How to Manage People

Why can't you just memorize a book on "How to Manage People" and emerge a top-notch leader? Why is leadership such a daunting task? For starters, people come equipped with this pesky item commonly referred to as a "personality." Personalities are infuriating. Particularly when yours differs from mine. Once we get to know each other, yours can be intolerable even when it is quite similar to mine. Just to keep things jumping, I can hardly stand my own half the time. Much of the confusion and chaos lurking a millimeter beneath the surface of any well-functioning organization owes to the potentially cataclysmic clashes of personality. As a leader, there are endless variables that factor into how to manage most effectively, and these factors differ with every single person on your team. If that isn't an exhausting thought, I don't know what is. You cannot directly control other people, yet you are now mysteriously accountable for their output.

Smart managers

Managers who excel at working smart are enablers, not doers. They help others get work done by being facilitators, catalysts, coaches, influencers and developers of people. Smart managers position their coaching management style as being in the best interest of others rather than giving the impression that they are lazy. Being a smart manager means putting yourself into a position to resolve problems. You become the focal point of employees who have problems, questions or disputes. You want those employees who report to you to trust you, look to you for leadership, and for help when they need someone to turn to. If you simply "pass the buck" and don't take charge of those situations, you lose their respect and morale goes down. These also explains why there are far more not-smart managers than smart ones. This is because far too many managers are those who know how to impress their own bosses and achieve goals set for them, but lack any real experience managing people. So be careful as you move up and as you promote people or you can end up paying a hefty price.

Basic tasks of management

Perhaps the first thing you need to do is to figure out what you want your people to accomplish. A mission statement is a short document that tells your people, your customers (internal and external), and your suppliers what you are about. It makes it easier for everyone to pull together if everyone knows what the objective is. After you figure out where you are going and you write up your mission statement, you need to look at whether your organization supports that objective. If your organization does not support your objective, you need to change it so it does. When you have rearranged your organization so it does support your objective, you need to communicate that organization structure to everyone involved. This is done through an organization chart, an org chart for short. If anyone in your organization deals with the public, you should have a dress code for all employees. A dress code is a simple document that tells people in various functions what is appropriate work attire, and why.

Feel or Think

What works for one person may not for another. For example, a feeler will crave a lot of positive reinforcement while collaborating on a project. A thinker will want a clear schedule and guidelines. Feelers generally value an open-door style of management. Thinkers don't put much emphasis on that policy. If your routine as a Feeler manager is to "make the rounds" on your staff every morning, that could make the feelers feel cared for and the thinkers perceive you are "checking" on them. The same intention and behavior can have vastly different impact based on the recipient. It is important to discover a version of management you don't hate because it fits who you are. It is also important to learn how to adapt your style to customize how you manage and motivate your team for vastly improved results whether productivity (if you're a thinker) and morale (if you're a feeler).

Helping new stars

Stars need to shine. Managers are granted some amount of visibility into the larger organization (and often can work to obtain more), and it’s up to the manager to dole out some of that visibility down to their reports. While managers need to establish themselves, and manage peer and senior level politics, they also need to help establish the people on their team along with them. It’s a great thing for a manager to be seen helping new stars rise. People will say “who’s that smart woman over there?” And the answer will be “Oh, that’s Sally. She’s on John’s team”. When people see that somehow you’re able to cultivate and grow smart people, you win more acclaim than if you presented the ideas yourself. Great managers think if good ideas are in abundance, and the culture promotes and rewards their creation, there’s much less competition for credit for it.