Is Management Personal?

A quick browse in any bookshop today will show you titles such as Managing from the Soul, Managing from the Heart, Principled centered Leadership, etc. There are many more other titles that are more 'brutal' AND business-like such as Performance for 21st Century,Business Strategy for the New Age etc. However, even the latter titles tend to devote chapter after chapter of discussion that deals with the 'personal' aspect of management. They may come under various titles and buzz-words but in essence they all relate to the core (but often mis-understood) issue of the role of 'self' in management.

What I term as 'self' in management is about 'being who we are while we do what we do'. In this case who am I when I am managing? Who am I when I am supervising? Who am I when I am leading a team? Who am I when I am managing a project. The who am I question, as you would have guessed by now, is practically endless.

It is of great importance to remember that our world view (which is a result of who we are) colours what we do and how we do it. More importantly it influences what we think and why we think so. Say for example an employee comes to your room with shoulders hunched and with a 'lack of sleep' appearance and tells you that he needs to go back immediately as there is a family emergency. Your first instinct (which is usually correct) is not to trust him as something tells you that there is no family emergency. Now comes the interesting part; what you do next is an indication of who you are while you do what you do after listening to the so called family emergency. If you tell him off to get back to work, it shows who you are being at that moment. If you listen to him and find out later that there is more to his story although there is no family emergency, also shows who you are being while you are doing what you are doing.

Is there a right and wrong in the above example? I think not. Only what works.
Is management personal? I know it is. The real question is do we dare to make it personal or rather do we have the skills to make it personal and yet be effective managers and leaders.

I know for sure though that today, it takes more than an MBA to rule the corporate office. It needs a big heart too. I know as I have been there.

Do We Really Believe What We Say at the Company Annual Dinner?

Noticed how every opening speech of a company annual dinner invariably begins something like this : " It is a great pleasure to be with all of you today. You have all worked very hard this past year and the management would like to say thank you to all of you. For us, you are our biggest asset. Without you this company is nothing. So, please enjoy yourself and remember that we are a team...."

I have often wondered what is the meaning of the phrase "you are our biggest asset"? Why do managers love to say that at every opportunity they get? Is it because they really believe in it or is it similar to our preferred way of beginning an official speech at an even more official function by saying "Tan Sri, Tan Sri...Datuk, Datuk..." although there are no Tan Sri present. Not even a Datuk K! I suspect its merely to satisfy convention. Nothing more.

Are our people our biggest asset? Damn right they are! One thing is true : A company is NOTHING without its people. I cringe when I hear senior managers lament that they wish they can do more for their employees in terms of flexibility and rewards but they just dont want the rotten few to enjoy the benefits that they dont deserve. I just don't understand this! If there are 'a rotten few' why are they still being employed in the company? In which MBA module is it that our senior managers are thought that its perfectly alright to deny the productive many for the sake of the un-productive few?

I have worked for others, I have worked for my self and I have seen others work. I stand by what I have always said to senior managers : Stop the rhetoric and begin to show some action. Talk to your people, get to know them, identify what makes them tick and go back to your cosy conference rooms and re-design your business processes to utilize the talents that you have in your midst. Take people in good faith and let them go in good faith. Don't be beholden to anybody and don't neglect anybody.

I am convinced that there are rarely bad employees only a mis-match between what drives a person and the environment in which he or she is placed.

Inspired by Coffee

Every manager, at least once every quarter would have had this thought in his/her mind : "Damn, why is it so hard....its so simple...why can't they see it?....why can't I do it?" The operative words here being 'its so simple'.

Every morning, the instant my 1st cofee of the day takes its effect...the instant my warm roti-canai soothes my morning hunger, I often look away to the streets ahead of me or the people around me and think : "Its going to be a great day"! Somewhere way...way back in my mind I can feel a sense of clarity in what needs to be done for the day as a manager/leader. Everything is perfect. Ideas are there, the reasons are rock-solid and the implementation is waiting for the word go.

Then, two hours into the day, one by one, my ideas for the day crumbles! My clarity vanishes. Problems take over. I long for my 1st coffee. Not the coffee it self but the clarity that it provided.

So, firstcofee.blogspot.com is a place that I have created for my kindred souls who are also longing for that 1st coffee feeling...throught-out the day. I hope this will become a place for managers, leaders and change-makers find clarity and solutions for their challenges through vibrant networking between and among us.

May the 1st coffee be with you.