When
I'm around other managers high ranking and lower ranking, I pay attention as
much as I can in how they handle affairs--particularly, small affairs. It is
fascinating to me, and quite illuminating.
By
small affairs I mean whether they take your call or not, how they schedule their
time, whether they are approachable or not, how calm or impatient they are,
whether their focus is on you while you are in front of them or whether they are
elsewhere mentally, if they take calls while you are there, whether they allow
interruptions during a meeting, and so on.
Having
been in management since 1975, I am fully aware of how much there is to do and
how busy one can get, but it is the ones that are so busy they haven't time for
the truly important things that miss the target as far as I'm concerned. I mean
those who have no time to discuss an idea, a potential benefit, considering it
instead an interruption to the massive list of tasks, meetings, messages and so
on.
I've
met many managers who won't go to lunch because they are so damn important and
need to be near the center of things. Yet, lunch is one of the best places to
make deals, learn new ideas, develop relationships, exchange important
information and so much more. In fact, I think taking someone to lunch is one of
the most important things to do as a manager. There is nothing like sharing food
with someone away from the telephones and paging systems and other interruptions
to get seriously important things done.
Andrew
Carnegie said it another way that is a little more clear: "The secret of success
lies not in doing your own work, but in recognizing the right man to do it."
That comes down to the most dreaded of tasks for most managers: delegation and
potential loss of authority. Yet, it is the thing that moves the needle, for it
will never move very far by the manager doing all his own work. I know. I've
tried. And, I still find myself struggle some with delegation even when I know
it is the best scenario. The reasons for holding on I would suggest are quite
meaningless, really. The true task of a good manager is a constant learning and
the active practicing of letting go.
In
letting go, expansion is possible and likely. By holding on, we become the
manager that all those who work for dread: the controller. I don't care how good
a manager you are, you cannot possibly control enough to expand to your
potential by operating in that manner. It will only be through finding the right
people and empowering them that expansion is possible, and in so doing one will
find a far more rewarding management career. And, it is only through delegation
that you will have the time and patience to get out of the office and get the
really important things done.
No comments:
Post a Comment