Be an outstanding manager – by doing a few important things outstandingly well

That’s why I say that managers hold the key to long term success.  It is well motivated, committed and involved people who deliver innovation, productivity efficiencies and service excellence and these rich prizes will only be accessed if managers play their part.

So what is the part managers must play?  To begin with let me say that managers must give as much, or arguably, more attention to managing people as they give managing or supervising processes.  This is not as easy to bring about as it may appear however as many managers are appointed because they have excelled in managing a process or function.  Promotion to the role of manager and the remuneration and status benefits that come with this is often the only tangible reward and recognition for their past efforts and, thus, a way of retaining their services.

It also has to be said that most organisations measure the performance of managers in terms of how well they manage processes and functions with clear targets being set for such things, as sales, productivity, profitability and customer service. Few have clear measurements for how well they manage and get the best out of people so given these conditions it is hardly surprising that it is the former that is higher on the agenda.  (Herein lies a message for organisations who might consider heading the message of quality guru Philip Crosby ,  “What gets measured gets done!”)

It is my contention and fervent belief that the main focus and attention of managers should be directed to getting the best out of people and for this reason I would like to offer some simplistic but well proven guidance.  Instead of encouraging an all embracing portfolio of management or leaderships techniques and qualifications may I ask you to consider the Pareto Principle or, as it often referred to, the 80-20 rule.  Just as Vilfredo Pareto  observed in the early 1900’s when he observed, amongst other things, that 80% of the peas in his garden came from 20% of the crop.  Similarly, it is not uncommon for 80% of an organisation’s sale to come from around 20% of clients.

It is with the above in mind that I advocate managers focus on doping three things outstandingly well to achieve outstanding results:

1. Develop a high level of self awareness in terms of your management style and adopt a strategy for addressing any shortcomings.

2. Attain a deep understanding of the talents and motivations of each of the people you manage and put this information to good use.

3. Achieve more through others every day by assigning the right work to the right people and use teams as a means of bringing about improvements or solving complex problems.

If you are still with me please indulge me a little further while I expand on the above.

How to develop a high level of self awareness in terms of your management style
In the early days of developing my retail business I was introduced to a man called John Adair , who developed a model called Action-centred Leadership, a lovely man who I later came to know very well, and someone who set me thinking more deeply about my management style.  This was done by him, first raising my awareness of the fact that successful managers needed to achieve a balance between, achieving tasks, building teams and developing individuals.  Easy, I thought, let’s do it.  Before I had a chance to unleash this new approach on my unsuspecting staff however John invited me to complete a new questionnaire he had just developed to elicit the natural management style of managers.  I duly completed the questionnaire and awaited the results with enthusiastic anticipation and then, I was confronted with the reality:  I discovered that my natural approach was almost entirely task focused and I wasn’t even consciously aware of it.  Some honest reflection however confirmed that this was absolutely true and lead to me considering the consequences. It also helped me understand why I had managed to get the best out of some people, who mainly had a similar pre-disposition but also explained why I had not been so successful, or to be honest, pretty hopeless in getting the best out of others, and thereby falling a long way short of being an outstanding manager.   It was this initial insight that set me on the road to becoming a far better manager, although my colleagues will insensitively claim that it is still work in progress.

It was this personal experience that gave me the motivation to encourage and help other managers to raise their awareness of their natural management style. Furthermore, in collaboration with my long standing friend Meredith Belbin and the IT boffins at Belbin Associates we are now working on a new reporting facility to help managers understand their natural management style which includes obtaining the observational feedback of others. This facility is still a few months away however so in the meantime may I advocate that you take a good look at your management style using self reflection and any tools you can find that will be helpful.  This will help you avoid basking in a world of self-delusion and management mediocrity by addressing any shortcoming you have and thereby ensuring that everyone you manage makes a full contribution.

Gain a deep understanding of the talents and motivations of each of the people you manage
One of my favourite management books is First, Break all the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Kurt Coffman , because it draws on 25 years or so research into what makes great managers.  There are many important messages in this book for managers but the “rule” that they advocate should be broken that resonates most with me is the one that extols, “Treat people as you like to be treated.”   Buckingham and Coffman proclaim that great managers need to “Treat people as they like to be treated.”  Here lies a very profound message that contains irrefutable sound advice as far as I am concerned.  If it also make sense to you this should lead to us wanting to elicit exactly how each of the people we manage like to be treated.