Seek the Truth for Success

As managers we are often not rational but rationalising and we tend to spend our time proving our point, not finding the truth. The reason... truth sometimes hurts, can sometimes mean that we have to be big enough to see when something is not working, or needs changing. So to be successful,

Seek the truth, rather than prove the point.

Respect will soar for you as a manager.

The Difference between Management and Leadership

A question that I often get asked, and I do feel people do mix up the terms. For instance you often get Team Leaders being managed by a manager!

Here is what my old boss explained it to me about 20 years ago, and I think it still makes sense to me

"Manage today, lead tomorrow"

Or as I sometimes say.....Management is motivating people to get the work done today, leadership is about inspiring people to create the future.

Are you special?

"If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself you won't get noticed, and that increasingly means that you won't get paid much either" Michael Goldhaber, Wired

How true! How do you provide value, how does your personal brand bring value to the company, to the team etc Does your brand demand a premium as it delivers a higher performance? List down what your personal brand is, your values and why someone would want to pay a premium for you compared to someone else? If you can't....then write a development plan for 2007 to create your premium in the talent marketplace.

Creating a Mental Map

The biggest problem most employees face is just not understanding what is expected of them, not understanding what the company is trying to achieve.

You need to create a mental map for each person through the managers, supervisors, team leaders etc

One question that I have used is asking each person to finish this sentence..."I dream about..."

I then work with them to understand how we can make that dream a reality, linking it to the business. It is a great way of showing rather than telling, and consulting rather than informing.

Blog Carnival of Management Tips

Welcome to the November 19, 2006 edition of carnival of management tips. I will hold this fortnightly to try and share as many ideas as possible

Anna Farmery presents 8 Free Ways to Help People Learn at Work at The Engaging Brand

Jane Chin presents Most Important Quality in a Coach posted at On Careers and Life.

Mike Murray presents The Importance of Empathy posted at Episteme - Belief. Knowledge. Wisdom.

Daniel Scocco presents What do Google, Apple and Harley Davidson have in common? posted at Innovation Zen.

David Maister presents We'll Follow the Old Man Wherever He Wants to Go posted at Passion, People and Principles, saying, "Real leaders go first, hold themselves accountable, and resign if they fail."

rudolph d. bachraty III presents Hold My Calls, I?m Too Busy Blogging posted at sellsius real estate blog.

Brandon Peele presents What the Media Industry Tells Us About Business Strategy and Our Lives posted at GT.

Brandon Peele presents 21st Century Enterprise: For-Benefit Business 101 posted at GT.

Sagar Satapathy presents Management Strategies: 18 Tips to Manage Your Blog Network posted at Management Strategies: 18 Tips to Manage Your Blog Network,

My Bubble Life presents Unleash Your Potential: Transactional Communication posted at My Bubble Life, saying, "In order to be effective as a manager, you must communicate with people on their level."

David presents Corporate Career Success - How to Become CEO posted at Worldwide Success,

David Maister presents Wise Words posted at Passion, People and Principles, saying, "Don't just manage the goals, manage the process!"

Anna Farmery presents CARS leadership fro great business and leadership on The Engaging Brand

David Maister presents Are We ON The Same Side? posted at Passion, People and Principles.

Patricia presents Dream Your Dreams to Achieve Greatness and Inspire the World posted at Patricia.

Debra Moorhead presents Put Yourself First posted at Debra Moorhead.com,

TrustedAdvisor presents Legacies, Left Tackles and Investment Banking posted at Trust Matters, saying Building trust in business relationships.

Tracy Coenen presents Top ten ways to prevent employee theft posted at FRAUDfiles.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of management tips using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Are the winter blues affecting your motivation?

If you are feeling low and wondering "Is this all I have to look forward to?" - Don't worry it is the winter blues grabbing hold of that mind....the lack of sunshine is a huge factor on motivation.

But it is also a chance to think about what is important to you. Often we are trying to define ourselves or measure our happiness from what we do or achieve......it is not wrong, but don't forget to think about measuring your day to day life against who you are.

Often depression hits because you are not doing something that is core to your values...you may be achieving a lot and yet it doesn't seem to make you happy. If that is the case take a few minutes to think about your values, who you are and make sure that your day to day life is fulfilling these needs. No money will ever compensate for you working or living against your desires or values.

Making your life extraordinary

In the book the Fred Factor Mark Sanborn says

"there are no insignificant or ordinary jobs when they're performed by significant or extraordinary people"

I just love that idea. The people that have made your life special at home or at work, probably do not have a big job title - it is the way they behave.

Let me give an example. I go to the same place for a quick meal each weekend. Why ? Great food...no, great environment...not really, great prices...not as low as I think they should be!

No the real reason is because of the people who work there...they say Hi Anna, your usual? I will bring your drink over once I have finished serving this lady. The waitresses who are not highly paid make me feel special - when the restaurant took my favourite dish off the menu they continued to cook it for me! The point is that their jobs are not powerful or special - they are, they make me feel valued, and provide value through service. They have ordinary jobs that they make extraordinary.....I now have crossed my fingers ahead of going there tomorrow!

Great Management and Customer Advice

One piece of advice that I received early doors was this

"Customers don't believe what you say, they believe what you do"

This is an important point for any relationship - family, spouse, friends, employees, boss etc Words are great but it is action that shows your commitment.

If you want to stand out from the crowd then deliver on your promises, live your values, and ensure that your words are backed up by actions.

Positive feedback and dealing with problems

Over on the Widows Quest there is a carnival on 5 November about how to turn your life around. I love this idea, and can't wait to see the links.

As managers, friends, partners etc we rush to find what is wrong with the reaction, idea, work etc We need to bring some positivity to the world!

So tomorrow (and next week at work) try and respond to any person with a positive comment, find something genuine and positive to say no matter whether you agree or not. I am often accused of seeing the positive in everything - well, guilty as charged! I believe that there is always something that you can learn or take from an interaction. If you do see the positive, just watch how people respond to you and open up...... you attract people because you stand out from the normal negative people

Bad bosses are great motivators!

Sound a little strange? Well, I firmly believe that I have learned a huge amount from bad bosses, and they have helped me develop my skills. If you are working for a "bad boss" then instead of being demotivated see it as a huge learning curve. I have learned the following

1. What demotivates people.
2. How to not value people.
3. How not to communicate.
4. How not to deal with a problem.
5. How the behaviour of your boss affects your motivation.
6. How to remove clarity from people's work
7. How to ruin work/life balance.
8. How changing priorities on a daily, weekly basis causes confusion.

Now that is great learning. What I did was take time to review how he did it, and how I felt. I then promised myself that when I had the chance to lead I would NEVER do the same things.

You can survive a bad boss in the short term, by using them as a living learning example.

Reactive vs Proactive

I listen to the Motivation on the Run podcast and love it - Larry's style is well...engaging. He talked in one of his shows about reactive vs proactive and this is absolutely true in terms of managing people. Some questions to consider

• Do you talk to people about what they want to achieve more than what they haven't?
• Do you talk to people of how they have incorporated learnings vs what courses they should be going on?
• Do you talk about how they are going to achieve their objectives or how they haven't ?
• Do you talk about their strengths more than their gaps?
• Do you talk to them about their personal visions or their past history?

Are you a proactive or reactive manager?

Grab that Brain!

As the famous saying goes - you hire a person, hire the hands and forget to engage the brain.

So many people forget to engage the brain, so what questions can you ask to "grab that brain as well"

• What are your career goals and how can I help you achieve them?
• What are your passions and how can we develop your role to engage those passions?
• What do you want from me as your mentor?
• How can I get the best from you?
• What values are important to you?

This is in no way a full list but a start....the main point is to follow up on what you find out, and to review regularly.

Quality of Life

Studies show that the quality of life depends on 2 things

• How we experience work
• Relations with other people

Both of these need work and attention. As a manager we can be a catalyst for both of these and therefore just think of the power that you have in your hands. When you are sat thinking that you cannot change anything...remember this blog post. You have the power to help others enjoy a better quality of life...wow, now that is the ultimate power. Ask people how you can improve these 2 things at work....help build quality of life for people.

Time Tips

Couple of tips today to help you manage your time. Time is precious, and a scarce resource so you need to protect your time well.

1. Build in interruptions to your day. We all know they will happen. Too many people book back to back meetings - don't plug in some time that acts as a buffer.
2. Why use 30 minutes chunk's? Use 20 minute slots....save 10 minutes. Helps people focus and no matter the time people will fill their slot.
3. When you have a to do list, write a time and date by the side of each item. By placing a time it helps focus the day and also gives it more importance.
4. Cancel any meetings that don't add value!