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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
A smart, small book for any manager’s pocket.
In every manager’s career there are moments where decisions need to be made in order to achieve success and this smart, nicely packaged little book can be there to help each time. The trick to succeeding in these moments is to identify each of these situations ahead of time and understand how to act and what to do to reduce the chances of failure. That is exactly what The Little Black Book for Managers has done. The authors have listed a whole host of situations most managers face, based on thousands of personal experiences, and have mapped out how to deal with each situation. The book contains specific examples of words and phrases that can be used as well as illustrations and exercises to analyse your current performance. It is short on waffle and high on practical wisdom. It is designed to be dipped in and out of – reached for whenever a situation arises. This is a practical support tool for managers at all levels, from shop-floor supervisor to main board director.
The Little Black Book for Managers explains how to deal with scenarios such as;
- Having a lack of confidence to deal with other people in the way that is needed
- Times when you have to assert your authority more
- Allocating critical work. Who to choose?
- Needing to get extra effort from the team when under pressure
- Incentivising
- Delegation
- Having to deal with under-performers
- Personality clashes between work colleagues
- Managing a meeting with senior leaders
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Seitenzahl: 228
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013
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Table of Contents
Endorsements
Copyright page
Title page
Foreword
Introduction
Part One: Your Rewarding Job
1: Your Responsibilities
1.1 Ignore your job description
1.2 Embrace your role as a soccer coach and an orchestra conductor
1.3 Focus on customer satisfaction
2: Your Goals
2.1 Let your people set their own objectives
2.2 Try not to set targets
2.3 Identify performance potential
3: Your Performance
3.1 Have up-to-date performance statistics at your fingertips
3.2 Draw an activity tree
3.3 Don't shy away from making or recommending big investments
3.4 Prepare for the possibility that every action you take, may inadvertently create an equal and opposite reaction
4: Your Messages
4.1 Create sticky headline messages
4.2 Change behaviours
4.3 Don't underestimate the costs or timescales of any changes
4.4 Do good
Part Two: It's All About You
5: Your Focus
5.1 Inspire them!
5.2 Spend more time managing, less time operating
5.3 Focus on your strengths, don't dwell on your weaknesses
6: Your Time
6.1 Invest your time – don't spend it!
6.2 Protect yourself against time stealers
6.3 Listen more than you talk
6.4 Infect everyone around you with your upbeat mood and positive attitude
7: Your Image
7.1 Forget about being liked
7.2 Don't undermine yourself
7.3 Share your issues and problems
7.4 Express your opinion – otherwise others will assume you don't have one
8: Your Ideas
8.1 Expect your ideas to be ridiculed
8.2 Start and finish intriguingly
8.3 Make your actions speak louder than your words
8.4 Collect “yeses”
8.5 Under promise and over deliver
Part Three: Your Team Is What You Make It
9: Your Interactions
9.1 Make your employees happy!
9.2 Don't wait until they knock on your door
9.3 Give and show more trust
9.4 Be willing to give people more responsibility than they (or you) expect
10: Your Authority
10.1 Use your authority wisely
10.2 Sell the need for change before the change
10.3 Listen for silence
10.4 Deal swiftly with conflict and personality clashes
11: Your Successes and Failures
11.1 Build confidence by reacting to team wins and team losses appropriately
11.2 Celebrate advances fairly
11.3 Stop rumours by sharing the brutal truth early
11.4 Don't shoot the messenger
12: Your Meetings
12.1 Don't buy in team building events – do them yourself
12.2 Encourage your people to put on the Six Thinking Hats
12.3 Use brainstorming and Mind Mapping to generate lots of ideas and options
12.4 Deal with disruptive behaviour
13: Your People
13.1 Talk about the different generations
13.2 Understand the Specialists and Plants of the Belbin model
13.3 Don't assume that you get the full picture from those far away
13.4 Don't tolerate a warm body
Part Four: Your Talented Staff
14: Their Personalities
14.1 It's your duty to kick and pat!
14.2 Spread understanding of different attitudes and behaviours through MBTI
14.3 Put yourself forward for a 360˚
14.4 Know when to adapt or innovate
14.5 Recruit the person and not the CV/résumé
15: Their Reactions
15.1 Don't improve the plan if it loses their commitment
15.2 Let your people see the end results of their efforts
15.3 Watch out for signs of stress
16: Their Motivations
16.1 Prioritize team awards over individual recognition
16.2 Don't treat people the way you wish to be treated
16.3 Rethink the idea of incentives
16.4 Give more than money
16.5 Know when it's time for the stick!
17: Their Talents
17.1 Recognize their number one talent
17.2 Let your people make mistakes!
17.3 Ask, don't tell!
17.4 Delegate more often as a sign of the trust you have in others!
18: Their Behaviours
18.1 Be on your guard for monkeys!
18.2 Don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness
18.3 Just say “no” to micromanagement
18.4 “I feel that …”
19: Their Career Changes
19.1 Deal with difficult people
19.2 Consider if a change of culture is needed
19.3 Accept that sometimes they have to go
19.4 Accept when it's time for you to move on
Conclusion
Further Reading
About the Authors
Acknowledgements
Index
“An utterly engaging book that offers practical advice for managers at all levels. If you want to be a better manager – keep this little book handy and refer to it often.”
Ranulph Fiennes, Expedition Leader and Writer
“With this ‘little black book’ on their desk, managers' confidence should be restored.”
Major General Patrick Cordingley, Commander of the Desert Rats in the first Gulf War
“Practical examples and thoughtful analysis – this book is what it says on the cover: a handbook, to be kept at your side and referred to often.”
Steve Maine, TMT Chief Executive
“The Little Black Book for Managers is written in a delightful style which encompasses the authors' wide experience, practical approach, assertive manner, and above all their original and inspirational style. It should be required reading for aspiring or ambitious managers in every field.”
Lt-Gen Sir Robin Ross KCB, OBE, former Commandant-General, Royal Marines
“Bridges academic research, experience and knowledge into something that truly provides managers and leaders with useful, tangible advice, converting the complex into the simple. Brilliant.”
Richard Knight OBE, Operations Director, Newcastle International Airport
“I would challenge anyone who has been a manager not to have a wry smile when reading and recognising themselves in these situations.”
Caroline Evans, Learning & Development Manager, Marshall Aerospace
“At last! This great little no-nonsense new book fills the yawning gap that, in my opinion, has existed for decades within the management training armoury.”
Malcolm Diamond MBE, Chairman, Trifast plc
“Management is more art than science. This Little Black Book invites the reader to develop their own management art through observation, experience, openness and personal authenticity. Dip in here and there, or dive in for total immersion. Either way, use it again and again to hone your management performance.”
Paul Burfitt, former Global CIO, AstraZeneca plc
“Every senior manager at Fugro has had the benefit of training by John and his team. The core of John's message is well captured in The Little Black Book for Managers. Uncluttered and easy to follow, the material is readily accessible and effective for use by managers in their daily life.”
Paul van Riel, Chairman, Fugro nv
“A very worthwhile book that will benefit every management student, as well as providing straightforward and valuable advice to managers facing real challenges in their demanding roles both now and in the future.”
John Steele, former Group Personnel Director, BT plc
“A remarkable book about managing people and objectives. I loved it.”
Sir Peter Bonfield, CBE, FREng
“This is not like most management books you will have read or have on your shelves. There's at least one challenge, two interesting management stories, and three options to think about on every page. Not always comfortable – seeing how often I could have done something better – but a lot of gems in one concise volume.”
Clive Ansell, CEO, Systems & Applications, Tribal Group plc
“Like the yucca plant, this book is such a joy that I suspect it will soon be seen in every manager's office!”
Geoff Burch, Writer and Conference Speaker
“Smashingly insightful – John, Rafael and Kevin have captured in these few pages what many of us have taken four decades to learn through experience and trial and error.”
Phil Stutes, Regional Manager Americas, Fugro Survey
“Whether you are just starting your managerial career, in the middle or at the top of your profession, The Little Black Book for Managers is an essential reference for all.”
Stewart Davies, Managing Partner MLC50LLP
“An influential and valuable work that combines management theory with practical experiences.”
Ray Wood CEng, MBA, Executive Vice President
“Valuable advice on how to inspire your staff and manage more successfully.”
Steve Morgan OBE, Chairman, Redrow plc
“Managers at all levels looking for ways to improve performance will find here a wealth of accessible nuggets drawn from practical experience across many companies and sectors.”
Sir Peter Norriss, KBE, CB, AFC, former Air Force Board member, Chairman and Non-executive Director
“Some intriguing and powerful ideas. Easy to recall advice – and the stories it contains makes it fun to read.”
Martin Hess, Vice President, HP Enterprise Services
“A guide and resource for creative managers who want to achieve more.”
Pieter van Oord, CEO Van Oord b.v., Dredging and Marine Contractors
© 2013 John Cross, Rafael Gomez and Kevin Money
Moments of power is a registered trademark owned by John Cross
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cross, John, 1947–
The little black book for managers: how to maximize your key management moments of power / John Cross, Rafael Gomez, Kevin Money.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-74423-9 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-118-74422-2 (ebk) – ISBN 978-1-118-74419-2 (ebk) 1. Decision making. 2. Management. I. Gomez, Rafael, 1972– II. Money, Kevin, 1972– III. Title.
HD30.23.C76 2013
658.4’03–dc23
2013027320
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-118-74423-9 (hbk) ISBN 978-1-118-74422-2 (ebk)
ISBN 978-1-118-74419-2 (ebk)
Cover design by Parent Design Ltd
Foreword
Hello, I’m John. I started writing this book primarily for my three grown-up children. They have progressed well in their careers and have become managers, responsible for the performance of others; but none has ever received any meaningful training or development to help them understand the roles and responsibilities of a manager. Nor have they received any advice in dealing with common situations they find at work. Unfortunately, their situation is not at all uncommon.
Separately, as the Chief Executive of iSolon Limited for the past 13 years, I have been designing learning and development programmes for major corporations and delivering them around the world. Although the objectives of each programme have varied widely, the main content has tended to focus upon leadership and management issues.
This book, then, is an attempt to help every manager, including my children, deal with the challenges that each day brings. It combines the lessons I have learned the hard way, with material that I have quoted from others who have inspired me through their books, articles and analysis, with advice gained by listening to those far wiser than me.
For the past dozen years or so, I have read almost every issue of the Harvard Business Review and McKinsey Quarterly and scoured the pages of the Financial Times for management analysis and insight. All three publications have proved enormously valuable to me.
The result is that after more than 12 months of writing (and a lifetime of learning), I offer to you my personal management and leadership insights. Each of the recommendations, techniques and models that I suggest are frequently interdependent or mutually reinforcing and are therefore designed to be added to the previous ones.
Why You Should Read This Book
Imagine this: You've just settled into your airline seat and told to “relax and enjoy the flight.” No chance – but wait, the pilot has another announcement. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a very proud day for me because I'm looking forward to making my first take-off and landing. My boss has told me that because of my work on compiling the company's health and safety manual, I would make a good pilot. So here I am. I start my training next year – but the boss thought it would be a good idea to throw me in at the deep end and see how I get on. Now – where's the ignition key?”
They don't let you loose with a couple of hundred passengers and a $30m aircraft without proper training, a licence from the regulatory authorities and periodic ability checks by your peers. But it seems OK to give someone a dozen people of mixed abilities, ages and ethnicity; a number of activities to complete; a set of company processes, procedures and quality standards; a set of team objectives and key performance targets; and a budget. Suck it and see! No problem!
Pilots train and re-train constantly and undergo periodic capability checks. Sadly, the vast majority of managers don't, and yet the story of Captain Sully, the US Airlines pilot who safely landed his plane on the Hudson River1*, is testament to the power of ongoing training and regular capability checks.
Being a manager is a profession, like being a pilot, doctor or accountant is a profession. But when promoted to manage pilots, doctors or accountants, I believe people should re-train in their new role. Yes – knowledge of flying, medicine or International Financial Reporting Standards will help, but they are not the primary responsibility. So, whatever your technical discipline, your primary responsibility, or “profession”, is management.
This book is your handy practical “toolkit” or “field guide” to management. It is designed so that you can “dip in and dip out” to self-check your preference for a particular course of action against an alternative. You can use it also to maximize the benefit from situations when you can have the most impact, because it contains the tools and techniques to leverage those opportunities and avoid potential risks. Some of the tools and techniques won't fit your situation precisely, but neither can the rich kaleidoscope of “How To” leadership and management book models that are offered. They can't. But a few of the tools I offer for your consideration might fit well enough to make your life a little bit easier and a little bit more rewarding. Which ones? Only you can tell.
You might notice that there are some deliberate contradictions. Why? Because there is no “one size fits all” in management. Different personalities, when in exactly the same circumstances, may need different management handling. People from different cultures will respond differently to a universal management style.
You may instinctively agree with some of my recommendations and yet reject others. But whether you agree with it or not, aim to put the advice into your specific context and culture and twist it into a shape that is compatible with your circumstances, personality and prejudices.
During the process of writing, Kevin Money and Rafael Gomez kindly agreed to help me. Their deep understanding of the economic motives and underlying psychology of much of what is recommended for the reader to consider, means that the following advice is supported not only from the experiences of literally hundreds of managers, but is also in line with the latest academic thinking. However, we have decided to retain the first person singular style as we all believe that you will benefit more from a private and confidential style.
How to Use This Book
This is not a “beginning, middle and end” type of book. The book is structured in terms of the events and personal interactions that form an essential part of a manager's life – from setting objectives, to managing a meeting with colleagues and appraising the performance of others – so you can immediately access the help you need.
Part 1 – “Your Rewarding Job” is all about the main aspects of your job, such as setting objectives and targets; you'll find methods to help you modularize workflow patterns and identify possible areas for improvement. I will emphasize the importance of collecting and maintaining accurate and up-to-date performance data, and show how to respond to requests for time and money estimates.
Part 2 – “It's All About You” is all about you, the manager, where you can examine your strengths and weaknesses; the kind of example you will set to your colleagues and the decisions you make about how to spend your time; and how to avoid undermining yourself, and thereby diminish your power to influence and persuade others.
Part 3 – “Your Team is What You Make it” is all about the people that work with and under you. You'll learn how to incentivize them to exceed previous achievements; how to improve your team's ratings from supplier and customer groups; how to maximize the benefit of team meetings; and how to deal with the big issues that face you and your colleagues.
Part 4 – “Your Talented Staff” is all about individual team members; finding out how to leverage their individual talents and mitigate their weaknesses; how to get them to understand and appreciate the talents of their colleagues; how to recruit a new team member and how to upskill your team by asking a poor performer to leave. Most importantly, I will ask you to be flexible enough to allow some of your people total freedom while others are closely monitored.
Keep This Book Handy for Future Reference
Why? Because tomorrow you will be faced with at least one of the situations described in the book and you may feel all alone with the problem. Who will you turn to for advice? Have others been in the same or similar circumstances as you and what did they do? If this book is kept handy, a re-reading of a similar, if not identical, situation may help you to plan the way forward more effectively or give you more options to consider. I'd be surprised if you aren't feeling challenged by one or more of the scenarios present in the book right now! Scenarios such as:
A tricky, awkward or threatening situation.A lack of confidence to deal with other people in the way that is needed.The need to assert your authority more.Awarding fair bonuses.The need for guidance on how to admonish your team members or punish misbehaviour.How to get extra effort from your team; guidance on how best to incentivize.A feeling of powerlessness.The realization that you need to delegate more.A desire to manage your time more effectively.Having to deal with underperformers on your team.Having to deal with conflict between team members, or between teams.You might feel that you have dealt with these challenges effectively before, yet still benefit from the offer of additional or even contradictory options. In many examples, I recommend specific phrases or sentences that you will find helpful.
Keep The Little Black Book for Managers handy for reference. It may be the only help you get.
Note
* Please refer to our Further Reading section on page 201.
Introduction
What Are “Key Moments of Power”?
In every manager's career there are moments where personal choices are critical in bringing about either success or failure. The trick is to identify each of these situations and in doing so, maximize the positives and reduce the negatives. This book will help you to understand your moments of power as a manager by helping you identify those moments when you can have the biggest impact, the moments when you could make the wrong choices, the moments when you will have dilemmas. The advice offered applies equally to managers operating in every industry, from wildcat oil and gas exploration company managers working offshore in hostile conditions, to production-line supervisors working in a chocolate factory. The advice, backed up by academic research, is based on thousands of personal experiences and, as a result, is full of practical insights.
Moments of power occur to everyone, every day. Even making room for another motorist to change lanes is a moment of power. At work, moments of power occur regularly too, but with the vast majority of managers failing to recognize them. My aim is to bring these moments into your immediate consciousness and get you to store them for later retrieval so that when they next occur, later today or next year, you pause to reflect on their potential to improve your authority, your status, your enjoyment of the job and perhaps on the respect that your team has for you.
The Little Black Book for Managers has been conceived and designed as an independent support tool for managers at all levels, from shop-floor supervisor to main board director. While it will be particularly useful for newly appointed managers, it is equally powerful for managers with vast experience who may benefit from being reminded of some of the fundamental principles.
When you get into the habit of recognizing and leveraging your moments of power, then not only will you be better off, your team members, your colleagues and your bosses will be as well. Quite a promise I know, so let me give you three examples from real-life experiences:
The moment of power in this true story appears obvious, doesn't it? Answer – choose the three with the highest ability and incentivize them to achieve the best ever customer satisfaction rating. Job done, time to move on to the next issue. But to illustrate the core principle of the book, let's pause and create some alternative options for this particular moment of power.
Option 1 – Decline the client's invitation to conduct the audit.Option 2 – Jane to complete the audit personally with two assistants.Option 3 – Jane mentally categorizes the client as “difficult”, retains her best three accountants for more appreciative customers, and instead, allocates three of average ability, accepting that the final customer rating will be unchanged.Option 4 – Jane allocates her three weakest accountants, risking the client's fury and the possible end of the relationship.If you were Jane what would you do?
Let's take a look at the knock-on effects of each of these options:
Option 1 – Decline the client's invitation to conduct the audit – loss of revenue and earnings – bad.Option 2 – Jane to complete the audit personally with two assistants – Jane's time to manage the relationships with other clients and her team members decreases significantly for several weeks – temporarily bad.Option 3 – Jane mentally categorizes the client as “difficult”, retains her best three accountants for more appreciative customers, and instead, allocates three of average ability, accepting that the final customer rating will be unchanged – accepts the status quo and declines the possibility of higher performance levels.Which means that the only viable option with a possible upside is:
Option 4 – Jane allocates her three weakest accountants, risking the client's fury and the possible ending of the relationship.How could there be an upside for this seemingly obvious wrong choice? Well, by working with a really tough customer, the weakest accountants might learn more and gain in self-confidence. That in turn could raise the average ability of the team. And on balance, Jane may decide that the possible upside of team development is greater than the possible downside of contract termination. Of course, the more likely outcome will be a higher level of customer dissatisfaction and the possible ending of the relationship. Bad.
So, after examining these alternatives, Jane will probably decide to stick with the original and obvious decision, i.e. choose the three accountants with the highest ability and incentivize them to achieve the best ever customer satisfaction rating.
This is Jane's moment of power. Carefully thought through and exercized. As I said before, job done!
Want to know the final outcome? I told you it was a true story. Go to Chapter 9 and learn how this manager was able to achieve a brilliant result for all the wrong reasons!
This simple example contains much for a manager to think about. Many more examples and typical work situations are described in the following chapters. But every example will have the same objective – to improve your self-awareness and self-confidence as a manager and, through that, self-improvement to greater team success as well.
This example is about the boss being prepared to think differently in order to increase total team performance. It was Stephen Covey who coined the phrase – “How you see the problem is the problem” and it may apply in this situation too. The sub-managers have different styles. Some observers would see Joanna as more enlightened, more aware of the needs of GenY people, whereas her colleagues may be more old school. Other observers might see the opposite: Joanna as being too tolerant, less of a manager perhaps; better to let people know where they stand, insist on conformance to standards. For the top boss – is the “problem” with Joanna, with her co-managers, or neither?
