Ten Commandments of Management
February 23, 2009 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
Inspired by Don Frederiksen’s Quiet Leader commandments, I thought I’d reflect on the commandments I live by as a manager. I am not perfect and don’t live them all the time, but it’s important to me to have principles to live by, to help guide my decisions.
1) Never stop learning to be a better manager and better person.
2) If it can be delegated, it should be delegated, even if it takes more time.
3) Take the shot and encourage your team to do the same.
4) Ask, don’t tell, when you need something to be done.
5) Be grateful for the little things…and the big things!
6) Only hold necessary meetings.
7) No surprises for me, for my manager, or for my team.
8) Focus on strengths, not weaknesses.
9) Admit when you make a mistake (and know that you WILL make mistakes).
10) The team is more important than me.
What are YOUR management commandments?
Cuneiform tablets photo credit to bluesmoon
Phil: I think most of these make a lot of sense in this economy–and in previous economies. However, I believe number 7 is dead wrong. Here’s why: it implies lack of change, inability to improvise, refers to the old highly predictable world of the assembly, and ultimately is deadening. In contrast, getting yanked around is quite good for you (us, me too). It enriches our work and our life–while, creating a bit of tension.
Number 10 may be correct, but I don’t understand why it rises to the level of a commandment. Help me understand that!
http://www.danerwin.com
Excellent list, Phil – #7 (no surprises) is my core value, personally.
One thing I have learned about #8 recently, though, is that it’s important to identify which weaknesses are core job characteristics – and remediate them to a reasonable performance level. I think it’s fine to allow people to concentrate on utilizing their strengths, but if their weaknesses are a core job function that can’t be delegated or assigned away without a major hassle, then it’s something that actually must be dealt with.
Quick example: I’m a professional services consultant. Part of what I do is speaking to clients and writing responses to clients, be they emails or proposals. Those are core functions – a PS consultant can’t really delegate those away and stay a highly-paid consultant. A colleague of mine is really challenged in this area – if it were my place, I’d insist that, if he wants to stay with us, he needs to take a business writing course and join Toastmasters.
Eric: I’m curious. I’ve never thought “no surprises” was of any importance whatsoever–and I’ve known plenty of managers who had it as a mantra–but not recently. To me, management surprises were nothing more than an opportunity to test my skills at improvization.
Help me understand why that’s a core value to you.
I like #10. With teamwork…nothing and I really mean NOTHING is impossible.
I would add one more: I don’t ask others to do something I wouldn’t do.
Leading by example is actually required in all relationships besides those at work.
Phil,
This is a great list. I’m glad that my commandments struck a creative chord with you.
I have several favorites from your commandments.
#10 Team first. It’s we, not me.
#8 Strengths – get people in a place where they succeed.
#7 No surprises – I’m working on transparency across my team.
#2 Delegate – I’m challenged by this. I have to remember, “even if it takes more time.”
Thanks as always for your great insight.
Don
These are all great, and I’ll add a few more.
Say “thank you” frequently! Let your team know you notice and appreciate (similar to your #5 but not exactly the same).
Let your boss and others outside your immediate organization also know when someone in your group has done an exceptional job.
Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”–your folks will figure it out anyway if you try to bluff them–then go find out.
Dan – I’m a strong believer in ‘no surprises’ as a key tenet of my management style. The surprises I think of related to this are unpleasant or negative surprises.
If I tell a manager/director that I don’t have the resources to work on their project, and I think they will try to escalate the request up the management chain, I give my boss a heads-up so he isn’t surprised if someone comes to them to ask why his area is not cooperating. This puts my boss in a better position to support my decision or have the facts/info to override my decision.
In the other direction, if staff hear things (merger, layoffs, etc) from other people and know you didn’t tell them I feel you lose credibility with them and will have a harder time getting them to trust you and follow you.
Well, Dan, it depends on what you mean by “no surprises.” What it means to me is that when something is starting to go south, you let me know, so I can send that news up the chain. Don’t tell me that something can’t be delivered on time the day before the deadline – tell me after your first or second attempt to get past the roadblock. Similarly, I strive to not surprise the people I answer to.
“No surprises” doesn’t mean “don’t tell me something unexpected” – it means “give me notice so I can manage expectations.” Business thrives on timely, accurate, open communication so we can improvise if we have to. But improvisation takes time to be successful with all stakeholders. If I tell them a month ahead that we may be delayed a month, they have time to adjust to the new reality. If I tell them only a few days ahead, they have to scramble. Causing others to scramble reflects poorly on you. So, if you don’t surprise me, I don’t have to surprise my management, our customers, our partners, Marketing, and/or (name your stakeholder). Then, those folks don’t have to look bad by having to scramble themselves or tell even more people about the downstream impact.
Does that make more sense now?
Eric: Makes perfect sense now. Thanks much.
The team is more important than me. Well said Phil. Team is a based on multiple strengths. Dividing the efforts will positively multiply the result. A close knit team helps its team mates to over come their weaknesses. Just because of the absence of a team mate the work will not suffer.
Great list.
I’d like to add:
Listen more than talk
Pick the brains of others
Network, Network, Network
Wrap your arms around ‘change’
Andrew
Wow, some fun comments here. I’ll be exploring them all in separate articles to respond to your questions.
In short for now:
#7 is all about communication: If you know something, tell me. If I know something, I’ll tell you. Enough unexpected and unavoidable things happen that any purposeful surprises should be avoided. This pertains to performance items (good or bad) as well as it does to anything else.
#10 about me over we is key because I realize as a manager my team does the day-to-day work at a level I can’t, so if I have to sacrifice to ensure they can do what they need to do, I will.
This is fun! Thanks for your thoughts…Please keep sharing!
This is a great post but I’m not sure what it’s got to do with the National Fig Roll Collection though, so maybe lose the pic eh?
I like the don’t have more meetings than necessary. Too many people have way too many pointless meetings.