Management is a dirty word these days; most articles talking about what and how people manage peg the information to ‘leadership’, don’t mention managing and never call them managers.

But they are.

So today I offer you a selection of information about managing.

We’ll start with a McKinsey article that, although it talks about bosses and uses the L word, does a good job spelling out the importance of being tuned into your people

Bosses matter to everyone they oversee, but they matter most to those just beneath them in the pecking order: the people they guide at close range, who constantly tangle with the boss’s virtues, foibles, and quirks.

And although classic management strategy involves being highly visible, according to HBS professor Anita Tucker, just being there isn’t enough.

Managers who merely put in time “walking the floor” are not doing enough when it comes to problem solving; in fact, it can make employees feel worse about their situation.

Next we take a look at what it takes for managers to motivate their people that includes a surprising finding.

The things that make people satisfied and motivated on the job are different in kind from the things that make them dissatisfied.

A fun and informative post from BNET looks at errors made by newly promoted first time managers and provides a link that looks at what companies do to help.

Last year the Institute for Corporate Productivity surveyed hundreds of employees to determine how well their companies helped people make the switch to management.

Finally, a let’s take a look at the question of how young bosses should go about managing older employees. This Harvard Business Review post offers some good basics when it comes to managing, but the idea that the concepts are peculiar to the situation of younger managing older is ridiculous. Read it and tell me if there are any employees that wouldn’t respond well to being managed as described, or any manager who wouldn’t do better managing that way.

And while we are on the subject of young and old I want to share an article that goes a long way to correcting—or at least reminding us—that we really don’t know what someone else is thinking.

I asked her why she had come to the nursing home, and she described the recent passing of her husband after 73 years of marriage. I was overwhelmed by the thought of her loss, and wanted to offer some words of comfort. I leaned in close and spoke.

“I’m so sorry,” I told her. “What has it been like for you losing your husband after so many years of marriage?”

She paused for a moment and then replied: “Heaven.”

Enjoy!

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedroelcarvalho/2812091311/

Ask anyone if it’s easy to accomplish a task through others and be prepared for eye rolls and laughter.

In a post at Managing Salespeople, Dr. Jim Sellner talks about why managing is so difficult.

Management is not something you do once then sit back and enjoy your work. It’s a never-ending, unfolding story with many subplots. It is a mindset, a viewpoint, not only of work, or people, but of one’s worldview. It’s about making unique, often seemingly disconnected associations, connecting the interactions no one else sees. It is ongoing curiosity, questioning, searching for something new, different, better — posing the uncomfortable questions like “What if?” or “Why not?” That is the stuff of managing people.

Sounds a lot like a description of parenting, doesn’t it?

No, your team members aren’t children or crazy hormonal teenagers, although at times they may act that way, but even when they are acting like responsible adults they still need you.

• They need you to share the vision, so they know and understand why they are doing the work they do. They need you to provide all the information to do that work efficiently.

• They need you to challenge them, so they can grow to and beyond what they think is possible.

• They need you to trust them enough to let them make their own mistakes so they can learn from them.

• They need you to believe in them, encourage them and cheer them on.

So the next time one of your team comes to you, whether at work or at home, don’t short-change them with a brush-off response.

Remember that it was your choice; nobody put a gun to your head and forced you—you chose to be a manager, you wanted to have kids.

Now is the time to be the best that you can be—even if your manger/parent isn’t/wasn’t.

Image credit: Svadilfari on flickr

The first Monday of the month is the signal for another Leadership Development Carnival, but don’t be fooled, it covers management and other associated topics. It is hosted this month by Sharlyn Lauby at HR Bartender and written by some of the most talented folks in the blogsphere.

It’s an extensive selection, enough to keep you going all month.

In putting together today’s carnival, I thought it might be fun to ask how long people have been blogging – their blogging “anniversary” if you will.  It was interesting to hear their answers.  On one hand, blogging has been around for a long time.  Dave Winer, author of Scripting News, has one of the oldest weblogs and it was established in 1997.  But notice the number of posts from bloggers who have been writing two years or less.  It’s very cool to see engagement from people who have been blogging for years along with the excitement of people who have been blogging for months.

10+ YearsEven if you’re not a woman or managing a non-profit, there are some classic management tips in Wild Woman Fundraising’s post Advanced Fundraising: Managing Others.

6 Years

David Zinger shares his insights about engagement in Dear Leader: An Open Employee Engagement Letter.

No, Team Leaders Should Not Behave Differently is the sage advice offered by Denise O’Berry at Intuit’s The QuickBase Blog.

5 Years

Anna Farmery at The Engaging Brand Blog talks about the heart of employee engagement in Are there 3 in your relationship!

Over at Ep!c Living blog, Eric Pennington says It’s Almost Never About You and describes the dangers of making clients second and the importance of leaving “self” behind.

Janna Rust at Purposeful Leadership blog presents her take on productivity in The Productivity Paradox: Slow Down to Speed Up.

4 Years

Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership Blog tells us in his post Strengths, Weaknesses, Your Team, and You that it’s not about individuals or the team.  It’s about both accomplishing the mission and helping team members develop.

If you are looking for practical lessons to initiate changes smoothly, look no further than the post from Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace titled Initiating A Change? Ponder This.

Jason Seiden of Fail Spectacularly fame keeps us grounded in his post, Indispensable? I doubt it. You’re simply not that important.

Companies are looking for people who can help their bottom line.  The Digerati Life gives us seven ways to show the boss what we’re made of in Hoping For a Job Promotion? How to Get Promoted at Work.

In this “relationship economy”, building lasting relationships with your customers is no longer optional.  Tanmay Vora discusses the 3 Lessons in Building Great Relationships with Customers at QAspire Blog.

Miki Saxon at MAPping Company Success explains in her post, Leadership’s Future: To Hire and Hold (Millennials), that if you want a happy workforce, you need to provide the same things that make for a happy family.

At Joe and Wanda on Management, we learn the three most important words in business and how to create and environment of mutual support in the post, Checking Six.

3 Years

Lisa Rosendahl reminds us there’s no place for Chicken Little when it comes to leadership in her post, If Your Sky Falls, It Won’t Be Because of Social Media.

Persistence pays! is the message by Leader Business blog.  Author Karl Marlantes endeavored for 32 years to get his book published.  Blogger Tom Magness asks us how hard we are willing to work toward achieving our goals.

Instead of squeezing more stuff into the day, the Monevator shares with us a new killer method for better time management in the post, Personal Time Management for Fun and Profit.

Music plays a critical role in jumping folk’s spirits.  Check out EzineArticles.com’s Coping with Colleague’s Stress at Work to find out how background music can increase workplace productivity.

2 Years

Our carnival leader, Dan McCarthy, just wrapped up an awesome series titled, The Little Things Make a BIG Difference as a Leader – Part 5: A Pat on the Back.  Be sure to check out the entire series over at Great Leadership blog.

Mary Jo Asmus from Aspire Collaborative Services helps us create organizational change by outlining the steps to move From Resistance to Participation.

The team over at Talented Apps tells us how a diverse social network can help you not be as vulnerable to your subtle, internal biases and blind spots in How Can Your Network Help Your Inner Homer? Doh!

The very dapper host of HR Happy Hour, Steve Boese, shares with us how the best leaders are not afraid to coach and mentor their top performers in The Wisdom of Jeff Van Gundy – Part II.  If you didn’t catch Part I of this post, you can check it out here.

The i4cp blog suggests succession planning is not just a flawed term but a flawed paradigm.  They recommend to organizations Don’t Plan Succession, Manage It.

Michael Lee Stallard at E Pluribus Partners explains that task excellence along isn’t enough.  The answer lies in The Science of Employee Engagement.

Forbes said good leaders recognize when patterns change.  Anne Perschel over at Germane Insights Blog writes they were wrong.  Good leaders SEE INTO the FUTURE.

In order to understand ourselves, we need to Explore Life Purpose.  Mike King at Learn This takes us on the journey.

It’s a classic message.  Want to become successful? Raise Your Standard of Excellence from How to Become Successful! blog.

Bob Lieberman talks about organizational survival in his post The Need for Nerve.

Being a good project manager is an important skill for the future.  Take a look at the Project Management Interview Questions and Answers to see if you have what it takes to manage the important task of making sure projects are on-time, within quality standards and at budget.

A key skill for any leader is public speaking.  Matt Eventoff at Communications 3.0 coaches us on effective speeches in Clash of the Titans, Public Speaking and Chris Christie.  Good tips for anyone who presents information.

1 Year

Jennifer V. Miller of The People Equation cautions organizations about encouraging “fearlessness”.  See how leaders can stay on the “light side” of the force in her post the Boundaries of Fearlessness.

Celebrating her one year blogging anniversary is Becky Robinson at Mountain State University’s Leader Talk blog.  Her post titled Are Homogeneous Groups Better? is a must-read.

Also celebrating his one year anniversary is Dr. Bret Simmons.  Be sure to check out his post about Strength-Based, Individual Leadership. How Does it Affect your Team?

Rob Tucker describes the Three Barriers to Owning your Leadership Development at Reading About Leading blog.

Joshua Noerr provides us with three easy steps in Difficult Discussions.  Be sure to check out his blog Personal Development, One Mind at a Time.

Dean L. Forbes discusses the powerful principles of personal growth in his posts Attitude, Aptitude & Altitude and The Natural Law of Awareness.

Over at The Bloom Blog, Lisa Ann Edwards explains leadership in terms such as Gemstones and Spark and shares wonderful stories of people who possess those qualities.

6 Months

Jane Perdue, the one and only HR Goddess, gives us Advice from the Cheshire Puss on Finding Your Purpose at Life, Love & Leadership blog.

Mike Henry at Lead Change Group reminds us that our friends and the people we associate with set the boundaries of our future.  He suggests socializing with high-caliber leaders to become one in his post, Your Friends and Your Future.

Confronting someone is never a favorite task, but sometimes necessary to manage performance.  The Thriving Small Business blog shows us How to Confront Negative Employee Behaviors.

David Burkus from The Leader Lab explains Situational Leadership theory and why you should care about it in the post Path-Goal Theory.

The Zenger Folkman Blog tells a tale in A Monster of a Problem: How to Help Leaders Be More Inspiring.

The editor of Your Best Library shares the answer to What is the number one skill that determines the success or failure in life?

According to The SALT & Pepper Group, there are seven core leadership styles.  In their series wrap up, titled The 8th Leader, they share a specific classification system of leadership.

Timeless?

Some of our contributors have either been blogging so long they’ve forgotten or not long enough to keep track.  Regardless, their posts are worthy of a visit.

Tom Glover at Reflection Leadership tells us the best way to learn is by doing in Leadership Development: Just in Case or Just in Time.

Rodney Johnson provides some key learnings in What We Can Learn From March MADNESS.

Kevin Eikenberry shares The Five Lessons of the Eraser at Leadership & Learning blog.

MSP University’s Managed Services Blog begins an outline of the sales process in Step 1 of the 7-Step Sales Process: Strategic Preparation

And wrapping up the carnival is CMOE Consultants who channeled the wisdom of Dwight Eisenhower in their post Leadership by Leading.

I frequently hear from managers in nonprofits that it’s frustrating that so much of the management information available can’t really be implemented in their specialized environment.

I was dumbfounded the first time I heard that and asked why not; I’ve ask the same question every time since (a lot of times) and get similar answers.

These usually fall in one of two broad categories

• they are focused on “doing good” unlike “business;” and/or
• they are staffed by volunteers.

I have an accounting friend who hears similar reactions when he insists on good accounting practices and financial controls.

Many say that they are more comfortable with leadership advice, since communicating a vision is part of their job description, but setting standards, developing and implementing accountability and then holding people to them feels too “corporate.”

When this happens I usually refer them to take a look at the path blazed by the Robin Hood Foundation and, more recently, read the interview with Tachi Yamada, M.D., president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program

These five random comments from Yamada are no different than what you’ll hear from any manager skilled in driving innovation, productivity and finding solutions through his people.

• I think the most difficult transition for anybody from being a worker bee to a manager is this issue of delegation. What do you give up? How can you have the team do what you would do yourself without you doing it?
• That probably was the most important lesson I learned — that what’s out there is more important than what you already know, and that you’d better go out and learn what it is out there that you don’t know.
• So what I learned from him is that when you actually are with somebody, you’ve got to make that person feel like nobody else in the world matters. (no cell no blackberry)
• One of the things I’ve learned is that you can’t go into an organization, fire everybody and bring in everybody you want. You have to work with the people you have. … Everybody has their good points. Everybody has their bad points. If you can bring out the best in everybody, then you can have a great organization.

Read the interview and understand that what he talks about applies equally well to small, local non-profits as it does to the multibillion dollar organization he runs—not to mention for-profit businesses of any size.

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Last Monday we discussed some of the ridiculous reasons that managers use to excuse their lack of fairness and Tuesday we covered what most employees actually mean by ‘fair’.

The main focus was on compensation and that doesn’t begin to cover it.

Unfair treatment from pay to perks to training to strokes to any form of attention will create problems.

Note: I didn’t say ‘might’ or ‘may’ cause problems, but will cause them.

Not just engagement, motivation and retention problems, but also problems with creativity, innovation, initiative (AKA leadership) and especially trust—there won’t be any.

So let’s be clear.

There is no acceptable reason to treat any of your people unfairly.

How do you know that you are being unfair?

I have never met or heard of any managers who didn’t know deep down that they were being unfair.

They may ignore their actions and practice extreme awareness avoidance regarding their reasons, but they know.

The solution is simply to stop; there is no fancy action list; no books to read, no research to do.

You know when you do it, so you’ll know when you stop.

Simple—yes; easy—no. But it has to be done if you want your team to excel.

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Yesterday I told you how monkeys lose productivity when treated unfairly.

Unlike the managers I described in that post, good managers know that unequal pay, but they also know that it’s not just a matter of title/grade.

Not everyone with the same title deserves the same compensation—in fact, to do so would be extremely unfair!

Most companies establish a range for each job and some guidelines within each range, but the guides frequently fall short of what’s needed in the real world.

How do you draw the lines to achieve fairness?

You might think that ‘fair’ is some kind of universal one-size-fits-all yardstick, but all the people I’ve talked with over the years define ‘fair’ relative to themselves and those around them.

Developers working in a small local company didn’t compare their salaries to the developers in IBM, nor to their bosses. They compared them to their peers, i.e., similar job, experience, background, company, industry, location and, lastly, title.

Workers are well aware that every position has a salary range; what they want is for their level within that range to make sense.

The problems arise when the person they sit next to gets X more dollars or a promotion for reasons such as those mentioned yesterday, reasons having nothing to do with skill, experience, attitude or actual work.

This is the critical knowledge that helps you develop working guidelines for your company’s ranges.

Let’s say that ABC Corporation uses a three-level structure in engineering: engineer I, engineer II, and senior engineer and that there’s a $20K range within each level. They currently have five people who are Engineer II. The salary range is $60K – $80K. Of the current people:

• Judy was recently promoted and is at $62K;
• Jim, $68K, and Craig, $72K, both have been working for six years. Although Jim has an MBA, he started in sales engineering while Craig had three years’ experience in a specifically needed skill when he was hired.
• Tracy is making mid-seventies with five years of direct experience; and
• Kim, at $80K and due for promotion, has a Masters’ and 17 years of experience, 5 of them in ABC’s field.

Although they’re all Engineer II, because the salary differences are based on factual points, not charm, politics, or managerial whim, the group is satisfied that they’re being treated fairly.

As usual, it’s not rocket science, it’s common sense—but I’m starting to think that common sense is rocket science these days.

But fairness is about more than just pay; please join me next Monday for further discussion.

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As you may know, I coach with a focus on MAP—it’s effects, uses and how to enhance/change it—so I tend to collect articles and information that will help illustrate and/or drive home a critical point.

MAP is both timely and timeless with the same topics arising in successive generations of managers, so the past articles are often of just as much use now as when they were written.

Obvious as it may seem, fair treatment of employees is one of those things to which managers constantly make exceptions citing all sorts of ‘reasons’.

Years ago I read an article about a study by Sarah Brosnan.

Briefly, what Sarah did using capuchin monkeys working in pairs was to start by rewarding them equally with a slice of cucumber for performing a specific task, then rewarding one of the working pair with a grape instead (capuchins eat cucumbers, but love grapes). The results? The performance went from 95% success to 60%, but at least they still did the same amount of work. However, when one received the grape for doing less work, i.e., not performing the task at all, the success level dropped like a stone—all the way down to 20% for the cucumber crowd.

OK, back to the managers. Frequently, when I ask managers about a discrepancy in treatment, compensation, promotion, etc., what I often hear is along the lines of, “X and Y are equal with similar experience attitude, and duties, but…” and they finish the sentence with comments such as:

• “X should earn more because he’s supporting a family.”
• “X needs the promotion because her husband walked out on her.”
• “X just moved here and the housing is expensive!”
• “X is too short to be a manager.”
• “X and I went to the same school.”
• “X is cute.”
• “X reminds me of _________ so I will/won’t…”
• “I don’t like X.”

Enough! This list could go on all day, and it just gets sillier.

However, what never ceases to amaze me is that these managers see nothing wrong (let alone illegal) in their actions and expect either no repercussions or maybe some minor grumbling—or they just don’t care.

What they never seem to expect are significant drops in productivity, high levels of turnover (no matter the economy) and the occasional lawsuit.

In fact, most of them are shocked when something does happen, and harbor serious doubts as to whether the inequities actually have anything to do with it.

Of course, the most hilarious justification I hear is that “nobody will find out.”

You would not believe just how many line managers at all levels, not to mention HR people, actually believe that people don’t discuss their compensation/stock packages.

Some companies even have rules stating discussing it is not allowed and can be “cause for dismissal.” These aren’t old-line, dark ages managers I’m talking about, but enlightened, 21^st century, believe-in-empowerment types.

When will managers learn that secret compensation is right up there on the reality scale with Santa and the Tooth Fairy?

Being treated fairly has always been at or very near the top of people’s wish list. The only real change in the last thousand-or-so years is that it’s moving from the wish list to the demand list.

Since I first read the article I’ve shared it with managers who don’t have a clue; I’ve even emailed it to some of them, but it doesn’t always work.

In fact, the result can be hilarious. Once, when I was at my wit’s end, I sat down with the densest manager I ever worked with and we went through it together.

After discussing it in detail looked at me like I was nuts and said, “So what? I hire people, not monkeys.”

I kid you not!

Please join me tomorrow for a look at what ‘fair’ really means.

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Friday I quoted Henry Mintzberg, the man Tom Peters called the world’s premier management thinker. I hope you clicked and read the short opinion piece in Business Week.

Here is a link to an interview in the Wall Street Journal that will give you more substance on his new book, Managing.

Mintzberg says that, “Basically, managing is about influencing action. … One step removed, they manage people. Managers deal with people who take the action… And two steps removed from that, managers manage information to drive people to take action… too much managing through information—what I call “deeming,” and says his four year old daughter can do that.

“The alternative is to give more attention to the people plane and the action plane. Even when you’re managing information, you can manage in a much more nuanced way than just shooting a bunch of figures around.”

You can check out more about Managing at Amazon. I just ordered my copy (it’s available now, not September) and I recommend that you do the same.

I honestly believe that this will be one of the most valuable business books to be published in a long time.

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Just one more week in which to share your favorite business OMG moments for the chance to win a copy of Jason Jenning’s Hit The Ground Running.

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You may not be a CEO, you can learn from from them and tweak the information to work for you.

First is an article written by Neeraj Bhargava, who co-founded India’s WNS Global Services and ended up CEO. It’s interesting because the focus his learning curve in an overheated market, how he hired an exceptional team and got out of their way.

Next is an interview with James J. Schiro, CEO of Zurich Financial Services (they didn’t crash and burn) focusing on what he’s learned, how he manages, how he uses social media and building the company’s culture.

CEOs jobs are safer than they’ve been in a long time. That’s right, their boards and investors are sticking with the devil they know and giving them time to succeed, instead of turning them like flapjacks.

My final offering is for all you road warriors (warrior wannabes) or just people who like to work away from the office. If you have an iPhone or Blackberry you can do all your Office applications on it. (Better you than me:)

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I’ve never been a lover of the MBA, its almost holy status, depending on the school, and especially its dominance on Wall Street,

In a recent post Justine Larbalestier said, “I was fascinated by Background Briefing’s recent documentary about the emergence of business schools and their effect on corporate culture and its relationship to the current crisis: MBA: Mostly Bloody Awful.”

I agree with Justine regarding the illogic of assuming that people can walk in and manage or advise a business of which they know little to nothing, especially with little to no experience.

It’s said that MBA can also stand for ‘Mediocre but Arrogant’ or ‘Management by Accident’; I would add Muddled by Ascendancy and Master Bull Artist.

The podcast by ABC Radio’s Stephen Crittenden is excellent. I hope you’ll take the time to listen and, hopefully, rethink some of your hiring assumptions.

MBA: Mostly bloody awful

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Podcast credit: ABCRadio

Image credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com on flickr