Great Managers

We continue our look at First, Break All the Rules (What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently) by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.

Analysis of the mountain of data gathered by Gallup revealed that the strength of a workplace can be determined by using 12 questions.  Here they are:

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
12. This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

The authors state that every one of the above questions can be linked to at least one of four business outcomes: productivity (10 of the 12), profitability (8 of the 12), retention (5 of the 12) and customer satisfaction.  In fact the first six questions provide a combination of the strongest links to the most business outcomes.  Scoring 5’s (Strongly Agree) on the first six questions (rephrased as statements) should be the goal of every manager.

Let’s break the 12 questions down by topic:

·         #1 and #2 address “What do I get?”

·         #3-#6 focus on “What do I give?”

·         #7-#10 reveal “Do I belong here?”

·         #11 and #12 key on “How can we all grow?”

Your goal is to be a Great Manager—to have employees who are good at what they do, that know the fundamental purpose of their work, and that are always looking for better ways to fulfill their mission.  They are fully engaged.

To secure 5’s on all these questions requires you to live with some “tension.”  By that I mean, you want to set consistent expectations for your people, but at the same time treat each person differently.  Each person is motivated differently.  The authors contend that “…each person has his own way of thinking and his own style of relating to others.”  In fact the great managers in this study concluded the following:

People don’t change that much.

Don’t waste time trying to put in what was left out.

Try to draw out what was left in.

That is hard enough. 

This reminds me of the Army slogan, “Be all you can be!”  Great managers try to help each person become more and more of who he already is. 

But how do Great Managers apply this provocative insight “in the real world” with their employees? 

The authors answer that question by providing four basic roles of a Great Manager.  The first is that of a “catalyst.”  As a catalyst, the manager creates performance in each employee by speeding up the reaction between the employee’s talents and the company’s goals, and between the employee’s talents and the customers’ needs.  To be this catalyst, a Great Manager does the following activities very well: selecting a person, setting expectations, motivating the person, and developing the person.  Doing so releases every single employee’s talent into performance. 

Below are some details on each of the above activities: 

• When selecting someone, Great Managers select for talent—not simply experience, intelligence, or determination.
• When setting expectations, Great Managers define the right outcomes—not the right steps.
• When motivating someone, Great Managers focus on strengths—not on weaknesses.
• When developing someone, Great Managers help the person find the right fit—not simply the next rung on the corporate ladder.

Before closing, however, let’s see how the Ultimate Entrepreneur (Weekly Insight 2-8) might approach the above activities.  Perhaps something like this: 

• When selecting someone, Jesus searches for a humble and contrite heart.
• When setting expectations, Jesus provides Himself as the example.
• When motivating someone, Jesus loves them.
• When developing someone, Jesus comes alongside to show them the way.

So although there is empirical research from Gallup that helps us see the importance of talent, right outcomes, strengths, and fit, there is also heavenly wisdom that guides us as we endeavor to not only be great leaders, but great managers as well. 

Keith

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