Category Archives: Leadership

All Ears

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I have just been promoted to a supervisory position on the Hot-Line of a large kitchen. Unfortunately, I seem to be having a hard time gaining the trust and respect of my co-workers as well as other supervisors and managers. It seems to be difficult for some to grasp the fact that I have been entrusted with the charge of the kitchen once in a while. It might be the fact that I have not had a great deal of time in the position, as of yet, so hopefully it may get better with time and my ability to be patient. But if there is any bit of advice and/or support that you may be able to provide, I am all ears. -TM

So, what do you all think? If you have some advice for TM, please post a comment.

Hard Work and Control

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“It’s funny,” Curtis observed, “sometimes, after hours, it is quiet and I ask myself, why am I here? I should be home with my family, but there is still so much to be done. And if I don’t take care of some loose ends, something critical will blow up tomorrow.”

“Do you think you are the only manager in the world that is thinking that thought?” I asked.

Curtis chuckled. “You know, you’re right. So, why does it happen?”

“You tell me,” I replied.

Curtis had to think. He had been so busy working, that he never thought about what he was doing and why he was doing it.

“I feel guilty,” he finally responded. “I am responsible. It’s up to me. I guess I bring it on myself.”

“And if something doesn’t change, about the way you manage this department, what will happen?”

“I am already seeing the chinks in my own armor. I feel tired every morning. I stopped working out because I don’t have time. I feel like I have a cold coming on. But the harder I work, the more things seem out of control.”

“Think about that,” I said. “The harder you work, the more things seem out of control.” -TF

Skill or Capability?

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Eduardo was hanging up the phone when I arrived. I could tell he was puzzled.

“It’s funny,” he said. “This is the third time I have explained things to my Ron, but it just doesn’t seem to sink in. I don’t know what the problem is. For two years, he was doing great, but now, he seems to be in a fog.”

“Ron reports to you?” I asked. Eduardo shook his head.

“Yes, in fact, he was a good hire. We started him in a little office with only two people. He grew it to six, now he is at twelve. Somewhere along the line, he lost it.”

“Alcohol, or drugs?”

“No, I don’t think so. He is too conscientious for that,” Eduardo observed.

“But he seems to be in a fog? Tell me what has changed in the past year, going from six people to twelve people.”

Eduardo looked up at the far corner of the room, picturing the changes before he described them to me. “It’s like Ron was supervising the work pretty well, but now he is one step removed. He is now managing a couple of supervisors. Maybe that’s the problem. He is too far away from the what he knows how to do?”

“Is it a matter of skill, something he can learn, or is it a matter of capability?” -TF

What Price?

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“There is a price to pay,” I responded. Ted and I were talking about his team. Ted clearly identified that changes were necessary and that the first change had to do with Ted.

“Oh, I am willing to pay,” replied Ted. “And my company is willing to support me, to pay for training, whatever it takes.”

“Ted, the price you pay has nothing to do with the price of a seminar or a book on management. The price you pay has to do with you. The price you pay is in your commitment, your passion, your focus, your discipline. It is a high price. It is a price not many people are willing to pay. Most will pay for a seminar or a book, but few are willing to pay the real price.”

Ted took a deep breath. It was not a sigh, but an attempt to get some extra oxygen to his brain.

“You are telling me this is not going to be easy,” he finally responded.

“Oh, it’s easy to be a manager, and only slightly more difficult to be a mediocre manager. But, what I am talking about is more than being a good manager, it is a question of being a great manager. What price are you willing to pay?” -TF

Where to Start

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Ted was still perplexed. He had selected his talent well, but his team still wasn’t up to par.

“Ted, your team is functioning exactly as it was designed to function,” I started.

“What do you mean? You make it sound like it’s my fault,” he defended.

“Exactly, as the manager, the team you have is the team you deserve.”

I could tell Ted was getting agitated. It’s easy to look at someone else to blame. It’s tough when the responsibility is ours.

“The team you have is the team you deserve,” I repeated. “As time goes by, you will find that your team will be no better than you are. The speed of the pack is the speed of the leader.

“If you find that your team is not what you want it to be, if you find that you are not able to bring out the best in that team, to bring them to higher levels of performance, then, as the manager, you are not the leader who deserves better. At least not yet.”

Ted was quiet.

After a minute, I broke the silence. “So, what do you think we need to work on? Where should we start?”

Ted took a breath. “I guess we have to start with me.”

They Can’t Hear It

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Hank was surveying the floor, timecards in hand, shaking his head. “I don’t understand it,” he observed. “They know they are supposed to be here at 8:00a sharp, but, look at this, only two people punched in on time. The next nearest one is 8:06, then 8:09, then 8:12. A couple of people were 20 minutes late. And it’s this way everyday. So, everyday, I have to make my little speech, but it just doesn’t seem to work.”

“And you know all this just by reviewing the time cards?” I asked.

“Of course, that’s why we have punch clocks.” Hank was looking sideways at me, wondering if I had never seen a punch clock before.

“I see, but you didn’t actually see when they got here.”

“Oh, no, my manager’s meeting upstairs doesn’t start until 8:30a, and since I’m a supervisor now, I don’t have to be here until then.”

“So, your team doesn’t seem to listen to your daily speech about clocking in?”

“Nope, I am thinking about reminding them again in the afternoon before the shift is over, just to make sure they remember,” Hank replied confidently.

“Here is the thing, Hank. Sometimes, what we do speaks so loudly, they can’t hear what we are saying.” -TF

Out of the Groove

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“But habits can help and habits can kill,” I said. Muriel and I had been talking about competence in the workplace.

“I don’t understand,” she replied. “We just talked about how competence and habits go hand in hand.”

“Yes, they do and like many things, your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness.” I could see Muriel’s face scrunch up, mixed in resistance and curiosity.

“Competence requires a set of habits. Habits help us, habits hurt us. Think about a new problem that must be solved, like that change in production last month.”

Muriel winced. “I know, I know. We had really practiced hard on producing that left element. We were really good at it, and it was difficult. Then we got the machine. Using the machine was even harder, so my team kept doing it manually. Someone even sabotaged the machine configuration that kept it out of the loop for two days. All in all, it took us three weeks to become competent on the machine, when it should have taken only five days.”

“Habits can sometimes be the most powerful forces in resisting change. Habits are grooves in the way we think. They can be helpful, but sometimes, we have to get out of the groove and it’s tough.” -TF

Connection to Habits

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“Why are habits connected to competence?” I asked. Muriel and I had been talking about competence in the workplace. Muriel was promoted to manager in her department two years ago.

It was like a trip down memory lane. “When I first became a manager,” she started, “I was awful. I thought I was such a hot shot, walking around telling everyone what to do. Within a couple of weeks, productivity in my department was at an all time low, and I couldn’t figure it out. That’s when you began to talk to me about the Power of the Question.

“So, I started asking questions. Instead of telling my team how to do the work more efficiently, I began asking them how they could do the work more efficiently. I didn’t do it very often, but when I did, remarkable things happened. Over time, I got better at asking questions. Now, asking questions is a habit.”

“So, what competence is connected to the habit?” I followed.

“The competence is challenging my team. Challenging them to higher levels of performance, productivity, efficiency.”

“So, competence is all about acquiring a new habit.” -TF

Not a New Skill

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Muriel took a measured breath. “I have an uneasy feeling about my position here, and I don’t know why,” she explained. “Things are going well, at least they seem to. But I think things are going to change. And I am not sure I will be prepared to adapt quick enough.”

“Things are going well, now?” I asked.

“Well, yes.”

“When did things begin to go well?”

Muriel laughed. “You are right, things weren’t always this rosy. There was a time when it was tough. But I got better. And as I got better, things got easier.”

“So, things got easier as you became more competent in your role, here, as a manager?” I probed.

Muriel nodded affirmative. “Competence,” she repeated.

“And we know things will change, again, because they always do. Change in your industry, in your company, on your team and with yourself. And when things change, you are faced with your own incompetence.”

Muriel winced. Close to home, perhaps. I continued. “But you do adapt and you do change. But tell me, when you successfully perform something new, for the first time, does that make you competent?”

“No,” she responded. “Competence requires practice, doing it well over and over, until it becomes a habit.”

“So competence is not simply acquiring an occasional new skill, but acquiring a new habit.” -TF

What Is It That Motivates?

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“What would be valuable for you to know about a team member, as a manager?” I asked.

“Well, what motivates them. What makes them want to come to work,” answered Nathan.

“There is a story about three men who were working together, each doing the same job. When asked about their work, each replied differently. The first said that he was breaking rock. The second said that he was constructing a building. The third said that he and his colleagues were building a school in their community so their children would have a place to learn to read.”

I watched Nathan’s eyes as he absorbed the story. Finally he spoke.

“I suppose it would be valuable to know what is important to each of my team members.”

“Why would that be valuable to know?”

“I have to find the connection,” Nathan started, “I have to find the connection between what is important to them and their work.”

“And if you can find the connection?”

“Then we are in. The sky turns blue, the flowers bloom and the birds sing.”

“And if you cannot find the connection?”

“Then the work will be repetitious, the work will be like breaking rock.”

“And?”

“And, so, I have to keep searching to make the connection.” The conversation became quiet. Nathan was searching, perhaps thinking about his own connection. -TF