Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Denny F. Strigl, former president and CEO of Verizon Wireless, spent four decades in the telecommunications industry. He serves on the board of directors of the Eastman Kodak Company, PNC Financial Services and PNC Bank, and Anadigics, Inc.
Frank Swiatek is a performance consultant and speaker who has had more than 3,400 speaking engagements and seminars and has worked for more than 25 Fortune 500 companies, including Verizon Wireless.

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Managers, can you hear me now?

McGraw-Hill

Contents

Chapter One

The overall reason managers struggle to be successful in their jobs is their behavior. It is what they do or don't do that makes them serious performers, marginal performers, or failures. It's all about their behavior; behavior is the key to achievement.

In her 1980 book Take Charge: Success Tactics for Business and Life, Joan Koob Cannie, former chairwoman of Learning Dynamics, an industry leader in organizational development, put it this way:

Research in several areas, psychology, management, and attitude change, shows that the single most important factor in success is behavior, not education or a string of degrees, not intelligence, not experience, or technical expertise—just behavior. And behavior is something we all do, the difference being in only how we do it.

Consider the following three examples:

Have you ever gone to a high school or college reunion and been totally surprised at the level of success that some people have achieved? They may not necessarily have been on the honor roll or had the highest grade point averages. They weren't the class officers or the most popular students. They certainly were not voted most likely to succeed, but they did so in their careers, and sometimes in very big ways.

Many managers I have encountered are seminar junkies. They attend all the latest and greatest management and leadership programs. However, when you look at their results, you would never know they ever attended even one program. They have a huge gap between what they know and what they actually do.

I have also met many newly appointed managers, some of whom made a great first impression. They spoke the language of success. They had a wonderful personal bearing and seemed to be a "package" that could not possibly fail. However, over the years, as I followed their careers, they never became exceptional performers despite all the advantages they apparently possessed at the outset.

These examples point out the truth in Joan Koob Cannie's assertion: it is behavior—based on skill, drive, persistence, and ambition—that creates management success. But it is not just behavior alone. It is behavior that is repeated until it becomes habit. Exceptional managers do the same things, day in and day out, creating positive results.

Specific Reasons Managers Struggle

It is easy enough to say behavior is the overall reason managers struggle and leave it at that. However, to understand the deeper reasons managers face so many issues, we must explore their specific behaviors—the things they do and don't do.

Reason Number 1: Managers Fail to Build Trust and Integrity

The first reason managers struggle is that they fail to build trust initially or they erode trust with their employees during daily interactions and operations. Trust is the glue that binds managers and employees. If the employees don't believe in the messengers, they certainly won't believe in the messages!

A key leadership priority is to create an environment where trust can flourish. It is incumbent upon managers to hold themselves accountable for the level of trust that exists in their department or organization. A key obligation of managers is to cultivate the faith and respect of those who report to them.

Here are some examples of manager behaviors that build trust:

* Saying what you mean and meaning what you say

* Seeking input and feedback from your team

* Treating people with dignity

* Being dependable in meeting commitments

* Creating clear focus and objectives for people

* Creating a climate of open, honest, and direct communications

Without trust, there can be little cooperation among coworkers and between departments. This situation will result in little risk taking that could otherwise prove fruitful, less employee empowerment, a lack of commitment among employees and to the organization, diminished confidence in employees, and a loss of genuine communication through-out the company. Results will be seriously hampered in such a trust-averse environment.

Here are some examples of manager behaviors that build distrust:

* Lack of openness with employees

* Micromanaging

* Lack of respect in communications

* Lack of integrity and honesty

* Self-serving, hidden agendas

* Words and actions that are not consistent

Failure to build trust and integrity will result in a very low level of commitment from employees; in turn, they will often do just enough to stay on the job.

Reason Number 2: They Have the Wrong Focus

Managers who struggle spend too much time focused on things that don't really matter. For example, they may waste time preparing useless reports nobody reads. It is also possible for managers to get hung up on bureaucratic and nonsensical issues that often get institutionalized in companies. Some may even go to extraneous meetings that are of little or no value to them in an effort to avoid "real" work that actually produces results. Other managers stick themselves behind their desks, writing reports or pushing papers because that is what they are most comfortable doing.

Add to these examples the number of distractions managers face every day due to constant interruptions caused by ready access to electronic devices. Managers can easily get absorbed with e-mail, text messages, phone calls, and phone messages—most of which keep them from focusing on what is really important.

"Stop doing things that don't matter!"

I always tell managers to stop doing things that don't matter! You will find people sometimes complain that they "have to" attend a meeting, file a report, or even go to a training program. My response is always the same: if it doesn't fit into one of the Four Fundamentals: growing revenue, getting new customers, keeping the customers they already have, or eliminating costs (discussed in the Introduction and detailed in Chapter 3), they should rethink what they're doing.

You will find that when enough of your employees get this message, the news about what you consider important will spread quickly. Productivity will improve, and so will results. But remember one note of caution: unless you, the manager, continually reinforce the Four Fundamentals and what's important, unnecessary activities will always creep back in.

Reason Number 3: They Don't Model or Build Accountability

It is critical for the manager to be the model of accountability in daily operations. Managers need to realize their behavior is in a "fishbowl" and thereby highly visible for their employees to see and imitate. Employees watch their manager in all situations, but especially when the manager is under stress. What the manager says and does in stressful situations sends a signal to all employees to imitate that behavior, even when they are not under stress. If a manager blames or bashes others, becomes sarcastic, or makes unethical choices under stress, that manager is setting a tone of unaccountability in his or her department—a tone that will have a negative impact on results.

Accountable behavior is at the heart of achieving results. Such behavior includes:

* Taking action

* Making decisions

* Being...