Jeff McManus's Blog, page 12

Getting to the Heart of Productivity

Many managers, directors, and supervisors (including myself) have been brought up in a culture that values productivity as a daily goal. True to my upbringing, I continue to strive for efficiency, production, and daily results; always trying to work smarter, not harder in everything we do. Whether you were brought up in this culture or not, I know you value productivity because you are where you are – you get results, you want your people to take pride in their work and you know the organization...

Why Should I Challenge the Process?

“Change is the province of leaders. It is the work of leaders to inspire people to do things differently, to struggle against uncertain odds, and to persevere toward a misty image of a better future.” ~James M. Kouzes, The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations

I remember the first time I stepped into the room of my N. Miami department as the Director. I didn’t know a soul outside of those that had interviewed and hired me. I was the youngest person in ...

Enlisting Others

en·list: engage (a person or their help or support)

Next week there is a good chance there will be a new project, initiative, or undertaking my team will need to tackle. I bet you are faced with the same situation. To tackle these challenges, we need to mobilize people to create extraordinary results and unite people to turn these challenges into successful opportunities. We all need more problem-solvers not problem-makers. And we all have bosses who need to know we are working more efficient...

Finding Your Leadership Voice

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” ~Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker

To say the new job was challenging would be understating the situation. It was rough, but that is why they hired me and probably why they hired you as well. If they could have done it themselves, they would h...

Be Fan Worthy

“Leaders are Repeaters.” ~Jessie Cole, Owner, The Savannah Bananas

Last month I had the opportunity to attend a 6-hour backstage breakout session with the Savannah Bananas leadership team. If you are not familiar with the SB then do a web search and you will see they are an unusual, unique and very popular minor league exhibition baseball team.

This baseball team has become a world-class case study in marketing, customer, and employee experience. Every game the Bananas play is sold out. Th...

Weeding by Example

“The three most important ways to lead people are… by example, by example, by example.” ~ Albert Schweitzer

Dr. Robert Khayat was the 15th Chancellor of Ole Miss.  He was a strong leader who had a tremendous passion for excellence and caring for others. It was in Spring, 2000 when I walked the campus with him for the first time. I had heard the stories, so it came as no surprise to me that he was picking up litter along our walking route. I learned a great deal from him. He got people to buy ...

Developing an Eye for Detail

“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” ~John Wooden

The Grand Cypress Resort, a 5-Star Hyatt Hotel, is committed to providing their customers with high quality results. When I was training to be a first-time property manager there the term having an eye for detail was new for me.

I remember being in the office with two of my fellow project managers, both with several more years of experience than I, as we reviewed published photos of the resort.  Th...

“No” Regrets

Why do so many leaders have such a hard time saying “no” to projects that just do not fit into the departmental operations? Some of us say “yes” to misfit projects because we want to protect working relationships. Others of us value our reputation or perception of being a “can-do player.” Maybe this misfit project is a unique opportunity, and we don’t want to be perceived as unsupportive. In some cases, we will take on a misfit project because our boss asks us to do them. Or maybe the person ask...

5 Ways Great Leaders Connect with their People

Leaders are judged on their results. Great leaders know they must work through a team of people doing hands-on work to get the results the organization needs. Let’s compare it to a train. The train conductor has to make sure that everyone is onboard, and that each car is connected correctly before leaving the station and before there is any hope of staying on schedule and reaching the destination. Connection, one to another, is key to getting the results.

Recently I was leading a discussion w...

Finding Your Winning Process

“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you are doing.”

― W. Edwards Deming

Nature, especially human nature, is hardwired to find a process for surviving, growing, and winning. It is the responsibility of the leader at each level to see the vision, set the tone, find the process, cultivate it, and grow it. The process of building a successful winning organization is complex, multifaceted and involves several key elements. Because each organization is uni...