What I Have Learned as a Manager

A failure or success of your employee is akin to a mirror or window. When your employee fails, you look in the mirror for the cause and find where you can improve as a manager. When your employee succeeds you look through a window at them and see their success and not your own. -- Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great

The following are lessons that have been taught to me by mentors, patient managers and staff, and two decades of painful and exhilarating experience.

1. Management is hard. Assuming that one is a natural or that management is in any way easy is going to be a hindrance to true success. Management is most likely the hardest thing I have ever taken on because it requires the ability to address diverse negative behaviors. What helps is being open to changing your own preconceived ideas. It takes a lot of dedication and a lot of patience.
2. Model the behavior. This is probably the most important behavioral trait of the manager. If you want your staff to do/behave/exhibit X, you must first consistently do X yourself. If there is a failure by your staff member, look to yourself first as a possible cause. Change starts at the top.
3. Make your expectations clear. In any conversation there is what I said, what the staff heard, and the truth. The same can be true in written form. It is my responsibility to make sure what I stated was understood. When I hear a staff member infer there was a mis-communication/understanding/interpretation, then I need to be in the position to point out that they are making an excuse, because I am sure the message was understood by both of us.
4. Communicate your expectations frequently and consistently. Without frequent follow-up reminders and discussion, negative behaviors will reinstate themselves and a staff member will return to a level of under-achievement. Be sure to use the same language. Variance leads to a breakdown of the message you want to be understood.
5. Respect your customers. You are a customer of your staff. Your staff members have others as customers -- other department heads, other department staff and peers. As such they should be mindful of any decisions that could impact this relationship. For instance, if Jane wants to take any time off, she is required to first make sure her customers' needs will be met while she is out. Second, she is required to request and receive approval for her PTO. As her manager, I am aware of impacts her absence can have that she may not be aware of. Lastly, I have to make sure that Jane's customers received the communication of how their needs will continue to be met through the absence.
6. Invest your time wisely. As a manager, I have nine hours in day to dedicate to management, planning, and oversight. I have six direct reports. Any time I dedicate to a staff member is time taken away from other work. How much of a productivity boost will I get from Ned over the course of a year if I give him 10% of my time? A return of 5%, 10%, 20%? If the answer is break-even or less, I am doing myself and the company a disservice.
7. Inspire your staff. This is probably the hardest. It is a combination of your attitude, your message, and your relationship with your staff. Motivating a group can be done in two ways, by leading or by driving. Just like directing sheep, only one is successful, only one establishes a positive trusting relationship. Recognition and reward are important tools. There are clues that you are on the right track -- when your staff look forward to new challenges, when they volunteer without asking, when they present a solution to a problem you were not aware existed.
8. Never assume your ethics are understood. Talk to your manager, your staff and your peers. Engage the difficult topics after you establish trust and before issues exist. By doing this, you can avoid or more easily address future issues that cross the boundaries of your reason that generate conflict within your department or organization.
9. An employee that makes the team great is more valuable than a great employee. (John Wooden) Every staff member is worth your effort as a manager to raise their personal and professional skills. You also must recognize when a staff member is negatively affecting the team. Make every effort to keep the team first in your considerations when hiring new staff. When accepting new staff where you have not been responsible for the selection, it is best to present this expectation of "team first" at the beginning, so that the staff member has an early opportunity to self-adjust or decide if their goals will be incompatible.
10. Be worthy of your staff's trust. The foundation of your relationship with any staff member, and the team as a hole is trust. Trust cannot be demanded. It can only be earned. You cannot "act" your way to gaining their trust. Recognize that your job as a manager is different from your staff members, but not more important. Treat your staff with respect, being transparent in discussing difficult issues, and explaining where any limits have to exist in your transparency. Before speaking, check your motivations. Your words should never cause unnecessary suffering. They should always be true, necessary, <u>and</u> kind. If they cannot be all three, they should be said differently or not at all.