The Happy Burro

Ann Bares from Altura Consulting Group tagged me on her blog!

My turn…

The Rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
• Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
• Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My Six Non-important things/habits/quirks

1. I have run a marathon in under four hours
2. I have a Seth Godin action figure
3. I eat one piece of chocolate cake every week (same kind, from same place)
4. My dog snores louder than I do
5. I am addicted to the TV series ‘24′
6. I visited two foreign countries and three states in 2007

Tagging

I am tagging:

Greg Krauska at Change Agent Group

James Lileks at Buzz MN

Jamie Notter at his blog

Joe Raasch :: Jan.29.2008 :: Life, Personal :: No Comments »

(seventh in a series titled Issues Managers Face in the Workplace)

You didn’t make it into the management ranks without trusting your instincts, having a little luck, and a lot of determination. Many companies are run by a select few who espouse strategy and then watch it work - or not.

Driven by Passion

This is the entrepreneur. You chose management because you are an optimist. You have the charisma, the ‘fire’, to motivate teams to succeed at unprecedented levels and in extraordinary circumstances. By sheer will, you get results. Laugh, cry, hug, scream - just get the team to the goal.

Passion should not be your plan. Passion should fuel your direction, initiative, and determination.

Driven by Data

This is the scientist. You chose management because you are a researcher. You have the knowledge, the technical skills, to show teams the detailed plan to succeed at unprecedented levels and in extraordinary circumstances. By pragmatic planning, you get results. Think, review, plan, research - data-driven decisions get your team to the goal.

Data should not be where you hide. Data should help build your plan.

Driven by Results

This is the practitioner. You chose management because you are a leader. You have the courage to motivate and the technical skills to lead teams to succeed at unprecedented levels and in extraordinary circumstances. By knowing art from science, you get results. Get the data that points you in a confident direction and helps build your plan. Apply your passion to the plan. You get results.

Managing is as much art as it is science. We’ll explore this topic in a future post.

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Want more on evidence-based management? Check out these resources:

• Read a great book on evidence-based management by Stanford professors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton.
• There are some sample studies, great resource links, and a research & practice section at this site.

Joe Raasch :: Jan.23.2008 :: Change Management, Leadership, Organizational Development, Performance Management :: 5 Comments »

(sixth in a series titled Issues Managers Face in the Workplace)

You are out of energy. Sunk. Tired. Thankless job, managing people. Your employees come at you via phone, email, in person. They have real problems: with their work, their attitude, their families, their careers, even with you. And now you share those problems. That’s all part of the job.

This reminds me of Sisyphus, the king whose punishment was to roll a huge boulder up a big hill, only to see it roll back to the bottom: for eternity. (thanks to Jim Stroup at Managing Leadership for the classics inspiration!)

Managing the Input

Managing people should encompass a fair amount of your time each day. Not all your time. Constant interruptions may not allow you to concentrate on the rest of the non-people work you are tasked with completing each day. How do you ensure you are supporting your people and still reaching other goals?

• Know your people. (see post #4 of this series)
• Set up regular one-on-one sessions with each team member. These could be weekly, bi-weekly, monthly. Whatever rhythm works.
• Handle emergencies immediately. The better you know your people, the easier to recognize a real emergency versus a high maintenance employee.

The Power of the Filter

The filter is my analogy for exercising discernment and discretion in your conversations with your team. You do not need to completely mask your emotions. You do need to keep them in check and under control.

• When an employee bounds into your office and needs to speak with you, put down your work, remove your hands from your keyboard, and listen.
• Think before replying. Seriously.
• Give the gift of time, not lecture. Listening will do more good than a lengthy diatribe on what you as the manager think should be done. Isn’t this how you would want to be treated by your manager?

Managing the Output

Taking on all the worries and struggles of your team is a mighty burden. Ensure you have an output for the overwhelming feelings you may encounter. Exercise, a mentor, a friend. Be able to talk about your stresses at work. You should not break a confidence of one of your employees. This doesn’t prevent you from discussing challenges with your support network. Leave out the names or identifying details. Over time, you’ll learn that caring takes emotion, listening takes discipline, scheduling takes patience, and leading takes courage.

You wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Want quick and easy “How Tos” to accomplish a variety of business tasks? Check out my business and career articles at eHow.com HERE.

Joe Raasch :: Jan.15.2008 :: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Personal :: 6 Comments »