Headed into Day Two with Karen King’s Vistage group in Albuquerque, NM on the research of Elliott Jaques.
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“You have a tenuous relationship with your most valuable team member,” I stated flatly. “It is your job, as a manager, to bring value to that relationship.”

Joan nodded, but did not speak.

“It is your job, as a manager to bring value to her thinking and her work.” I stopped and changed direction. “What is work?” I asked.

“Well, for my team, it is contacting customers, following up on orders that fall through the cracks, talking about our products,” Joan floated.

“Those are things that you, as a manager, can see, things you can observe. But what is the work?”

I was fishing and Joan wasn’t taking the hook.

“You can watch and observe physical actions, but the work is more difficult to see. The work is making decisions and solving problems. How can you bring value to her decision making and problem solving?”