Tag Archives: Management Development

Dear Occupy Wall Street Protesters: When Did I Become the Bad Guy?

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It seems that as a pro-capitalism, successful business leader that I am somehow partially to blame for what ails the protesters who’ve joined the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. I am the enemy. I am the bad guy.

While I’ve tried desperately to comprehend both their demands and their end game, I have to admit that I am at a loss. One day someone who seems to be an OWS muckety muck (they don’t have any true leaders as of this writing) is claiming that all of capitalism must go; though the next day the protesters are joined by union leaders (whose members are employed by companies that benefit from capitalism) and the message is that corporate greed must go. (Is there anything more amorphous than “corporate greed?”)

It would be nice, actually, if they only had these two viewpoints; but the truth is that for every smelly twenty-something you see holding a sign (or an iPhone), there is a different take on what it is they are trying to “solve” with these protests.

I put the word solve in quotes because I’m not sure they want to solve anything. They really just seem mad that they don’t have all the same luxuries as the successful people in our society (the bad guys). Most of them just seem to want those of us who’ve worked for what we have to give it all back to “society” so that we can all be equally miserable doing without.

When Did I Become the Bad Guy?

By most protesters’ definition, I am a bad guy. I have my own business and I make a good living. My children have cool gadgets and we live in a nice house; in a nice neighborhood. I am really very satisfied with my life. A life, I might add, that did not happen by accident. So I need to know: When did I become the bad guy?

As an eight-year-old in 1971, I began selling candy door-to-door in Glendale, Arizona. I’m not sure how much I made, but it was probably somewhere around $10 per week. (We were poor when I was growing up, so if I wanted to buy anything, I had to earn the money to buy it.)

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From around 1973 through 1977, I ran paper routes (sometimes one route in the morning and one in the afternoon) and sold magazines, newspaper subscriptions and seeds door-to-door. I used my money to buy sports cards, comic books, bicycle parts and candy.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

Throughout my high school years (77-81), I worked at fast food joints, a minor league ballpark and an amusement park. (I doubt there was ever 20 consecutive days that I was out of a job.) I used the money I earned in high school to buy a motorcycle, then a car, fill those with gas, buy beer (yes, illegally) and eat at Jack-in-the-Box or McDonald’s on occasion.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From 1981 until 1985, I served in the US Marine Corps; mostly on the island of Guam. I was a Russian Linguist in the Corps and I worked what some civilians would think was not only a weird schedule, but probably inhumane. It was called a “2-2-2 and 80.” With this schedule, you worked two day shifts (8AM-4PM); two mid shifts (12AM-8AM); and two eve shifts (4PM-12AM); then you had 80 consecutive hours off. You only had eight hours between your second day shift and your first mid shift; likewise after your second mid shift. I used the money the Marines paid me to buy beer, a computer, stereo equipment, a car and some pretty cool Christmas presents for my family every year.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

After the Marine Corps, I enrolled at Arizona State University where I took a full class load while I worked fulltime to pay my bills. (During my time at ASU – among other equally glamorous jobs – I drove a taxi, worked as a security guard and even sold manure.) As my money got tighter, I took fewer classes and worked more jobs. I studied business, though because I eventually ran out of room on my credit cards, I left ASU deeply in debt and a few credits short of a bachelor’s degree. Ready to just join the workforce and not worry about college, I accepted a job as the manager of an aircraft parts warehouse and worked very hard to do my part to help this Mom & Pop operation become successful.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

A couple of years later, in 1991, my soon-to-be wife and I moved to Chicago so that I could begin work for a beer distributorship as a salesman. Once I arrived, I made sure that I always worked harder and smarter than any of my coworkers. As a result, I was promoted to a territory sales manager position and given a nice raise.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

After I got married in 1993, I decided to go back to school and finish my degree at Governor’s State University. I endeavored to finish my education by working during the day and going to school at night (and on some Saturdays). About a month before my first son was born in July 1994, I finally earned my bachelor’s degree.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

By the time I left this beer distributorship in mid-1997, I had worked my way up to Vice President of Sales earning $73,103 in 1996 (when you included all my bonuses). Even though I now had two sons at home, I was working more than sixty hours each week to better myself.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From mid-97 until mid-2001, I owned a tiny minority stake in an equally tiny beer distributorship in Missouri. As the managing partner of this wholesale operation, I often arrived at work before 5 AM to load the beer trucks. Once I finished my morning paperwork, I would go out into the field to meet with retailers and convince them to carry my product (which was not easy since the previous distributor had gone bankrupt and left the market without my brands for more than eight months). I was a business owner in name only (because the banks really owned the business) and some nights I worked past midnight. Over the four years that I ran the operation, we were able to dramatically grow our sales (easy to do when you start at the bottom) because of hard work and a lot of perspiration. We sold the brands we distributed in May 2001 to a couple of competing wholesalers, and I reentered the corporate world.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From 2001 through 2009 I moved my way up through various companies by always outworking my counterparts. I not only worked harder, but I also studied (as I had been doing since 1991) all the industry information and business success literature I could get my hands on. I was a voracious reader of the likes of Tom Peters and Stephen Covey. I am convinced that my success over that period was due to the hours I dedicated towards working hard and studying equally hard. In 2009 I reported to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

In 2009 – during the worst recession of my lifetime – I left the safety of the corporate world and started my own business: part consulting and part developing products to make others more successful. Over the last two years I’ve routinely worked more than twelve hours a day, including most weekends; and my travel schedule, while not as grueling today as it was in 2009, still earns me 1st Class upgrades on nearly every flight. I feel like I’m finally bringing in enough money to help my sons (I have three of them now) get a better head start than I got; to help them to not run out of money while going to college; and to help them choose a career that’s fun for them, rather than taking the route I took and always having to work to pay the bills. My business is doing so well that I expect to start hiring fulltime workers in 2012 (provided the economic and tax situations make that a feasible decision). I have no debt (other than a house I’ve been trying to sell in Atlanta) and we’re putting away a good amount for our retirement.

If I hadn’t become the bad guy before now, then clearly it was my decision to chase the American Dream (and my ability to catch it) that made me the bad guy to the Wall Street protesters. Just so I can get this straight: It’s okay to chase the American Dream, but if you happen to catch it, be prepared to be asked to give it all back to those who weren’t willing to sacrifice as much as you were…

…

I wish I had some great wisdom to bestow on those protesters who think I’m the bad guy. I wish there were words to ease the minds of those who are (in effect) protesting the fact that my “greed” will someday create jobs for them – jobs that will allow them to chase the American Dream if they so desire.

Unfortunately for the protestors, the words they need to hear will not ease their minds. They should have heard these words years ago from parents who should have taught them about hard work and dedication to a job well done.

The words I have for the Occupy Wall Street crowd is simply this: Stop bellyaching; retract your outstretched paw looking for a handout; go home and shower; and (as I did my entire life) seek out any job you can get. Once you’re in that job, work harder and smarter than everyone else and good things should happen for you.

And if they don’t, then you start over.

Not all User Generated Content (UGC) is Valuable – Exhibit A: Mixtent.com

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If you have more than a few connections on LinkedIn, then you’ve surely been exposed to the most asinine website dedicated to UGC since CompanyNameSucks.com: mixtent.com. (You’ll have to learn why CompanyNameSucks.com is asinine all on your own, I’m going to use the rest of this blog to tell you why I think you should opt out of mixtent.com – and opt out quickly.)

I’m not the first to write it, but the Internet really is just one big bathroom wall. Often it’s just a place where anyone can express any opinion at any time with little or no recourse. The difference, as I see it, is the Internet is filled with small-minded billionaire wannabes who will gladly stomp on your privacy and dignity while they construct a new enormous bathroom wall and then encourage others to step up with their Sharpies and write whatever the hell they want without any regard to the veracity or value of their opinions.

This, my friend, is the essence of most sites 100% driven by user generated content. The rub for those of us who just want to live our lives in honest and ethical fashions is that without users generating content (any content) these sites will not be able to be flipped for the billions the founders expect. We, you see, get included in this content whether we deserve or even want to be included.

Enter mixtent.com

I doubt there has ever been a more ridiculous, misguided or pointless effort allegedly directed at professionals and cloaked in some misstated mission about helping sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to which person is better at what skillset. This site is nothing more than a HotOrNot.com for professionals, only this one ranks you without your permission.

The primary problems with mixtent, as I see them, are two-fold: 1) You are ranked as hot or not on a multitude of skillsets by those in your LinkedIn network – whether you want to be or not, and regardless of whether or not this particular contact has seen you demonstrate this particular skill; and 2) Like all ranking, rating and review sites, this one can be gamed. In fact, mixtent (in my opinion) seems to be actively participating in and encouraging the gaming by helping you send messages to everyone in your network that you’ve just ranked them… now will they please go and rank you.

Here is one such auto-generated message: “My Entrepreneurship percentile is 89%. Help me increase it and find out where you rank…” This is followed by a link to join mixtent so you can start ranking others.

The ranking process is really a joke because you are presented with two of your LinkedIn contacts (who may not have opted in to mixtent, but have certainly not opted out) and you are asked which of these two is better at __________. The tendency for most human beings is to give the nod to the person they like or know the best, not necessarily the person most deserving of the honor.

This means a well-liked dufus is likely to rank higher on most skills than a hard-charging doer. (My guess is that most hardened, yet accomplished women executives will be butchered on sites like this, as they generally had to step on one or two toes on their way through the glass ceiling.)

Okay, How Do I Opt Out of mixtent.com?

The greatest part about all of this nonsense is that you cannot opt out of mixtent.com without first granting them access to your LinkedIn profile. That’s right, you have to first let them suck all of the personal and other information from your LinkedIn profile before you can tell them you don’t want to play their shitty little game.

That, my friends, is ballsy. Of course, once you’ve opted in, you can (as of this writing) fairly easily opt out by clicking on the tiny “opt-out” link at the very bottom of the homepage.

Interested in mixtent.com’s About Us page?

I thought it would be fun to read between the lines of mixtent.com’s About Us page (the bold text in parentheses is mine):

About Us

Our goal is to help you connect with the most talented people. We want to help you hire, get hired and find talent to do amazing things. (We just don’t think you’ll be able to do that by using this website.)

Mixtent is building a professional reputation graph on top of the main social and professional networks. We believe we can become a driving force in making online recruitment and talent management materially more efficient. (Or, at the very least, we can help companies find unqualified people who have the most friends or don’t rock any boats… ever.)

Mixtent is built on the core notion that collective intelligence gathered through engaging experience can provide the right data to solve the hardest problems online. (That is, are they hot or not?)

Our mission is to reduce structural unemployment driving down asymmetries of information and increasing liquidity on the labor market. (What the fuck?)

We are looking for crazy talented engineers. Take a look at our jobs page (Why do they need to have anyone apply? Don’t they already know who the crazy talented engineers are by just looking at the ratings on their own website?)

We are located in Redwood City, CA. (Okay, finally something I can believe here.)

How about the geniuses behind this monstrosity?

Here are the links to the LinkedIn profiles of two guys listed as Founders at mixtent.com (in case you are a crazy talented engineer in Redwood City looking for work):

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6037432

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=23979582

Oh, and if they’re already in your network and haven’t opted out of mixtent just yet, be sure to rank them appropriately.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss – Dealing with Your New Boss

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How Do You Deal With a New Boss?

One of our regular readers – and someone who asked our advice very early on in the legacy that has become AskTheManager.com – AngelCakes from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan recently provided us with both an update on her management career and a new dilemma.

When we first heard from AC, she had just been promoted to a supervisory position in a retail shop and was facing substantial apathy and even antipathy from her charges. Not being one to quit in the face of such adversity, she turned to the Web for answers and stumbled upon AskTheManager.com. Desperate for advice, she gave us a shot at helping her cope with her new situation. (To read the advice we provided AC about her dilemma as a new manager, see our August 14 post.)

Back for more abuse, AC sent us the following this week:

I just wanted to send you the next challenge in the never-ending life that is retail management. But not without a little update first. Let me first add that the childishness of my store is no more. The resources that you gave me have left a huge impression in my memory and I practice what you preach every day. My staff has converted themselves into a well-oiled machine. They seek out the greater good and the bigger picture and that’s when everyone gets along the worlds a better place. The store itself has been running at full speed with a 25% increase in sales year-to-date (which is fantastic considering how “financially unstable” the world claims to be). All has been calm on the home front, and I have felt nothing but enthusiastic about the future and our successes and I strive to push the bar every day.
Until now I have not come to this mountain and I think that it is going to be my biggest challenge to date: Welcome the New Regional!

Most recently there has been a major rift in the tide at my supervisors’ level and they transferred my previous regional supervisor to the east coast, hired outside of the company a man with 35 years experience in the jewelry business, and made him the new regional supervisor. Needless to say the practices that my new regional demonstrates compared to my old one are dramatic and have everyone running for the hills and looking for new jobs. Demanding? Yes. Extremely high expectations? Yes. Respect and value for his new employees? No.

His reputation goes without saying that his employees are just numbers: that they are a dime a dozen and are expendable. He is overseeing every little thing that we as managers are doing, including hiring our own staff. I can understand his obsessive nature over sales and trying to make a good impression to his superiors, but he has taken almost any freedom that we have and are starting to find resentment in him because of it. Tomorrow he is flying in to oversee my hiring of a manager from another company to work for our store that I was extremely excited about until he said that I wasn’t allowed to hire him until “he met him first.” I feel like he is doing my job for me instead of letting me do the job that I was entrusted with. I also feel that he is hovering over my shoulder too much and that it is putting unnecessary pressure on me and my staff. Instead of over-boasting like every other manager is doing to catch his attention, how can I address the situation with my new boss and still make a good impression and respect his position? – AngelCakes, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Well AC, in the immortal words of The Who: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. While Roger Daltrey and gang weren’t thinking of the retail clothing business when they wrote that song, it fits the advice we have for you on how to deal with your latest issues.

Let us pause, however, to congratulate you on making the most of a bad situation. Given your quick and successful transition from frustrated newbie to seasoned leader means you are no quitter. Your most recent description of your team’s dynamics would make Patrick Lencioni proud. I wish we could take the credit for the transformation you’ve made, but the fact remains that all the advice in the world is meaningless without execution. And you clearly executed (a 25% sales increase is phenomenal in any economy). Nice job, AC!

Now, back to your current dilemma…

The ABCs of Job Satisfaction

When you write about the others who are “running for the hills” because of the new regional supervisor, we are not surprised. Beyond the obvious issue that some of these might be immature managers who simply cannot deal with change, it sounds like your new regional manager is clearly violating the ABCs of Job Satisfaction.

While on the surface most people believe that salary is the greatest indicator of job satisfaction, the truth is that Autonomy, Benefit and Challenge (the AskTheManager.com ABCs of Job Satisfaction) are greater predictors of one’s contentment with one’s employment than any other factors. Let’s discuss these in reverse order.

Challenge

Without some level of challenge, any job can become boring and commonplace. As humans, we need varying degrees of intellectual and/or competitive challenges on our jobs to keep us stimulated and engaged.

The challenges created by your new boss, unfortunately, do not equate to the kind of challenging work environment that’s been known to arouse creativity and motivate individuals. In fact, by taking away your ability to make certain decisions, he has effectively removed many of the most challenging aspects of a manager’s job.

Benefit

When we speak about the benefit of your job, we’re not talking about dental coverage. Instead, we are referring to your ability to understand and connect your efforts with the benefit enjoyed by your company. A sales manager, for example, can easily see the results of her efforts; although a factory worker who is tasked with attaching widget X1298TWHQ to gadget G7JJN23 cannot. The factory worker is but a cog, while the sales manager is driving noticeable value. Additionally, the sales manager enjoys a more clearly defined report card; one that displays for all to see the level of benefit enjoyed by the company because of her efforts.

Lucky for you, your new boss won’t be able to effectively remove your ability to see the benefit of what you deliver. Of course, he could make life so miserable that you become passive-aggressive and end up not wanting to drive value.

Autonomy

The level of autonomy granted any employee is the single greatest indicator of job satisfaction. Simply put: where a worker feels like they are the master of their own domain, that worker is less likely to be unhappy with their job. Once our work is second-guessed by our supervisors (or once we have to ask permission for everything) we are ready to jump ship. It’s amazing how quickly this can alter one’s perception of their workplace: Take away someone’s autonomy and you take away their freedom.

This is where your new boss is having the most negative impact on your job satisfaction; and the primary reason you are uneasy and your peers are exiting faster than rats departing a sinking ship. By removing your ability to make decisions he is also removing your commitment to success. Sadly, it was this commitment to success that brought you this far.


Okay, But How Do I Deal With Him?

AC, (by our interpretation of your message) you are seeking both the return of your autonomy and some level of respect from your new supervisor. Let’s deal with the latter, first.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

We’re going to assume that you and your old boss shared some healthy level of mutual respect, and that both of you were highly competent professionals (and both of you knew this fact about the other). We’re also going to assume that your old boss was generous in his/her granting of autonomy. Your old boss granted this autonomy because of your competence and his/her respect of you.

So what’s changed?

You are still highly competent; though your new boss either doesn’t know it or doesn’t care. Don’t worry – if he wants to succeed and grow with your company – he soon will. Gaining his respect, of course, will require a little more work.

First, no matter how distasteful it may be, you must respect him. You have to go out of your way to see the good in what he’s trying to accomplish and genuinely respect him. Respecting him requires that you suppress negative feelings, live (temporarily) with his micromanagement style and, in effect, kill him with kindness. Distrustful managers (it’s an understatement to say that your current supervisor is distrustful) have a difficult time respecting even those they consider competent. They will often, however, respect those who respect them.

Second, admire him without becoming a sycophant. Find a way to like the guy without kissing his ass. Distrustful managers especially have a difficult time respecting those they consider brownnosers.

In other words, treat your new boss the same as the old boss: with respect and admiration. (Even if this fails to sway the guy, you’ll find working with him will become more tolerable due to a psychological phenomenon known as cognitive dissonance – you’ll actually be forced to like the guy by your subconscious mind.)

What if Nothing Works?

Although we seem to be batting 1.000 with our advice to you AC, we have been known to be wrong before. If showing genuine respect and admiration for this micromanager fails to make him give you some leeway and focus his overbearing style on less fortunate managers, you needn’t panic. These situations are generally very short-lived. They may seem like an eternity when you’re trapped in the middle, but rest assured that no one can successfully micromanage multiple locations over the long term.

Because the stores he supervises are scattered across a large area, he will not be able to maintain control over every aspect of every store. He will either cede control to competent, respectful leaders like you or he will implode and be driven from company by his inevitable failure.

What is Your Goal?

The bottom line for you is to ask yourself “what are my goals?” Once you understand your short- and long-term career objectives, ask yourself if you are more likely to attain these by staying and fighting through the current unpleasantness or if you will be better off somewhere else. Because your last supervisor seemed like an enlightened leader, it is likely that your company rewards that sort of behavior, and equally probable that your current supervisor will either change or wither. Of course, if you choose to stay and your last supervisor was more the exception than the rule in your company, you could be in for a very unsatisfactory time.

Either way, just being curious and seeking advice from others tells us that you’ll be an effective leader no matter where you choose to serve next.

Young Owner, Old Manager: Who Wins in the End?

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Questions… we get Questions

One of our readers, Anant, posted the following after reading our article from August 2008 titled The First Time Manager Dilemma, How Do You Gain Respect?:

hi, i am facing a similar problem as mentioned above with one of my older employees, the only difference is that i am the owner of my company.

Last year i joined my father’s company after finishing my engineering and have started to handle the correspondence and marketing of the company.

Initially i thought because i was a new, they treated me as like a new kid on the block and would probably fade out once i am long enough with the organization.

Most of them did change, apart from our general manager. He still thinks he is an authority over me. I didn’t mind his reactions till the time recently when my father had gone out for an industrial trip. He had asked me to get some work done before he comes, which were like level 1 jobs and could easily be done on the phone/personally meeting, nothing laborious. Its been almost 3 days since i told him and he has still not been able to complete the task. Apart from this whenever i tell him something he looks at me, giving me that expression “why is he telling me? who is he to tell me?”

This behavior of his has actually ticked me off. Kindly give me a solution to handle such kind of employee – Anant, February 8, 2009

Young man (I’m going to assume you’re a young man, as Anant means “bliss” in Hindi and is traditionally a male name), it’s time for you and your GM to face several tough realities:

  1. Every generation gets overtaken by the next;
  2. Youth is the only trait a manager cannot learn;
  3. You can attract more flies with honey than vinegar;
  4. Blood is thicker than water;
  5. Money is thicker than blood; and
  6. Your written communication skills are horrendous.

1. Every Generation Gets Overtaken by the Next

It’s the circle of life my friend: It’s exciting and great when you’re young; and it sucks when you’re old. Your father’s general manager is having a tough time facing this fact… that’s expected. Your job is to make sure that you maximize short and long term profits for your father, not to make the GM feel good about himself.

If he fails to grasp this fact, he should be shown the door.

That said, you and your father’s company might be better served if you followed the advice in point number three, below.




2. Youth is the Only Trait a Manager Cannot Learn

This fact is likely killing your GM from the inside out. It eats at him everyday, and his own fear of being replaced is going to force him to do one of two things: 1) seek other employment (not likely); or 2) go into passive-aggressive mode when dealing with you (highly likely).

Until you came along, the GM was your father’s right-hand man. Today, he sees you as the greatest threat to his existence (see point number one, above). Following the advice given in point number three might help make the situation more tolerable for you (and the GM). If it fails, it’s probably time to show him the door. (Do you see a pattern emerging?)

3. You Can Attract More Flies with Honey than Vinegar

Of course, you can attract the most flies with dog shit, but we’ll forget that for a moment, because it doesn’t really fit with this whole analogy.

I think the best way to introduce this concept is to have the great Dalton (Patrick Swayze) from Road House explain it:

All you have to do is follow three simple rules.

One: never underestimate your opponent. Expect the unexpected.

Two: take it outside. Never start anything inside the bar unless it’s absolutely necessary.

And three: be nice.

…until it’s time to not be nice.

Generally every human can figure out Dalton’s numbers one and two on their own. Dalton’s tip number three, “be nice,” takes some practice.

Anant, if you want to be nice, then it’s time to become “The New Anant.” The New Anant is a guy that loves everyone and everything. He smiles are everyone (especially his GM), and nothing ever gets him down. If you become The New Anant, you are going to be so nice to the general manager that people are going to think the two of you are dating. In fact, your father may become jealous of your relationship with the GM.

Seriously, If you want to get the most out of the general manager, you need to hang on his every word. You should ask his advice on every topic (where it makes sense) and you should strive to make him the hero at every turn. If you do everything in your power to make him look good, he will (usually) work hard to prove you right. At worst, you’ll have made it incredibly hard for him to treat you poorly – his subconscience won’t allow him to be an ass; just as your subconscience will drive you to eventually like and even respect him. (If nothing else, you’ll begin to see the world as he sees it, which will give you great insight into how to manage him better.)

If this fails, show him the door.

4. Blood is Thicker than Water

At the end of the day, you can always tell your father to fire him. After all, you’re blood and he’s just an employee. This strategy is great provided a) you are ready to lead the company as the new general manager; and b) this GM really wasn’t that effective.

5. Money is Thicker than Blood

This is where things get sticky for your dad. If the GM is strong and delivers value for the company – and the two of you cannot get along – then it’s time for Anant to find a new job.

Blood is pretty thick, but money is a whole lot thicker.

Face this reality right away and begin “working” for the GM if he’s any good. If he stinks, refer to number four, above.

6. Your Written Communication Skills are Horrendous

Seriously, Anant, I know you were writing informally when you posted a comment on this blog, but it’s important to always communicate clearly and correctly in business. Business associates (like the GM), subordinates, customers and leaders of other companies will respect you more if your written communication skills are always strong.

The good news is that you already form strong ideas, you just need to put them into a written form properly. Start by writing everything in Microsoft Word first, then running the spelling and grammar checkers before you send any correspondence. Next, you may want to read our posts covering email etiquette. There might be some overall business writing tips you can take from these.

It sounds like you’re well on your way to becoming a great business leader: you’ve clearly identified the major hurdles in your business and you’ve sought advice on how to rectify them – that takes guts and shows your leadership – congratulations. Please keep us posted, we’re dying to know how things work out for you.

 

Management Decision Making – How Do Managers Make Decisions?

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Questions from Our Readers – Empowering Your Team to Make Decisions

In response to our recent post regarding empowering your team to make decisions (to read that post, follow this link), Olzhas writes:

How do managers make decisions? How might they make better decisions? How do job satisfaction and organizational commitment affect an individual’s behavior at work? And how can these attitudes be changed by effective managers?

Olzhas has posed some of the toughest questions facing both new and seasoned leaders, so we think it’s best if we attack these one at a time…

How Do Managers Make Decisions?

The quick answer: leaders just do. Managers who’ve yet to achieve true leadership have a tough time making decisions for a number of reasons including: analysis paralysis; fear of failure; fear of success; fear of ridicule; and others.

Leaders, on the other hand, have no problem making decisions. They would prefer that their subordinates made the bulk of the decisions, but they’re ready to step up and make decisions when warranted.

True leaders do not worry about how their decisions – right or wrong – might reflect upon themselves; they are only concerned with the welfare of the organization and their team. The bottom line on decisions: leaders stand behind their decisions and the decisions of their subordinates.

How Might They Make Better Decisions?

This is the Holy Grail of management: how to make better decisions. There really is no better change a struggling manager can make than one that affects their ability to make sound decisions. So how does a manager begin making better decisions? To answer this, let’s look briefly at why managers make bad decisions.

While selfishness, pride and an overactive ego all lead to bad decisions by sub-par managers, well-meaning managers most often make poor decisions because they consider too much input; too much data.

The best decisions I’ve ever made as a leader were those decisions where I considered just one outcome: how does this decision affect the goal?

What is the goal? If your company is a for-profit entity, then the goal is simple: make money for the owners. When you weigh every decision against this goal, the choices become easy. Does doing “A” take me closer to the goal? If so, then do “A;” if not, then don’t.


I understand this may sound too simple to most managers. The argument I often hear is that decisions aren’t always black and white – they aren’t always this easy. I challenge you to consider the last ten decisions you were faced with at work. I would be shocked if fewer than nine of these decisions could not have been weighed against the goal to deliver a desirable outcome. In fact, if even one of these decisions was too complicated to be weighed against the goal, then you probably over thought it.

Remember the goal and you’ll always make sound decisions.

How do Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment Affect an Individual’s Behavior at Work?

Thanks for the softball, Olzhas. Let’s look at Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment separately.

What makes a job satisfying to one individual could be vastly different than what makes it satisfying to another. That said, true job satisfaction for any employee can be influenced greatly by just a few factors. These factors include how well they like and respect their direct supervisor, how much they believe in their company’s mission, how much impact they feel they have on the company’s success, and (to a much lesser extent) how well they are compensated.

Obviously, those with high job satisfaction are also more productive and they exhibit more desirable behavior. Providing your charges a sense of worth, coupled with respect, can greatly increase both their individual job satisfaction as well as their behavior.

While they don’t have to go hand-in-hand, job satisfaction and organizational commitment are generally closely aligned. (I’m going to assume that Olzhas asked about organizational commitment from the viewpoint of individual commitment to one’s company.)

An employee can have high job satisfaction, yet not be committed to their organization – this is especially true when their sense of satisfaction comes from a higher than deserved salary or a lack of management oversight. Likewise, someone truly committed to their company could have very low job satisfaction if they happen to love what they do, but they hate their direct supervisor. In either of these examples, the individual’s overall behavior would tend to be less than desirable.

How Can These Attitudes be Changed by Effective Managers?

Effective is the key word in this question. Effective managers are called leaders, and leaders naturally work toward changing the attitudes of their teams through their words and their actions.

By first empowering your team to make decisions (and this means letting them fail) and then making sound decisions where necessary, leaders have a significant impact on the attitude, culture and effectiveness of any organization. It doesn’t matter if you’re leading a group of executives or assembly line workers, everyone needs to feel respected and appreciated. Allowing those closest to the issues (and customers) make the decisions can positively impact any organization.

Given the current economic meltdown, I wonder how Lehman and others in trouble would have fared if the front-line employees, and not Richard Fuld and the other egomaniacal CEOs, had made the bulk of the decisions. Would we be facing the kind of calamity we face today?

 

Management Training – Blogwatch August 16, 2008

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It was a slow week for great posts on the Management Training blogs, through TheManager scoured the World Wide Web this week to bring you the best posts and articles covering Management Training:

Management Training – Now You Can Motivate
By gyahner
It is nevertheless a difficult problem to face if you think that management training is required. However if your management staff are open to improving their management techniques then management training can be an extremely powerful …
Call Center Cafe – http://www.callcentercafe.com

Team Leadership: Leaders Have to be Charismatic
By Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano (Rob Linn and Rich Ottaviano)
This is perhaps the misconception about team leadership that is the most damaging. It is damaging because so many people believe it and it discourages people from taking on team leadership roles. Anybody type of personality can be an …
Management Training for Team Leadership – http://teamleadershipskills.blogspot.com/

Managers, Is Communication One of Your Top 10?
By admin
admin for The Sage Commander: Monster Productivity Management Training – for Managers, Supervisors and Executives, 2008. …
The Sage Commander: Monster Productiv… – http://www.improviselife.com

Business Communication: Managers, Have you Mastered the Four …
By admin
admin for The Sage Commander: Monster Productivity Management Training – for Managers, Supervisors and Executives, 2008.…
The Sage Commander: Monster Productiv… – http://www.improviselife.com

Good Manager Vs Bad Manager – What is the difference?
By Mark Evenden (Mark Evenden)
If you asked an employee what the difference was between having a good manager and a bad manager they might say: A good manager is someone who is: · Supportive · Listens to my views · Decisive · Inspirational · Empowering · A good role …
Management Training and Development – http://developingpeople.vox.com/library/posts/page/1/

International Management tips
By Kevan Hall
I think we can accelerate the process with the right international management training and exposure to international experiences – but a lot of management training continues to carry a very mono-cultural view of the world (usually …
Life in a Matrix – http://www.lifeinamatrix.com

The “New School Business Leaders”… (and how to become one)
By admin
admin for The Sage Commander: Monster Productivity Management Training – for Managers, Supervisors and Executives, 2008 …
The Sage Commander: Monster Productiv… – http://www.improviselife.com

 

The First Time Manager Dilemma, How Do You Gain Respect?

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How Does A Young Manager Gain Respect?

I am a young, newly promoted sales manager who stepped into what feels like a mine trap. I have been appointed to a brand new store filled with employees who lack professionalism and seem to be all out for themselves. I am the youngest associate to ever be promoted into a management position for our company and I feel like I have to make a name for myself by showing that I can make something of this responsibility that’s been given to me. My employees are all older than me, so trying to establish myself as someone that they can count on seems like a major task. Clearly, many of them have an issue working under someone who is younger than themselves. Not to mention the very first day, when our regional manager came to welcome me to the store, the associates were poorly dressed, not occupying themselves with their job whatsoever, and just sitting at our podiums talking amongst themselves. There is obvious work to be done, and I would really like to smother these bad habits before they become the norm. AngelCakes in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

AC, you’ve got your work cut out for you. I wish I could say the next three to six months were going to be easy, but they’re not.

The best advice I can give to you, and any young manager taking over in their first leadership roll, is this: be firm; be fair; and stick to your guns.

The truth is, that no matter how old you are, you want to be led. You want someone, anyone, to provide a vision and a direction that will help you get through your day. Luckily for you, you have salespeople to direct. It might actually be worse if these were front line, union welders or truckers with little regard for their career paths and the protection of a union.

Establish Some Ground Rules

Start right now and establish ground rules. Don’t worry about the feelings of your charges – you owe it to your company to maximize your resources, including labor – the good ones will accept you and the bad ones will terminate themselves.

Tell them exactly what they can expect from you and what you expect from them. Explain the rewards for complying and the punishment for disobedience. I know it’s harsh to see a word like “disobedience” in a leadership development post, but you can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

Be prepared to, indeed, break some eggs. Decide right now who is worthy of keeping and who needs to go. Give everyone the same chance, but prepare for the loss of those that simply do not want to succeed under any circumstances. Remember that this is not a popularity contest and put your ego in check.

Make sure they understand that you would love for this to be a happy and productive workplace, but short of that, it will at least be productive. Make sure they understand that the ball is in their court. They can all earn more money, get promoted or achieve whatever cachet they seek, provided they allow you to help make them successful.

You Are The Support, They Are The Superstars

Tell them early and often that they are the real heroes of your store, and that you are only there to support them. Then, be prepared to live it.




Your only goal, both stated and actual, is to make them successful. If they succeed, you succeed – though no one is going to succeed if they treat the entire day like one long coffee break. (This is where the ground rules come in.)

What they wear, how they act and how much they sell are all part of the expectations you set early on. If they live up to their part of the bargain, then you will live up to your part – you’ll help them get promoted, you’ll help them close a sale or two, and you’ll go to bat for them when it’s time for raises.

Has This Approach Ever Worked?

At 16, I was promoted to the manager of concessions at our local minor league baseball stadium. I had worked the previous summer in the concessions group, and took over as manager in my second year. (This means that I am celebrating my 30th year in management.)

My crew consisted of 30+ teenagers and senior citizens, all of whom were older than me. To make matters worse, my 19-year old sister and my 18-year old best friend also worked for me.

To make a very long story very short, I was not a great first-time leader, though by the end of the season we had reduced labor costs and increased sales to a level not previously seen by the ball club. Had I not decided to be a lifeguard the next summer, I would have earned a nice raise and would probably still be working in baseball.

During the course of the season, I fired both my sister and my best friend. Because both firings were clearly warranted, I only suffered about 3 weeks of angry stares from the two of them. However, the respect I gained from the rest of the team by setting expectations and getting rid of the two people considered to be the greatest troublemakers was immeasurable. (Once someone sees you fire your own sister, they pretty much tow the line.)

Have Fun

The best part about that summer in the minor leagues is that by the end of the season we all had fun.

There is an old saying that “sales cures all ills.” Like many old sayings, this one is true. You will be amazed at how a little success can go a long way toward invigorating your team to want more. It’s like blood to a shark; they will begin a feeding frenzy for success that you will be unable to stop.

So, AC, my advice to you is this (I like bullet points):

  • Deliver the ground rules
  • Set the expectations (for you and them)
  • Live the vision (which includes awarding punishment, when warranted)
  • Have fun

The last bullet point will happen all by itself if you succeed on the first three.

Good selling!

(Note from TheManager: To read a related series about the first steps a new manager should take, please follow this link.)


So You’re the New Sales Manager – How Are You Going To Get Up To Speed Quickly?

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Taking Over an Existing Team – Part 3 of 3

 

This is the third of three posts detailing a few quick tips I used when I was hired to take over an underperforming sales team ranked last in their region. Within six months, this team became the number one sales team in both volume and volume growth, and they held that position for the next fifty consecutive months…

 

To read the first post in this series, follow this link.

To read the second post in this series, follow this link.

 

The New Manager Questionnaire

 

At the end of the expectations-setting first meeting, I handed out the salesman questionnaire below (it’s really for the manager’s benefit, so we’ll call it the New Manager Questionnaire) and arranged a time to meet with each rep for one-on-one sessions to discuss their answers. Although I had twenty salespeople at the time, I really wanted to get these all done quickly, so I scheduled meetings from 6:30 AM to 9:00 PM the next day. (The salespeople chose their meeting times.)

 

The questionnaire was designed to give me a sense of who they were, provide them an avenue to vent about whatever it was that needed changing, and to deliver a measure of self awareness to this underperforming group.

 

Here are the 20 best questions you can ever ask a new sales team:

 

  1. Where do you see yourself in 1 year? 3 years? 10 years?
  2. What three things do you like most about your job?
  3. What three things do you like least about your job?
  4. If you could change anything about our company, what would it be and how would you change it?
  5. What should we absolutely start doing today that we’re currently not doing?
  6. What should we absolutely stop doing today that we’re currently doing?
  7. What should we absolutely continue doing that we’re currently doing?
  8. How would you describe our company to a close friend?
  9. Describe the quality and quantity of training you feel you’ve received since coming to work here. What gaps exist in the training we’ve provided?
  10. Describe your abilities as they relate to your current position.
  11. Is there a different position within our company that you feel you are better suited for than salesperson? If so, what is that position and why do you feel that way?
  12. What is your total compensation? (Include your base, bonus and any perks like car allowances.)
  13. What should be your total compensation and how can I help you achieve this?
  14. Were there ever any promises made to you by anyone at our company that have not been kept? If so, please detail these.
  15. How many hours per week do you estimate you dedicate to achieving your goals at this company?
  16. In order to become the number one salesperson in the region, how many hours a week do you think you would need to commit to the company?
  17. What must be done to grow revenue and profit in your territory?
  18. What must be done to grow revenue and profit for the whole company?
  19. On a scale of 1-10, rate the selling ability of each of the other salespeople and yourself.
  20. How would you prefer to be managed?




 

Why These 20 Questions?

 

Why are these the 20 best questions to ask your new sales team? With these 20 questions, you’ll learn more about your marketplace and your reps’ ability to execute than you will with months of observations. Each question was designed to elicit a specific response or trigger a specific paradigm shift in the salesperson:

 

  • Questions 1 and 11 tell you if they have ambitions beyond being a salesperson, and how to plan a career path for each sales rep.
  • Questions 2, 3 and 20 tell you how to manage the respective rep. (I put Question 20 last because this one usually provides some great dialogue and an easy transition for a handshake and an “I’ll do my best, please keep me in line” from me.)
  • Question 4 tells you if this person is just a complainer or someone who’s given real thought to the issues at hand and believes they know how to fix them.
  • Questions 5 through 8 tell you how to manage up and across. (That is, what you need to gain for your team from the other department heads and from your supervisor.)
  • Questions 9 and 10 set the stage for the amount and type of sales training and product training that needs to occur quickly.
  • Questions 12 and 13 help you understand how much motivation money provides to a particular salesperson.
  • Question 14 helps you remove all the animosity of previously broken promises (and every sales team is full of broken promises from the company). Of course, that’s only if you honor the broken promises of your predecessor.
  • Questions 15, 16 and 17 are really kind of cool, because they reveal to the salesperson, out loud, that they’re not giving all they can.
  • The aggregated answers to Question 18 will help you create plans to reach the company’s goals. (The salespeople really do have all the answers, you just have to ask them.)
  • Question 19 gives you a sense of how everyone views their teammates, and which ones are the leaders and which ones may need development, retraining or a pink slip.

 

I asked the sales team to come prepared to answer all of these questions during their one-on-one meeting, but that they didn’t need to bring anything written – I would take copious notes (which I did).

 

Hearing a sales rep tell you, out loud, that he’s a 5 on a 1-10 scale is extremely powerful. This is someone eager to learn, and the self-realization that occurs gives them a voracious appetite for direction, development and sales training.

 

Do You Really Mean It?

 

Good salespeople are good because they can read people, and they’ll always know when you’re lying. The key to this questionnaire is sincerity. You have to be sincere about wanting to know the answers to these questions, and you have to be sincere about wanting to change the things that need changing. If all you do is ask the questions and take no action, your team will never trust you and they will never perform.

 

It would take dozen of additional posts to share with you how I used all of these answers to shape this group into the best sales team in the region, though suffice it to say that sharing a vision and then living that vision can do wonders for a rag-tag group like I had inherited.

 

I encourage any leader who is taking over as a new sales manager, or any manager who is simply tired of lackluster sales, to try these questions on their own sales team. As always, I welcome your comments… Good Selling!