Management Craft

7 Ways to Not be a Great Leader @rajsetty

Being a star performer usually leads to rapid advancement up the career ladder.  But a star performer doesn't always make a great leader.  Why?  Pal and fellow biz book author Raj Setty outlines 7 top reasons for this from different skill sets to limiting employees' growth to being uncomfortable out of the spotlight.  But by addressing these issues, a star performer can indeed become an effective leader and create more star performers.  Check out Raj's great post here.

But I Don't Like Following the Rules! @drbret

Never has there been a blog post title that I more represented than the one above. My parents would have diplomatically called me "a spirited child," one boss early in my career told me I was a pain in the #$%&#. :-)

Do we really need rules in the workplace?  Aren't we all adults who know what we should or shouldn't do?  Of course we know.  But should and do can be very far apart.  Bret Simmons discusses that while rules should be kept to a minimum, good rules do serve a purpose.  He also discusses how NOT to use rules.  My favorite line from his blog is "Always stand behind, but never hide behind, your rules."  And when a rule becomes non-productive and ineffective, be merciless in getting rid of it.

Read Bret's post here.

The Process of the Good Life

"The process of the good life is not, I am convinced, a life for the faint-hearted. It involves the stretching and growing of becoming more and more of ones potentialities. It involves the courage to be. It means launching oneself fully into the stream of life." Carl Rogers

I just found this quote in my notebook and thought I would share it with you. The key part of this idea, I think, is the word "process." The good life is not a designation, a characteristic, or an outcome, but a process in which we either choose to engage in fully or something less than this.

You can't expect what you don't model, and you can't expect they be like you. Huh? #management

Here is a management conundrum.

1. You cannot expect people to be what you aren't. If you want high flexibility and partnership - you need to show them what great flexibility and partnership look like in practice. You cannot expect your team members to be any more engaged or excited about their work than you appear to be.

2. You cannot expect your employees to think or act like you. Just because you see the logic and value in being a certain way or practicing particular habits, does not mean that others will agree and follow suit. Everyone has a different style and set of preferred practices. You can try to impact how team members do their work through inspiration, clarity, engagement, and enrollment. But you should not assume that because you think something is logical and correct that others will fall into lock step.

#1 requires commitment and resoluteness. #2 requires flexibility and connectivity. It's a tall and tough challenge to do both well. Some of you might be thinking, "hmmm, how is that fair?" Welcome to management-land. The place where you need to be your best all the time and hope to bring that out in others.

This is why I respect those who take on the role of manager so much. The services that great managers provide organizations and that help teams turn ideas into outcomes are transformative.