by others. Often how we handle daily situations defines us and hopefully those descriptors might include things like helpful, innovative, and professional, a true team player. If we consistently display these behaviors they begin to define us an individual.
Until that one day, that one situation, when we have had enough or other pressures get to us and we react! We react in a way that is a far departure from how people define us. In that moment we might become defensive, dogmatic, and blunt, or react in a harsh manner. When we react in this way we are now going to be judged by others. Is that fair? Probably not. But that is human nature and that reaction will have much more of an impact than you can imagine or see. So while it is natural to react to situations, how we react in that moment can and will further define us.
The challenge this week. Take note of how people might define and judge you by your actions and reactions. The good news about a legacy…it can be changed and cultivated to what you desire with time. You can begin today defining your legacy by, in some cases, just reacting differently.
Are You Disruptive? #WisdomWednesday #Leadership #Leaders
Organizations today need more disruptive leaders. Not leaders that create more drama or upheaval but leaders that are willing to be disruptive, challenge the norm and that never settle for the status quo. Comfort and compliancy are the enemies to innovation and agility.
Both organizations and people can easily become stagnant and comfortable while the world around you accelerates and passes you by, and most that get passed by will tell you they never saw it coming, at least not this quickly! Just ask any traditional taxi cab company and their drivers or the former managers and employees of Blockbuster Video, they will tell you their worlds have been rocked by the disruptive leaders out there that think beyond “what we have today is working well” and “that is the way it has always been done in our industry!”
Start today to be more disruptive in your thinking and develop a healthy disdain for the status quo! Ask the questions that very few leaders dare to ask; “Why do we do it that way?”, “What else is possible?”, “What are we missing and what we should we be thinking about that we are not?”, “How do we move from continuous improvement to continuous innovation?”
Become a role model for productive, disruptive leadership and who knows, you might just change an industry!
Ask Me I Will Engage, Tell Me I Will Comply #WisdomWednesday #Leadership #Management
As leaders, the choice is ours. We can tell our people what and how to do their jobs and for the most part they will do it. They listen, they act and then they wait. They wait for you to tell them what to do next. Certainly, there are times the 'tell' model can be useful, for example, when communicating simple tasks, training on something new or different, or critical tasks where failure can lead to disaster. However, when you continually tell, you create an environment of compliance. Most likely your people will smile and seemly be glad to do the work. But when they go home or talk to one another they say things like “I can’t believe they expect me to do that!” or “I am so tired of being micromanaged!”.
However, if you ask someone what and how they can accomplish success, they engage in thinking and assessing, they initiate action and follow-up. Define success of what you want or need and then ask, “What options do you see?”, “What is your recommended path to success?” and just see what you receive in return (in addition to more committed and engaged people)!
Your challenge this week – Ask - don’t tell, and see the difference!
Are You Living in Groundhog Day? #WisdomWednesday #MML #Leadership
Like in the Bill Murray movie, do you get up each day, fall into the same routine day in and day out with little to no change? So many leaders live in Groundhog Day, forcing their people to do the same.
What was the last book or learning experience you invested your time and resources with to become a better leader…truly investing in you? If you have invested in you and your team’s learning in the last month, congratulations you are in elite company. Only 1% of people read or invest in their professional learning on a monthly basis. Sad but true fact!
In Monday Morning Leadership Interactive, the final session focuses on the need to consistently enter into the “Learning Zone”. This month please invest time and efforts into enhancing these three key leadership skill sets:
- Listening – Start today to listen for intent. Begin by limiting distractions and truly listen to your people.
- Reading/Experiencing – Invest in new thinking, new experiences and gain new perspectives. Read and learn at least 15 minutes each day.
- Giving – Giving back to others, your time, your knowledge, and your resources. There is a reason why hearse’s don’t come with luggage racks. Your legacy is what you teach and give back today!
This week enter into and never leave the “Learning Zone”!
Hire Tough #WisdomWednesday #MML #Leadership
Take one minute to write your answers to these two questions - What is the greatest asset of any organization? What is the greatest liability of any organization?
Most will answer “people” to the first question and a variety of answers from operational failures to poor customer service and everything in between for the greatest liability of any organization.
Let me first say “people” are not your greatest asset! The RIGHT people are! And the greatest liability to any organization are the WRONG people in your organization. Hiring and or tolerating the wrong people can do immeasurable damage to an organization.
In Monday Morning Leadership Interactive, it discusses that we can never lower the bar in hiring the best people. If we choose to settle for less than the best, then we are setting ourselves up for difficult situations and discussions in the future.
To that end, how effective is your hiring process and does it consistently deliver the most qualified, best “fit” employees? Do your interview questions get to the real essence of the person you are interviewing? For example, is one of your interview questions, “Please describe the culture at the last 2 organizations you have worked for." And then ask, “What culture do you feel best fits you and allows you to perform at your best”?
These two questions are rarely asked but when answered by a candidate can reveal a lot about what motivates that individual, as well as if can they thrive at your organization.
Begin to hire tough today so you can manage easy, because if you hire easy, trust me, at some point you will be forced to manage tough!
The choice is yours!