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He had seen many “tough” managers whose organizations seemed to win while the people working there lost.
The young man also met many “nice” managers whose people seemed to win while their organizations lost.
In these changing times, he thought, the most effective managers manage themselves and the people they work with so that both the people and the organization profit from their presence.
“I meet with our team once a week on Wednesday mornings—that’s why I couldn’t meet with you then. At those meetings I listen as our group reviews and analyzes what they achieved the previous week, the problems they had, what remains to be accomplished, and their plans and strategies to get those things done.”
People Who Feel Good About Themselves Produce Good Results.
“So,” the visitor said, “helping people feel good about themselves is a key to productivity.”
Our Manager works with us to make it clear what our responsibilities are and what we are being held accountable for.”
Our Manager makes sure we know what good performance looks like because he shows us. In other words, expectations are clear to both of us.
If you can’t tell me what you’d like to be happening,’ he said, ‘you don’t have a problem yet. You’re just complaining. A problem only exists if there is a difference between what is actually happening and what you desire to be happening.’
“Because, as he pointed out to me then, most managers don’t manage that way. He assured me that if succeeding in my job was important to me, I would soon realize that feedback is an invaluable tool.”
Help People Reach Their Full Potential. Catch Them Doing Something Right.
“When he notices you have done something right, he tells you precisely what you did right, and how good he feels about it. “He pauses for a moment so you can feel it, too. Then he reinforces the praise by encouraging you to keep up the good work.”
“It certainly does, and for several reasons. First, I get a Praising soon after I’ve done something right.” Paul leaned forward and confided, “I don’t have to wait for a performance review, if you know what I mean.”
“Yes. He praises me when I’m doing my job well and deserve it, even if things are not going well for him personally or here at work. I know he may be annoyed about things happening elsewhere. But he responds to where I am, not just to where he is at the time. I really appreciate that.”
“Praising people doesn’t always work if it isn’t combined with Re-Directs to correct mistakes when they occur.
“First, he makes sure he’s made the goal we’ve set clear. If it isn’t, he takes responsibility for that, and clarifies the goal. “Then he provides me with a One Minute Re-Direct in two parts. In the first half he focuses on my mistake. In the second half he focuses on me.”
“As soon as he becomes aware of the mistake. He confirms the facts with me and we review what’s gone wrong. He’s very specific. “Then he tells me how he feels about the mistake and its possible impact on our results, sometimes in no uncertain terms. “After he tells me how he feels, he’s quiet for a few seconds to let it sink in. That quiet pause turns out to be surprisingly important.”
“In the second part of the Re-Direct, he reminds me that I’m better than my mistake and that he has confidence and trust in me. He says he doesn’t expect a repeat of that mistake and looks forward to working with me.”
“Since he ends the Re-Direct by reaffirming that he values me and my team, it’s easier for me not to react negatively and become defensive. I don’t try to rationalize away my mistake by fixing blame on somebody else.
Goals make clear what is most important to focus on, Praisings build confidence that helps you succeed, and Re-Directs address mistakes. And all three of these help people feel better about themselves and produce good results.
The Best Minute I Spend Is The One I Invest In People.
“It’s ironic that most companies spend so much of their money on people’s salaries, and yet they spend only a small fraction of their budget to develop people. In fact, most companies spend more time and money on maintaining their buildings, technology, and equipment than they do on developing people.”
“One night, years ago, I was bowling and I saw some of the ‘problem employees’ from my previous organization. One of the real problem people, who I remembered all too well, approached the line and rolled the bowling ball. Soon he started to hoot and holler and jump around. Why do you think he was so happy?” “Because he knocked down all the pins.” “Exactly. Why do you think he and other people don’t have that same level of excitement at work?” The young man gave it some thought. “Because they don’t know where the pins are—what they’re aiming at. I get it. How long would they want to bowl if
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Take a Minute To Look At Your Goals. Then Look At What You’re Doing And See If It Matches Your Goals.
“These examples illustrate that the most important—and natural—thing to do to help people become winners is to catch them doing something approximately right in the beginning. Then you move on toward the desired result.”
“Yes. Most managers wait until people do something exactly right before they praise them. As a result, many people never get to become high performers because their managers concentrate on catching them doing things wrong—that is, anything that falls short of the final desired performance.”
“To begin with, the feedback happens in small doses, because you catch the mistake early on. “Many managers gunnysack their feedback. That is, they store up observations of poor behavior until frustration builds. “When performance review time comes, these managers are angry in general because their sack is really full. So they charge in and dump it all at one time. “They tell people every single thing they have done wrong for the last several weeks or months or more. “It’s not fair to people to save up negative feelings about their poor performance, and it’s not effective.”
“So you want to separate their behavior from their worth. Reaffirming them after you’ve addressed the mistake focuses on their behavior without attacking them personally.
“Precisely. You see, it is very important when you are leading people to remember that behavior and worth are not the same things. What is really worthwhile is the person who’s managing their own behavior.
