Lessons Learned in Management

Early in my career I was having great fun getting my hands dirty, engineering solutions to all the challenges thrown at me. When I was first offered a managerial position, I turned it down … because I was required to wear a tie! I eventually accepted the position, negotiating a compromise to keep a clip-on in my desk drawer. From that I learned it was acceptable to say “no” and the benefits of being creative.

After many years of experience as a manager and leader, I’ve recently taken time to reflect and I wanted to share some key aspects I learned about successful and efficiently run organizations.

A.     It’s not just a vision, it’s shared decisioning  

Leaders must share their vision of the future and what is important to the success of the business. However, it is too easy to do a poor job at this. It’s only natural to feel unsure of what the future holds. It’s okay to admit that, but you can’t let your uncertainty communicate a blurry or prevaricated vision. As stewards of the business, leaders make decisions every day about how to focus company efforts and resources. So, take some time to think about how you make those decisions, and then communicate to your team as clearly as possible how you assess what’s best for the business and why. Do this regularly. You’ll improve your own understanding of what’s truly important and enable your team to make correct decisions from the start. An effective organization aims at the same target and needs minimal oversight.

B.     Build teams where 1 + 1 = 3 (or even 5!)

Everyone, including you, has strengths and weaknesses that must be understood. The very best teams are able to honestly assess the skills of all members, capitalizing on individual strengths and compensating for weaknesses. This includes you! The old adage “hire people smarter than you are” can make team-building easier, but it’s up to managers to ensure that smarter teams are truly greater than the sum of their parts. Celebrate every success as a team success, particularly projects that engendered collaboration. Make every project an opportunity to strengthen the team.  For example, allow one team member to challenge his or her comfort zone while letting another mentor and support the colleague.  Although our “hurry up and go” markets make it difficult, be sure to provide space for team members to fail, regroup, and therefore grow.

C.     Don’t assign tasks, distribute passion

Everyone wants to be part of something they can be passionate about.  All of the truly successful organizations I’ve had the pleasure of being involved in had one characteristic in common—the distribution of ownership.  I don’t mean owning shares of stock, I mean feeling personally invested in making the product or service a success.  In my experience, companies that don’t distribute that passion are invariably inefficient and unable to retain employees. Great managers don’t feel the need to control everything; they share their vision and then relinquish control.  They delegate, entrusting others with the responsibility to understand, nurture, and enhance each element of the product or service.  Trust your team to “take the ball and run with it”.  Their sense of ownership and control is a powerful motivator. When responsibility and creativity flows from all corners of the organization, it creates a shared passion in the business and an individual sense of purpose.

D.     Provide active guidance

Inevitably, you’ll need to make corrections and absorb failures along the way.  As a leader, you must be a prominent part of the team throughout.  Under your guidance, the entire team should participate in setting measurable goals for the project.  Privately, you should develop individual goals with each person who reports directly to you, addressing their performance, skill development, and career goals.  Allow team members to make their own decisions and, where possible, even take some risks, while you mentor them and share overall responsibility. Lastly, every manager’s most important role is to communicate, communicate, and communicate. As the business and the marketplace change, share your insights.  Allow the team to learn and morph with you.  Discuss business challenges regularly, and encourage the team to brainstorm potential solutions and offer new ideas.  Get to know your team and make them feel comfortable sharing and communicating with you.

A manager’s job is hard enough.  Adopting the four principles I’ve outlined may seem like overload.  To be effective, however, you need to integrate not just one, but all four. Management is not about defining tasks and making sure they get done. It’s about creating an efficient and sustainable business that builds value for its shareholders, provides opportunities for its employees to grow and succeed, and truly creates an institution that people feel a part of—a family.