Evaluating Your Manager’s MAP
by Miki SaxonRichard is traveling today. Actually, he’s with the client he mentioned last week and seeing those insane Texas foreclosure auctions for himself.
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Yesterday I wrote about Phil Gerbyshak and his MAP.
He left a comment, which says, “Some days, it is hard to manage this way, for it means I am disappointed when my team doesn’t perform as well as I know they could, and I take it personally when they fail. I try my best not to take it out on them, and look for ways I can do better, ways I can reach them more, for that is my MAP.”
Phil is a VP of IT for a major financial company, so there are enormous pressures in his department.
The two key points I want you to notice are that
- he takes it personally, but
- doesn’t beat on them.
And of the two, the most important is the second one.
How many times in your career have you worked for a manager who beat on the team when they didn’t do as expected?
How many times since you became a manager have you come down on your team for screwing up?
How many times have you said, “If you guys had done it right we wouldn’t be in this mess now,” or words to that effect? Rarely? Now and then? Frequently?
Other than working off your own frustration what do you think you accomplished?
Did performance improve? Did productivity go up? Were your people motivated? Did their respect for you increase?
Was there even one positive result?
No? Then why do you keep doing it?
If you look in the mirror and see the manager I described then make this promise today—right now.
Promise yourself that you’re going to change your MAP and then set about doing it. It won’t change by itself and I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but I will guarantee it will be worth it.
You’ll have a much happier team and happy people perform better and are more productive and motivated; your turnover will go down, results will improve and you’ll ace your next review.
If you won’t do it for them—do it for yourself.
Image credit: erichews [Now with 100,000+ views!] on flickr
July 7th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Beating on folks NEVER works…at least not for very long. It’s like whipping a donkey. Eventually, their hide gets tougher and they stop responding.
Instead, focus on feeding them carrots, making them more comfortable, and show them that the RIGHT behavior will get rewarded and recognized more than doing the WRONG stuff.
I’m not saying you ignore the bad stuff, I’m just saying if you focus on that, you’re already a step behind where you could be.
Catch them doing something right TODAY!
July 7th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Hi Phil, but you have to admit that beating on folks does assure you of meeting lots of new people and getting lots of practice interviewing not to mention the use your GPS will get as you learn new routes to your latest employer.