Category: managing people

Developing your personal mission statement

A personal mission statement provides you with the long-term vision and motivation to manage yourself and others in your team according to your own values. It also allows you to establish your purpose and goals as a manager and sets a benchmark for self-evaluation.

Defining your future

Your personal mission statement spells out your managerial philosophy. It defines the type of manager you want to be (your character), what you want to accomplish (your contributions), and what principles guide your behavior (your values). It provides you with the vision and values to direct your managerial life—the basis for setting long- and short-term goals, and how best to deploy your time.

Setting out your philosophy

Make sure that your personal mission statement is an accurate reflection of
your values, goals, and aspirations for success. A personal statement might read: “My career goals are to effectively manage my team to achieve respect and knowledge, to use my talents as a manager to help others, and to play an active role in this organization.” Another individual’s statement might have a very different focus: “As a manager in this creative firm, I want to establish a fault-free, self perpetuating learning environment.” Reevaluate your statement on a regular basis—annually, at least—to ensure that it still describes your overall vision for your future as a manager.

Setting and attaining your personal managerial goals

SEE THE FUTURE Develop a vision of what it will be like when you achieve your goals. Your vision of a desirable future can be a powerful motivating force.

EVALUATE PROGRESS Continually evaluate your performance against your mission statement. When things do not work out, be honest with yourself about why.

BE SMART Set goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. You are much more likely to achieve goals that are well defined and within your reach.

REWARD YOURSELF Reward yourself for small wins. When you achieve incremental progress toward your goals, treat yourself to a reward, such as a night out or some recreational activity.

GET SUPPORT Develop a support group of people who will help you in achieving your goals. Your support group should include those with the resources you need to be successful.

SET YOUR GOALS Personalize your goals. You will be far more committed to goals that you have set yourself, rather than those that have been set for you by someone else.

Tip

LEARN FROM SETBACKS Things will not always work out as you have planned. When you face setbacks, be honest with yourself about what happened and why, and think carefully about whether you need to reevaluate your goals.

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Clarifying your values

Values are stable and enduring beliefs about what is good, right, and worthwhile, and about the behavior that is desirable for achieving what is worthwhile. To be an effective manager, it is necessary to have a good understanding of what your values are and to act accordingly.

Defining values

Values are formed early in our lives, from the influence of our parents, teachers, friends, religious leaders, and media role models. Some may change as we go through life and experience different behaviors. Your values manifest themselves in everything you do and the choices that you make. If you are someone who particularly values promptness, for example, you will make sure that you always behave in ways that mean you are on time for appointments. The thought of being late will stimulate feelings of stress in you, and induce a subsequent adrenaline rush as you hurry to be at the appointment on time. As a manager, it is important for you to clarify your values, so that you can determine what your goals are and how you want to manage yourself and others to achieve them.

Clarifying your personal values

It may sound strange, but one of the best ways to clarify your personal values and gain a clear understanding of what is important to you is to think about how you would like to be remembered in your eulogy. Sit quietly and consider how you want your friends and family to remember you, and what you want your work colleagues to say they thought of you. Also think of your broader contributions—how would you like to be remembered in the communities you are a part of? Make notes, and use the information you write down to identify the values that are most important to you.

Dealing with conflicts

It can be challenging when your personal values conflict with those of your organization, or when there are conflicting values between individuals or subgroups. Value differences can exist, for example, about how to perform jobs, the nature of reward systems, or the degree of intimacy in work relationships. Having a clear understanding of your own personal value set will help you to manage these conflict situations. If you are clear about your own values, you can act with integrity and practice what you preach regardless of emotional or social pressure. To address a conflict situation, first make sure you are aware of, understand, and are tolerant of the value differences held by the other parties. This will help you determine whether
the value conflict is, in fact, irresolvable and will require personnel changes, or whether compromises and adjustments can be made to accommodate the different perspectives.

In focus

TYPES OF VALUE Values can be classified into two types: terminal and instrumental. Terminal values (your “ends” in life) are desirable ends or goals, such as a comfortable, prosperous life, world peace, great wisdom, or salvation. Instrumental values (the “means” to those ends) are beliefs about what behaviors are appropriate in striving for desired goals and ends. Consider a manager who works extra hours to help deliver a customer’s rush order. The attitude displayed is a willingness to help a customer with a problem. The value that serves as the foundation of this attitude might be that of service to others.

ASK YOURSELF… About your influences yes/no

  1. Can I identify the individuals and the events that influenced the development of my value system?
  2. Are these sources of influence still as important to me as recent events and people who influence me now?
  3. Are my values still appropriate as guides of behavior in the world I live in today?
  4. Should I consider changing some of my values to make them more relevant?
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Examining your assumptions

Managers tend to treat their staff according to assumptions they hold about what motivates people. These assumptions create self-fulfilling prophecies in the behavior of the staff. Managers reward what they expect, and consequently only get what they expect. Challenging your own assumptions is one of the first steps in becoming a better manager.

X-style managers

Prominent management theorist Douglas McGregor distinguished two management styles—X and Y— based on the assumptions held by managers about the motives of their staff. X-style managers believe that workers need to be coerced and directed. They tend to be strict and controlling, giving workers little latitude and punishing poor performance. They use few rewards and typically give only negative feedback. These managers see little point in workers having autonomy, because they think that the workforce neither expects nor desires cooperation.

Y-style managers

Y-style assumptions reflect a much more optimistic view of human nature. Y-style management contends that people will gladly direct themselves toward objectives if their efforts are appropriately rewarded. Managers who hold Y assumptions assume a great deal of confidence in their workers. They are less directive and empower workers, giving them more responsibilities and freedom to accomplish tasks as they deem appropriate.

Shaping the environment

Organizations that are designed based on X-style assumptions are very different to those designed by Y-style managers. For example, because they believe that their workers are motivated to help the organization reach its goals, Y-style managers will decentralize authority and give more control to workers than will X-style managers. A Y-style manager realizes that most people are not resistant to organizational needs by nature, but may have become so as a result of negative experiences, and strives to design structures that involve the employees in executing their work roles, such as participative management and joint goal setting. These approaches allow employees to exercise some self-direction and self-control in their work lives. In Y-style management, although
individuals and groups are still accountable for their activities, the role of the manager is not to exert control but to provide support and advice and to make sure that workers have the resources they need to perform their jobs effectively. By contrast, X-style managers consider their role to be to monitor workers to ensure that they contribute to the production process and do not threaten product quality.

Tip

ANALYZE YOURSELF Honestly review every decision you make and every task you delegate. In each case, ask yourself what you assumed the staff involved would think, and how you expected them to behave. Remember that positive expectations help produce positive outcomes.

X and Y assumptions

X-STYLE MANAGERS

  • Employees inherently dislike work and will attempt to avoid it.
  • Employees must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment to achieve goals.
  • Employees will shirk responsibility and seek formal direction.
  • Most workers place security above all other factors associated with work and will display little ambition.

Y-STYLE MANAGERS

  • Employees can enjoy work and can view it as being as natural to them as rest or play.
  • People will exercise selfdirection and self-control if they are committed to the objectives behind tasks.
  • The average person can learn to accept and seek responsibility.
  • Most workers place job satisfaction and career fulfillment high on their list of priorities.

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Applying assertiveness

An effective manager needs to behave in an active and assertive manner to get things done. Assertive managers are able to express their feelings and act with appropriate degrees of openness and candor, but still have a regard for the feelings and rights of others.

Understanding personality types

Assertiveness and the ability to express feelings are skills that people possess to different extents. Some are aggressive, direct, and blunt, and can appear domineering, pushy, or selfcentered. Some people tend to be passive, inhibited, and submissive; they bottle up their feelings and fail even to stand up for their legitimate rights. Passive individuals seek to avoid conflicts and tend to sublimate their own needs and feelings in order to satisfy others.

Assertive behavior for effective management

Most people fall between the extremes of passive and aggressive. At these extremes, passive and aggressive behaviors hinder effective managerial relations because neither encourages openness. Effective managers need to be assertive, express their ideas and feelings openly, and stand up for their rights, and all in a way that makes it easier for those they are managing to do the same. The assertive manager is always sensitive to the needs of others; he or she does not seek to rule less assertive people. Trying to achieve dominance may produce short-term results but will not make the best use of the abilities of members of your team.

The assertive manager is straightforward yet sensitive to the needs of others

Becoming more assertive

STATE YOUR CASE Try beginning your
conversations with “I” phrases, such as
“I think,” “I believe,” or “I need.”

BE PREPARED Prepare for tricky
encounters: have all the facts on hand, and try to anticipate the other person’s replies.

USE OPEN QUESTIONS

If you are finding it hard
to get a person to talk to you, use open questions that cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” answer.

VISUALIZE YOURSELF Try assertive role play with a trusted colleague, to help you see yourself as an assertive person.

GET PERSPECTIVE Try to see a situation
from the other person’s point of view. Most workplace bullies, for example, are hiding their own insecurities or an inability to do the job.

BE PATIENT You’ll need time and practice to become comfortable with the
new behavior. Recognize that those around you may initially be uncomfortable when you start to become more assertive.

ASK YOURSELF… Am I assertive enough? yes/no type

  1. Does my response accurately reflect how I feel if I’m given a compliment about my work?
  2. Am I able to speak up when I’m in a group of strangers? .
  3. If others interrupt me when I am talking, can I hold my ground? .
  4. Do I avoid being taken advantage of by other people?
  5. Am I able to criticize others’ work if I think they might react badly? ..

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Using emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to monitor and work with your and others’ emotions. It is measured in EQ, which is the emotional equivalent of IQ. Daniel Goleman—author of the best-selling Emotional Intelligence—and other writers suggest that a technically proficient manager with a high EQ will be more successful than a manager who has only a high IQ.

Understanding EQ

Your EQ is the measure of your ability to understand and interact with others and becomes more important the more people you deal with. EQ does not measure personality traits or cognitive capacity. Emotional intelligence can be developed over time and can be improved through training and therapy. Those with a high EQ will be better able to control their own emotions, while at the same time using them as a basis for action. Working with emotions, rather than being at the mercy of them, makes individuals more successful in dealing with the demands of the environment around them. They are better able to control impulses and deal with stress, and better at problem solving. All of these qualities help the individual perform more competently at work.

CHECKLIST… Applying emotional intelligence answer in yes/no format

  1. Am I aware of my feelings and do I act accordingly?
  2. Can I share my feelings in a straightforward, composed manner?
  3. Do I treat others with compassion, sensitivity, and kindness?
  4. Am I open to the opinions and ideas of others?
  5. Can I decisively confront problem people?
  6. Do I maintain a balance between my personal life and work?

Using EI at work

To be a successful manager in today’s business world, a high EQ may be more important than sheer intellectual or technical ability. A manager who leads a project team of diverse people will need to understand and interact successfully with others. Applying emotional intelligence at work means you are open to the ideas of others and can build and mend relationships with others. You are aware of your feelings and act accordingly, articulating ideas so that others can understand them, developing rapport, building trust, and working toward consensus. Managers who are attuned to their own feelings and the feelings of others use this understanding to enhance personal, team, and organizational performance.

Managing emotions

Emotional intelligence has two aspects: one inward facing and one outward facing. The first of these is your emotional self-awareness and your ability to manage your own emotions. The second is your degree of empathy, or awareness of others’ emotions, and your ability to productively manage relationships with others. Both inward- and outward-facing aspects of emotional intelligence are made up of a number of skills or competencies.

The four competencies of emotional intelligence

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

  • Development of others
  • Inspirational leadership
  • Influence
  • Communication
  • Effecting change
  • Conflict management
  • Bond building
  • Teamwork and collaboration

INWARD COMPETENCIES

  • Emotional self-awareness
  • Accurate selfassessment
  • Self-confidence

SELF-MANAGEMENT

  • Emotional self-control
  • Trustworthiness
  • Conscientiousness
  • Achievement orientation
  • Adaptability
  • Optimism
  • Initiative

OUTWARD COMPETENCIES

SOCIAL AWARENESS

  • Empathy
  • Organizational awareness
  • Service orientation

70% of managers value EQ more highly than IQ in their employees

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Understanding yourself

Knowing yourself will give you valuable insights into your aptitude for managing others. It allows you to understand how you’re perceived by others, why they respond to you in the way they do, and how to get the best from them.

Developing self-awareness

Awareness of your emotions, personality, what you enjoy and dislike, what motivates you, and what comes easily or poses challenges is a key precursor to developing effective managerial ability. Quite simply, if you can’t manage yourself, you will not be able to manage anyone else.

Keeping moving

The best way to enhance your selfawareness is to learn in a systematic way from your own experiences. Start by reflecting on situations in your working life, your actions in response to them, and the outcomes of these events. Schedule a regular time to do this, either at the beginning or end of a workday, when you are not in the thick of the action. Give yourself space to reflect, and make sure you can be alone and uninterrupted for a significant period of time. Try to gain a better understanding of what happened and think about how you can learn from each situation.

Take time to reflect on situations in your working life, your actions in response to them, and the outcomes of these events

Analyzing your performance

Assessing your progress toward your goals can help you gain a fuller understanding of your strengths and weaknesses. Whenever you make a key decision or take a key action, write down what you expect will happen. Then, every three or four months, compare the actual results with your expectations. If you practice this method consistently, it will help you discover what you are doing, or failing to do, that deprives you of the full benefits of your strengths, and will demonstrate areas in which you are not particularly competent and cannot perform adequately.

Tip

MAKE NOTES Use your journal to “think on paper” about what you have read about management in this or other books, or your experiences in management training programs.

In focus

It is important to have a person in your life who gives you honest, gut-level feedback, to help you gain perspective on your experiences and learn from them. This should be someone you trust enough to go to when you have real problems and ask, “Am I off base here? Am I crazy?” This person could be a partner, a mentor, a best friend, a coworker, a therapist, or a personal coach. Today, many organizations are providing their managers with 360-degree feedback, allowing them to receive insights on their strengths and weaknesses from other members of staff.

Keeping a journal

Keeping a journal is a good way to help you learn from experience. Journals are similar to diaries, but include entries that address critical aspects of your managerial experiences and reflect on interactions with bosses, employees, and team-mates. If you want to solicit feedback, post your journal as an online blog.

Journal entries could describe:

  • A good (or bad) way someone handled a situation
  • A problem in the making
  • The different ways people react to situations
  • Comments about insightful or interesting quotations
  • Anecdotes, newspaper articles, or even humorous cartoons
  • Your thoughts on people in the news, or in books or movies
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Introduction

The step up to a managerial role can be an exciting, but daunting, new challenge. Suddenly, you are responsible for making sure your team is working together, achieving results, and that overall your department is running smoothly. There is no single technique to becoming an excellent manager, but the Essential Manager’s Handbook provides indispensable advice on six of the key areas of management.

Lead your team

Managing People is essential to building a high-performing team, and in this section you will learn how to attain this goal. A successful manager must learn to set targets, plan work, delegate tasks, motivate employees, appraise performance, and solve problems. Managing people is a dynamic process that is always evolving to reflect the complex workspace, but by learning the core skills outlined in this section, you will be well prepared to accommodate future change. To run your team successfully, it is critical to be seen as a good leader. Leadership is the ability to create an environment where each individual feels totally committed to doing a great job. This section provides practical advice to help you to develop your leadership skills, allowing you to realize both your own and your team’s full potential.

Achieve your potential

Achieving this potential occurs through a combination of becoming more creative and confident, and improving your communication skills. In Achieving High Performance, you will be given the tools to understand yourself, and learn how to play to your strengths and overcome your weaknesses. The Effective Communication section of this book focuses on a wide range of topics, from planning a strategy to analyzing your audience, and will allow you to learn to communicate and listen well, both to your team and to your intended market.

Improve your business skills

A good manager also needs to be a successful presenter, as presentations have become an essential tool for business communication around the world. Whether you are delivering a formal speech, giving an informal address to your staff, or communicating with the media, the elements of great presentations are described in the Presenting section in clear, concise, and practical detail. Negotiating is challenging, complex, and exciting, and another important skill that all managers should master. This section outlines various techniques that can help to make you a more successful negotiator in every situation you face; from teaching you how to manage your own emotions, to understanding your negotiation style. Throughout this book, there are many features aimed at helping you to learn the essentials of being a manager quickly and efficiently.
“Ask Yourself” boxes allow you to review your situation and assess how you can improve your skills, while “Tip” boxes provide expert advice. Case studies demonstrate real-life examples for you to learn from, and “Do’s and Don’ts” boxes provide at-a-glance advice on key topics.

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