Yes I admit it. I confess. I was once a control freak. I was a Micro-Manager! Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak – The Top Ten Assumptions Managers Don’t Want to Make (the title of my soon to be published book) is the first of a two-part series designed to help first time managers gain some valuable insight into what it takes to be an effective manager.
Trust me, you aren’t born knowing how to manage people, especially in today’s fast paced, ever changing, global marketplace. We all start out making certain assumptions based on our own perceptions. I confess that not all of my assumptions where correct. The truth is, that if I knew then what I know now, there is no question I would have managed differently. Hopefully you will be able to learn from my mistakes.
Confession #1: There is no such thing as “Common Sense”.
Common sense is a learned behaviour based on your own experiences shaped by the people you meet, the books you read and the things you see and do. If you haven’t been taught how to do a task properly, then how are you supposed to know? People don’t learn by osmosis. The only way to change a “can’t” into a “can” is to train the “t” away.
Confession #2: You can’t motivate people.
People can only motivate themselves based on their needs not yours. If the end result is worth the effort, then and only then, will people be motivated enough to help themselves. The secret to managing people is finding out what they want out of the process and then help them get it. (If they get theirs then they may help you get yours.). Remember not everyone is motivated by the same things.
Confession #3: We ruin good people by promoting them.
We tend to promote our super stars based on their past performance. Not everyone has what it takes to be a good team leader, supervisor or manager. Promoting people into areas where their abilities and apptitudes are less suited may render the individual ineffective, not the promotion itself. Success as a manager is also based on your people skills, not just your technical ability. If you can’t teach someone what you know, then you aren’t doing your job as a manager.
Confession #4: You don’t have to know everything.
Albert Einstein said it best: “You just have to know where to go and look it up”. Admit when you don’t know something. Don’t manage by smoke and mirrors. Tell them you don’t know but assure them you’ll get back to them with the correct answer. If they can’t trust what you say then they won’t trust you at all.
Confession #5: You are not the most important person in the conversation.
If you can’t deliver the message so it is received the way it was intended; then it doesn’t mean squat. The essence of communication is the sharing of thoughts and ideas. If the receiver doesn’t “get it” then the sender is the one who really doesn’t get it. We tend to blame the other person for the breakdown in communication. (They weren’t paying attention right?)
You aren’t born knowing how to manage people effectively. We all start out making certain assumptions based on our own perceptions of what a manager should be. But our perceptions can be wrong. I hope you are able to learn from my mistakes.
Confession #6: Park your ego at the door; it’s not about being right.
If you need to prove that you’re always right, then you’re in the wrong place. Productivity is still the name of the game. Minimize the input and maximize the output. You’re the manager so you’re going to get the credit. But the more you allow people to be involved in the process, the more apt they are to come along. Get caught up on the end result, not so much on how you’re going to get there.
Confession #7: You can’t control everything all the time.
You must give up control to get control. (Delegate – delegate – delegate. I really can’t say it enough.) You can’t control everything all the time because it’s bigger than you are. Your role as a manager is to give your people the tools and then get out of their way. You’re going to have to trust your people that they can do the job they where hired to do in the first place.
Confession #8: You can’t demand respect. Respect is reciprocal.
If you study Maslow’s Needs Theory you’ll discover that one of the basic needs all humans have is the need to be acknowledged. (I call it #2 with a bullet.) The need to be recognized. (That’s why using a person’s first name is so powerful.) By treating people respectfully, you are saying you value them as a person. Remember, you get what you give.
Confession #9: You hear what you see, not what you say.
You must lead by setting the right example. Your people play follow-the-leader. You communicate 97 percent of the time, not by what you say, but by how you say it. Ninety-seven percent of communication is non-verbal. It’s true that pictures are worth a thousand words. People do what people see.
Confession #10: There aren’t any negatives; everything is a positive.
It just depends on how you want to react to a given situation. It’s a choice that only you can make. It’s the one thing that no one can take away from you. “Everything can be taken from man but one thing: The last of all human freedoms – to choose one’s attitudes in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.” (Viktor Frankl – Man’s Search For Meaning.) If it doesn’t kill you, it truly makes you stronger. Attitude really is everything.
Mr. Brian Smith is a Certified Trainer, Management Consultant, College Professor and CEO/President of Brinley Consulting & Training Ltd. and its subsidiary Power Link Dynamics. Brian has worked and consulted with a number of organizations in the public and private sectors. He understands first-hand some of the challenges you face, after having spent 27 years as a General Manager for a major Canadian retailer and as an owner/operator of his own small business.
