WealthBeing by Malcolm Durham

Author:Malcolm Durham
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-910453-07-0
Publisher: RedDoor
Published: 2015-08-05T00:00:00+00:00

Management style

It’s fine to show people what they have to do and how you do it. But it is counterproductive to insist that people always perform tasks exactly the same way you do.

Rather than telling, once again I urge you to lead with questions. We’ve already talked about the benefits of open questions in helping you make sales and handle negotiations, and they work in management, too. Telling may appear to offer the benefit of unambiguous clarity, but humans are not predisposed to being told what to do all the time. We all have our own issues, mundane or significant, buzzing around in our heads. Even if I appear to be engaged in a task at work, some proportion of my mind is still likely to be taken up with other things – what’s for supper, how hot the office is and all the rest of them. If you immediately start instructing people, they are unlikely to absorb more than a small part of what you are saying. So ask them how or what they are doing. This makes them more engaged with the task (if they misunderstand or talk about other things, just ask again until they get back to the matter in hand). Then ask them how they could do it differently. You can ask this in an open way or a closed way. Open questions, where the answer is not suggested in the question (‘How could you… ?’, rather than ‘Shouldn’t you really… ?’) are better because they are more engaging. An open question makes the other person come up with a considered answer, rather than just saying yes or no. The 3As culture that you have created should help here. Remember to get agreement, acceptance or amendment.

Why take your best salesman off the road and make him a director?

Judge people by outcomes – as the legendary basketball coach John Wooden put it, ‘Never mistake activity for achievement’ – and be on hand to assist when they ask for help.

Make sure that you meet up with all your people regularly and that they have a chance to have their say. When you ask a question, make sure you listen closely to the answer (just as if you were selling). You don’t need to have all the answers; in fact, it’s better if you don’t.

Make meetings constructive. There should be a reason for the board to meet, beyond the fact that all companies have board meetings, and a specific agenda that assumes all the relevant information has been looked at beforehand and that will produce decisions to move the company forward.

I’m not being contradictory when I ask you not to make meetings personal. Each person brings his or her own personality to the company and will usually try as hard as possible. As long as people are working in what they perceive to be the best interests of the company, you should assess their contributions objectively and not respond with dismissive comments like ‘You would say that’ or ‘That’s what you always say.

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