On the holiday I have re-read (or re-skimmed) the book by Julie. The first 3 books of the Ruggets new summary sessions will be on leadership. Then we will be moving on.
Here are the lessons for aspiring managers:
As a manager you have 3 core job:
You need to build a team that works well together,
You need to support members in reaching their career goals
You need to create processes to get work done smoothly and efficiently
You have to constantly think in 3 Ps:
Purpose, people, process. The why, the who, and the how. A great manager constantly asks herself how she can influence these levers to improve her team’s outcomes. As the team grows in size, it matters less and less how good she is personally at doing the work herself. What matters more is how much of a multiplier effect she has on her team.
Your goal as manager is not to handle everything yourself, but try to use purpose, people, and the process of your team to solve problems. You are a leader, lead not manage.
There are only two reasons for a job not finished:
The first reason could be people don’t know how to do good work.
The second is that they know how, but they aren’t motivated.
As a manager you need to identify the exact problem. Knowledge or motivation?
Trust is the most important factor for your success as a manager:
“You must trust people, or life becomes impossible,” the writer Anton Chekhov
once said. This is true of all relationships—friendships, marriages, partnerships
—and the manager–report relationship is no different.
Respect and Care about Your Report
Managing is caring. You are not your reports’ mom, but you are their leader who can stand behind them always.
Invest time to help your report
Use 1:1 frequently
Ideally weekly
4 areas important to cover in 1:1:
Discuss top priorities
Calibrate what “great” looks like
Share feedback
Reflect on how things are going
Some questions to use in 1:1: (italics are my additions)
What’s top of mind for you right now?
What priorities are you thinking about this week?
What’s the best use of our time today?
What’s the worst-case scenario you’re worried about?
How can I help you?
What can I do to make you more successful?
What was the most useful part of our conversation today?
Admit Your Own Mistakes and Growth Areas
Help people play to their strengths
The art of Feedback:
You have to:
Make your feedback as specific as possible
“your presentation was complicated” —> Your presentation had 27 slides, which is long. It did not have categories so we feel lost what topic you are talking about. You did not clarify the reasoning behind that decision etc.
You need to agree on what constitutes success for you. You need to be crystal clear why you feel something is not right or low-quality.
Clarify what success looks and feels like.
“Even if your feedback is specific, heard, and understood, it can still be hard for the other person to have a clear picture of what they should aspire to.”
Suggest next steps
When talking about bad news or giving critical feedback use the template:
When I [heard/observed/reflected on] your [action/behavior/output], I felt concerned because . . . I’d like to understand your perspective and talk about how we can resolve this.
Drop the feedback sandwich already. Be sincere.
When I read the sentence below I screamed yes yes yes. Leaders, drop the sandwich. Cut to the chase. Criticize me, say what you see as missing, say what you need to see to consider it perfect. Define terms. Suggest next steps.
Don’t start with a long preamble. Don’t try to sugarcoat a tough message or pad it with “softer” points. As a new manager, I read advice that the best way to deliver critical feedback was in a “compliment sandwich,” where you start out with a positive observation, then slide in your suggestion for improvement, then close with another pat on the back, as if the only way veggies can be palatable is if they’re surrounded by a bunch of marshmallows. I find this ineffective—lobbing over a few superficial words of praise to temper a hard message comes off as insincere. Plus, the thing you actually want them to pay attention to might be lost.
Questions to ask yourself repeatedly as a manager (my additions):
How can I improve?
What are my shortcomings?
How can I help one of my reports today?
Are the projects given to my reports challenging enough? How can I challenge them more?
How do my reports learn more? What do they want to learn more about?
Do people feel safe with me?
Do I make them feel that I sincerely care about them?
Do I give them space and autonomy?
Should I get support from my reports?
Do I allow my team to make mistakes?
How can I apologize when I am mistaken?
How do my people react when they are mistaken?
Do I help them bring out the best versions of themselves?
Do I know the meaning and value of their work and can I show it?
Do they feel good / lucky to be with me?
Do I empathize?
Do I act fairly?
You need to have growth mindset:
Choose pain and growth:
SCENARIO: You’re asked if you’d like to take the lead on a risky and challenging new project.
FIXED MINDSET: I’d better say no. I don’t want to fail and embarrass myself.
GROWTH MINDSET: This is a great opportunity to stretch, learn something new, and gain the experience needed to lead other big projects down the road.
Some of the best quotes I highlighted while reading:
Own your mistakes and remind your team that you are human, just like everyone else. Use language that invites discussion: “I may be totally wrong here, so tell me if you disagree. My opinion is . . .” You can also ask directly for advice: “If you were me, what would you do in this situation?”
At higher levels of management, the job starts to converge regardless of background. Success becomes more and more about mastering a few key skills: hiring exceptional leaders, building self-reliant teams, establishing a clear vision, and communicating well.
This is the crux of management: It is the belief that a team of people can achieve more than a single person going it alone. It is the realization that you don’t have to do everything yourself, be the best at everything yourself, or even know how to do everything yourself.
Purpose, people, process. The why, the who, and the how. A great manager constantly asks herself how she can influence these levers to improve her team’s outcomes. As the team grows in size, it matters less and less how good she is personally at doing the work herself. What matters more is how much of a multiplier effect she has on her team.
As a manager, you are judged on your team’s outcomes, so your job is to do whatever most helps them succeed. If your team is lacking key skills, then you need to spend your time training or hiring. If someone is creating problems for others, then you need to get him to stop. If people don’t know what they should be doing, then you need to construct a plan.
“What makes a good leader is that they eschew the spotlight in favor of spending time and energy to do what they need to do to support and protect their people,” writes Simon Sinek in Leaders Eat Last. In return, “We offer our blood and sweat and tears and do everything we can to see our leader’s vision come to life.”
Forward always,
Ratip.
Interesting and very useful. Thank you.