Published
Articles
Originally
Published in The Business Journal of CNY.
Leadership/Management
A recent survey
by Robery Half International found that 53 % of managers questioned
considered leadership and motivational skills the most important
talent a manager should have. 66% said they possessed "limited"
motivational skills, according to the survey, but only 12% thought
they excelled. (Adapted from the Times of London).
How sad
is that? If only 12% feel they excel in what they themselves
define as the most important skill they feel they should have, where
are we all heading? What does that say about our selection of Managers
and Supervisors, since hopefully, we put great thought in selecting
these people. Did you not make it clear? Did you not understand
they needed mentoring, advise, and training, all along the way?
If they can't motivate their (your) people, we all lose. You can't
assume any person put in a leadership position has these innate
qualities and needs no further help. In fact, you should assume
they have none, and need all the help you can give them. How many
do you think will willingly tell you up-front that they are not
suited for that part of the job (the one they collectively feel
is the most important)? This needs to be part of the interviewing
and/or promotional process. A plan needs to be laid out on how to
get them from whatever level of starting point they are to where
they need to be. If they are deficient in this one area, the problem
multiplies geometrically times the number of people they supervise.
Then it creeps into other departments of the company. You can not
afford this. Most sports teams will not hire a manager or coach
unless they have come up through the ranks, been mentored by more
experienced personnel, been trained at lower level, and have a good
rapport with the people they have or will lead. The owners know
that the players that have to execute the plan need a leader. They
invested a lot in the team of players, and expect to get the most
for their investment. How is your company any different? Once the
sports managers are selected, they generally have a say in who is
hired and fired (sans Steinbrenner). Yet, the all have to still
deal with the personnel they inherited. They are still held accountable
for putting the best team on the field every day. Isn't that what
you should expect from your managers. Most managers or head coaches
have assistants that help them carry out their task. This is also
true in business, but instead, in business, they are called supervisors,
assistant managers, lead people, ect. Try to think of a sports team
that doesn't have backup should the manager fail. Do you and your
company; or are you it? You need to constantly be developing new
leaders to protect your investment. As in sports, it is often more
necessary and expeditious to fire the manager that half the team.
Sports owners
know they are ultimately responsible for the success or failure
of the team, and that blaming the manager does not change the losing
record. Some react too fast, and many more like business owners,
not fast enough. One glaring difference; to many sports owners,
this is a hobby and the money is a tax loss and price for glory.
I don't think that works for you!
Often you find
in sports, when a new head coach or manager comes in, he fires all
the other assistants and brings in his own team. The theory being
he deserves to have his own team if he to be held accountable. This
usually can't economically work the same way most times in small
business, but the logic is interesting and germane.
The bottom line
is you can't just appoint your managers and supervisors and then
walk away. You need to make a commitment to nurture them into what
you expect them to be. You need to lay out a path and a program
with benchmarks to assure that they quickly get to the level they
need to be at to help you. I often talk about benchmarks, but without
measurable benchmarks, and discussions of progress attainment, adjustments,
and other assistance along that path, how will they ever get there?
If they don't, you lose. And your people lose. Without the proper
leadership, what can you possibly expect from them.
That is a responsibility
you can't walk away from as an owner. Who else will do it? And yet,
I see owners do it every day, thinking (or really more hoping, right?)
that some magical transformation will take place and make this person
a top notch manager with no intervention. Those people are 1 in
a 1000 or more. Don't play those odds!
There are multiple
things for you to offer: seminars, mentors in your other most successful
managers, making yourself available at set times 2-3 times a week,
trainers like myself, videos and tapes, books, and many other media.
But without your personal time, how will they develop your style
and personality to fit the company culture? I more than anyone preach
bringing in new ideas, but they must slowly and successfully be
melded and integrated into the personality of the one constant,
the owner. Too fast is devastating, and too slow will cost you a
good leader. Thus, the absolute necessity for interaction on a routine
basis, to discuss differences, issues, new ideas and concepts (often
very good), and management styles. The blending and the timing is
what really makes the coffee brew.
Dennis Hoppe is President of Change Management Implementation, Inc. in Brockport, NY. He has been a small business advisor to owners of hundreds of companies since 1989. Visit his web sites at www.dhoppe.com and www.hmcexecutivecoaching.com, or call him at 800-724-3525.
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