Joe and Wanda - on Management

Well, it’s hard to believe, but this is Joe and Wanda’s one hundredth post. To celebrate, we’ll be giving away a free copy of Lead Well and Proper (the book that put Joe and Wanda on the map) to 5 random guests who comment on this post.

This one will be a bit different from the prior 99. We will be interviewing Joe and Wanda to get their thoughts on reaching this milestone and to pick their brains a bit on their favorite topic – management. So let’s get started. We’ll lead off with Joe…

Moderator: Welcome Joe. First let me congratulate you on your 100th post. Your dedication to this effort is commendable.

Joe Kerr: Thank you very much. I’m still waiting for my first pay check!

Moderator: Did you ever think that you would contribute to 100 blog posts?

Joe Kerr: Come to think of it, I am a bit surprised, mostly because I’ve had to put up with so many of your inane questions. I always knew I had plenty to offer. I haven’t even used up half of my favorite quotes from The Gladiator, and believe me, some of them bear repeating. I have quite a bit left in this tank!

Moderator: What have you enjoyed most about your role as dispenser of management wisdom?

Joe Kerr: I guess it’s really helping people. I can recall one of my earliest posts. Remember the story about how I let one of my guys drive my Porche to the shop to get it detailed as a reward for meeting a project deadline? Do you have any idea of the impact that had on the kid’s life? At the end of the day, that’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it?

Moderator: Have you learned anything through this process?

Joe Kerr: I’ve learned to be patient. I’m determined to be the voice of reason in this duo. You’d think that after spending a year under my tutelage I’d have shaken Wanda of her namby-pamby, insufferable idealism. She’s obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Moderator: If you had just one piece of management advice to impart upon those in need, what would it be?

Joe Kerr: That’s a tough question, but as you know I’m used to tough questions. I thrive under pressure. I’d say management is not for the feint of heart. You need to be prepared to lay it on the line and go for it. You need the “Eye of the Tiger!” If you don’t have it, don’t bother. You’re better off getting bossed around by someone for the rest of your life. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to CYA. You never know who’s got it in for you. I guess that’s really two points, isn’t it? As usual our readers get their money’s worth and then some from Joe Kerr.

Moderator: Thanks so much Joe. If nothing else, you are certainly consistent.

Joe Kerr: Amen! That’s a great lead in to close out the interview. I’ll leave you with a quote from Ron Jaworski, former quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles. You see I’m a professional quarterback too – the quarterback of my organization.

“The heartbeat of a football team is the quarterback position and I think everyone who has any intelligence about the game understands you must have consistency at that position to be a championship team.”

Moderator: Thanks so much Joe. Now let’s hear from Wanda. Wanda, how does it feel to have participated in 100 blog posts?

Wanda B. Goode: It’s really kind of rewarding. I’m glad to have participated, and I’ve learned so much. We’ve covered a wide variety of topics. Many opinions have been expressed. Some have challenged my views and some have even changed them. Others have supported and validated my approach to management and leadership. I look forward to continuing to learn. I hope others have and will continue to benefit from our discussions.

Moderator: If you had only one piece of management advice to dispense, what would it be?

Wanda B. Goode – How about follow The Golden Rule? Do unto others as you would have them do to you. Treat your direct reports, your internal and external customers, your peers, your management, etc. as you would like them to treat you. As with many things that we’ve discussed, this is extremely simple, but it is not easy. I think it’s a good way to sum up what it takes to be a good person and a good manager. Actually, it wouldn’t hurt to read Lead Well and Prosper either! Joe got to mention two things, so I did too!

Actually, I’d like to mention another. Don’t give up or give in. You will make tons of mistakes. Apologize and just keep working at it. Don’t compromise. Resist the easy road. Do what is right. There are many counting on you.

Moderator: Thank you Wanda for your contributions to the blog.

Wanda B. Goode: Thank you for having me. I look forward to the next 100 posts. I plan to continue to learn, have fun, and contribute in whatever way that I can.

Moderator: Guests, if you’ve read this far, thank you as well. Thanks for checking out “Joe and Wanda on Management.” Remember, if you’d like to win a free copy of Lead Well and Prosper, share one of your management tips with us. A free book will be given to 5 random commenters to this post.

In their book, Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne address the difficulties of implementing strategy of any kind – blue, red, or any other color for that matter. They maintain that “fair practice” is the key variable that distinguishes successful strategic moves from those that have failed. Fair practice is a managerial adaptation of procedural justice theory which states that people care as much about the justice of the process that produces an outcome as they do about the outcome itself. So, if there is a level of fairness in the strategic process, not only will people do what they are told in order to execute the strategy, they will go above and beyond the call of duty to do so, increasing its chances of success tremendously.

To create fair process, the authors suggest following “The Three E’s.” They are Engagement, Explanation, and Expectations. Engage employees in the strategic development process. Explain the reasons particular strategies have been chosen, and clearly state Expectations.

“Fair process builds execution into strategy by creating people’s buy-in up front.”

Thoughts?

Joe Kerr: Allow me to quote William Goldman… “Life isn’t fair. It’s just fairer than death, that’s all.”

Wanda B. Goode: I certainly agree that if people are involved in a process, they have more ownership of it. Of course if the new strategy is going to mean they lose their job, it’s a bit tougher sell.

Being honest and communicating openly is always the best way to go. Obviously if people believe that their thoughts and opinions matter, and that information is being shared freely, they will be more willing to help implement a strategy. It doesn’t mean there won’t be some bumps along the way, but it most cases the mountains can be avoided.

We’ve talked about strategy quite a bit lately. The most wonderful strategies are indeed useless unless executed. Ensuring “Fair Process” seems like it would help with execution. The previous post from Blue Ocean Strategy about utilizing tipping point leadership is very applicable as well. Click here to go to that post.

We’ll point you again to the following post from Joe Grant for more on Blue Ocean Strategy

In their book, Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne talk about how to motivate the troops to execute a strategy. They discourage the traditional approach of creating grand strategic visions propagated by massive top-down mobilization initiatives that are very expensive and usually only inspire lip service.

Instead of diffusing change efforts widely, they advocate seeking massive concentration focusing on 3 areas of disproportionate influence to motivate employees.

• Kingpins – Efforts need to be concentrated on the key influencers in the organization – the well respected, natural leaders. Convince/Hit the kingpins and the rest come toppling down.
• Fishbowl Management – Place the Kingpins in a fishbowl. In other words, make their actions/inactions highly visible.
• Atomization – Break down the challenge into smaller bite-sized pieces so people see that the larger goal is actually attainable.

Thoughts Joe and Wanda?

Joe Kerr: I am a kingpin.

Wanda B. Goode: Makes sense. I guess the difficulty is in actually doing it. First, the kingpins need to be identified, which doesn’t sound like a simple process. Then the fishbowl management techniques must be created. They must be fair and measurable. If not, the effort could easily backfire. Breaking down the large nut into smaller pieces is certainly sound advice. I know even in my daily work I’ve been overwhelmed by some assignments and have had difficulty starting them until I’ve broken the larger chunks into more manageable parts. I can see how the concept transfers to strategic implementation.

For more about the book, Blue Ocean Strategy, check out this post.

In his book, Execution, Larry Bossidy mentions that Leadership is not about strategizing and creating vision then dispensing it on managers to do the grunt work. Leadership is not about presiding. Leadership is about being actively involved in the business.

Joe and Wanda?

Joe Kerr: Nonsense! Bossidy ignores the enormous difference between managers and leaders. When I first started, I was a task master, and a perfectly good one. I’ve evolved over the years to become more of a creative thinker. Let me give you an example. Yesterday one of my guys told me that we were out of plastic forks in the break room and that Sam, the gal that normally does the ordering, was out of the office. “Green Manager Joe” would have probably had his admin dial Sam’s manager to get some other gal do the needful. Problem solved. A perfectly reasonable approach and solution for a rookie earning his stripes.

What did “Seasoned Leader Joe” do instead? Well, it’s natural for me to look outside the box. It’s an instinct at this point in my career. I looked at the big picture. I said to myself. How many boxes of these things do we go through in a month and how much is it setting us back? We have a couple dozen break rooms in our 4 locations and they probably go through forks like butter. I decided to start a pilot program to have the employees bring in their own forks from home. I had my admin send out an email to the masses. That’s all it took to implement. Then I added it to the agenda for our next leadership meeting. If the pilot is successful, which I have no doubt it will be, we can roll it out across the region. We’ll be saving some much needed cash, and we’ll never run out of forks again!

Wanda B. Goode: It seems as managers climb the ladder of success (some only a rung or two), they tend to forget their role. They like to think of themselves as these grand, exalted cerebral thinkers that are above the tasks of mere managers, to include supporting the people in their organizations and getting things done. Anecdotal evidence indicates that it must be easy to fall into this trap.

For a post that focuses on the CEO, click here.

Phil Martelli, coach of St. Joseph’s University men’s basketball team, closes his book, Don’t Call Me Coach, with the following “lesson plan for life.” 10 principles from the “hardwood to the hard world.”

1. All wins are not winning experiences; all losses are not losing experiences.
2. To get respect you must first give it.
3. Every day be willing to teach; each day be open to learning.
4. The success of the group assures the success of an individual; it is never the other way around.
5. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
6. Who you are is more important than what you do.
7. We have no more right to someone’s time than we do to their money.
8. The eyes speak for the heart.
9. In all that you do, work (play) hard, smart, and together.
10. Never let others know if you are working or playing; make it seem like you are doing both at the same time.

Thoughts?

Joe Kerr: I’ll give you one to take with you. It’s all you really need… “Life’s a b#tch and then you die.

Wanda B. Goode: I’d pick prefer to stick with Phil’s approach. Excellent life lessons. Very applicable to management.

Want more life lessons? Here is some commentary on life lessons from Confucius. I’m sure Phil would get a kick out of being mentioned along side him!

In Larry Bossidy’s book, Execution, Larry offers up the following comment on performance appraisals.

“If you have a boss that gives you an evaluation and doesn’t have anything to say about your weaknesses, go back and get some additional information. Otherwise you are not learning anything.”

Joe Kerr: I’ll go along with that, save one exception. I truly can’t think of a single weakness for me. I certainly have no problem pointing them out to others, though. I especially like to hit the hot shots with a couple of choice “development needs” during their reviews. It keeps them in their place. Here are a couple of favorites that I encourage you to try – “Lacks vision” is a beauty. “Needs better understanding of the business” is another winner.

Wanda B. Goode: I agree with Larry. There is the school of thought that people need to be constantly propped up. I’m all for focusing on people’s strengths, but a manager must be honest and let people know where they are lacking. The manager owes that to the employees. It’s not about bringing people down. Rather, it’s about giving them the necessary information and coaching to propel them forward.

I’ve had the opportunity to read performance appraisals done by my peers. We sometimes review each other’s write-ups in order to learn and to strive to be consistent across our teams. I’m always skeptical when I read a review that has no development needs, or if the same high level, vague development need is repeated in multiple appraisals. Sometimes the weakness is hidden or sugar-coated so much that the person doesn’t see it as an improvement area at all. For example, “Sam gets along great with her teammates. She could improve her teamwork skills if she shared her knowledge more with others.” Even if she heard the second part of that statement, she doesn’t think it is a development need. She hears that she is already sharing knowledge, but she could do even better than great if she just shared a teensy bit more.” In other words, she should just keep doing what she’s doing.

It’s not easy, but I’ve been working with my peers to show them the value of providing straightforward, honest assessments and to help them overcome the uncomfortable feeling of providing constructive criticism. It’s a work in progress, but I continue to make inroads.

Check out this post for an interesting perspective on development needs.

In his book, Don’t Call Me Coach, Phil Martelli states the following…

“As a businessperson, a coach, a teacher, even as a son or daughter, there’s no such thing as staying the same. I believe wholeheartedly that each day we either improve or we decline. Life is all about competing, and often the competition is most of all against your self. So you have to want to improve. And that is what I set out to do. If I can get even a little bit better each day, the program I administer will get better. The people around me will get better.”

Joe Kerr: I’ve heard it all before. If I’m through learning, I’m through. If I’m not growing, I’m dying. I’m here to tell you I’m through and I’m dead.

Wanda B. Goode: I like the part about competing against yourself. We all have the power to improve. We need to shake the self-sabotaging tendencies and just start getting IT done.

I also like the point about getting better. Not getting great, but getting better. That’s a page right out of Lead Well and Prosper.

Martelli further says, “In terms of basketball, you never may be a great shooter (I wasn’t), but you can always learn to play better defensively-and to become a better teammate.”

We can’t all become great at everything. Maybe we can’t get great at anything. But, we can all improve. We can all get good at some things and continue to work at getting better - to our benefit and to those around us. To me that’s really great.

Have you ever considered starting your own business? Talk about a self-development opportunity! In this interesting post you’ll see that self-development is just one of 10 reasons why you shouldn’t get a job.

In Larry Bossidy’s book, Execution, he references Richard Pascale’s quote when describing how to “operationalize” culture.

“People are much more likely to act their way into a new way of thinking, than think their way into a new way of acting.”

Thoughts?

Joe Kerr: I think you’re acting a little wacky!

Wanda B. Goode: I agree that nothing can get change going like action, especially when the action occurs from the top down in an organization. Keep acting consistently, and before you know it, the change gets locked in and becomes part of the culture.

Bossidy says that when attempting to make changes to culture, many mistakenly start by changing the set of values. The values very rarely need changing. The values very rarely need changing. Rather, they need to be reinforced through actions, and violations of the values must be publicly addressed.

For more interesting thoughts on change, check out this post.

In his book, Don’t Call Me Coach: A Lesson Plan for Life, Phil Martelli states the following…

“I believe that whether you’re a parent, a coach, a teacher, a CEO, an office manager, a professional, or several of the above, you want the people who represent you to handle themselves in a certain way. Think of yourself as, say, a bartender, a bartender for life. Your success every night depends not only on your skill in mixing drinks but on your ability to listen, to communicate, to empathize, to sense how a person feels, to perceive a situation or a scenario. Quite a set of “people skills” are involved. Aren’t they similar to the skills we expect all our coaches, our teachers, and our managers to master? If you’re as attentive to body language and your surroundings as a skilled bartender has to be, you are bound to relate better to everyone around you.”

Thoughts?

Joe Kerr: OK Phil Martini. Next time I order a Dewars on the Rocks I’ll ask the punk for some pointers. Better yet, I’ll hire him to head up one of my teams. He can do some brown bag sessions on how to make small talk and be nice to people.

Wanda B. Goode: There’s no doubt a good manager needs to develop people skills. The thing I particularly like about the analogy is that bartenders must earn their pay via their people skills each and every day. I think if all managers approached their jobs similarly, there would be a lot more joy and productivity in the workplace.

To read more about on simple people skills, check out this post.

Phil Martelli, coach of St. Joseph University men’s basketball team, wrote a book recently called, Don’t Call Me Coach: A Lesson Plan for Life. In it he lists the pillars required for creating teamwork.

1. Compete
2. Share
3. Take your shot when it comes
4. Know your strengths and weaknesses

There seems to be a nice parallel with creating teamwork in the workplace, wouldn’t you agree?

Joe Kerr: Martelli and the St. Joe’s Hawks got bounced in the first round of the NCAA tournament this year! So much for Phil’s teamwork! Whatever happened to “Just win baby!” If Phil and his team adopted that attitude I wouldn’t be out one hundred bucks right now.

Wanda B. Goode: There seems to be a lot in common with the worlds of sport and business. The four pillars mentioned by Phil Martelli are definitely appropriate in my world. For teamwork to flourish, team members need to be engaged and interested in getting better, in achieving the common goal. They also need to be willing to make the necessary sacrifices for the good of the team – to include sharing. Similarly, team members need to trust and rely on one another. When it comes time to perform, each team member must step up and “take the shot” for the good of the team. Finally, team members must know their strengths and weaknesses, playing to their strengths and leaning on other team members to minimize their weaknesses.

To read more about on teamwork, check out this post.