| |
|
|
The powers that be have made their decision. That decision, in
your eyes at least, was the best possible one that they could
have made, because they have made you THE BOSS, the Manager of
your unit, division, or department. They have said all of the
usual (not necessarily the most correct) things. "We have made
our decision based on your previous behavior in your former
position". "We are recognizing your contributions to the
organization". "We have full faith in your ability to do a good
job".
The one thing that they did not do is to give you the "magic
pill". You've probably never heard of it because you've never
been a "BOSS" before. However, this is the "magic pill" that
transforms you from a mere mortal to a "BOSS. They have it, but
refuse to share it with you until you swear the oath, take the
pledge of secrecy, and agree not to share the knowledge of its
existence with anyone "unworthy". Within two or three weeks of
operating in your new position you will find that there are
former peers and associates who will swear that there must be
such a pill, and that you took one.
Then "it" happens. You haven't even settled in, and the first
"crisis" arises. What it is doesn't really matter. It requires a
decision that could have an effect on the future of the whole
organization (or so you have rationalized). But regardless of
its impact, the decision has to be made. Associates, assistants,
consultants, subordinates; all have made their thoughts on the
correct course of action clear to you, but now it's you, THE
BOSS, that has to make the final decision. Is it hard? Will it
be easy? Will it be fun? At times like this, will your
adrenaline level rise, or will a cloud of fear and indecision
overtake you? In one way or another, each person is stimulated
differently and reacts differently.
The decision making process is not complicated. It is made up of
a series of steps which, when followed correctly, will lead you
to a solution to whatever the problem is that must be solved.
Each person may travel through the process at a different speed,
with a different amount of outside input, a greater or lesser
reliance on that input, and with different internal biases.
After all, regardless of the reason necessitating the decision,
the amount and reliability of input obtained, it ultimately
comes down to the fact that the decision must be made by you
because; you're THE BOSS.
If we were to list the most common activities of "THE BOSS" it
might look something like this:
-
Directs or supervises workers
-
Participates in planning for the organization
-
Exercises control and/or authority over work activity of a group
-
Makes decisions to help the organization achieve its goals and
objectives
-
Protects the assets of the organization
We could spend vast amounts of time examining, describing and
commenting on methodologies to make "THE BOSS" more effective in
each of the areas listed above, but instead we would like to
focus briefly on the "behavior" of being "THE BOSS". We will
discuss and comment on what type of behavior is most likely to
bring positive results, not from a behavioral sciences
standpoint, but rather using a common sense approach.
HISTORY
Centuries ago, being called the boss meant something quite
different than it does today. The word itself actually is a
derivative of the Old High German bozan which means "to beat".
The BOSS got his name "from the fact that he had complete
authority over his workers and could thrash them at will".
Unless you have an extremely masochistic trait inside you, drool
over the thought of having the whip in your hand in the bowels
of an ancient merchant ship propelled by rowers keeping time set
by the large drummer at the stern, or you really don't care
about "early retirement", we do not recommend that you follow
the behavioral patters suggested in the definition of the word.
We do, however, make note of the derivation of the word to
illustrate a point; the BOSS does have a great deal of authority
that accompanies the level of responsibility attached to his
position.
As lonely as it often feels, being the BOSS does not mean that
you and your actions live in a world of isolation. In actuality,
the BOSS lives in something resembling a fish bowl. Everyone in
the organization, including the people who report directly to
you, can look in, see what's going on, what decisions are being,
or not being, made and how the organization is being effected by
the behavior inside "the bowl". If you're the Chairman, the
board will judge your actions, or lack of them; If you're the
President and/or CEO, the Chairman will be your judge; if you
are a Division or Department manager, you will probably be
responsible to the President, CEO or Executive Committee; and so
on "down the food chain". No matter what level you are on (or
in), you report to someone else who holds your fate, to some
degree, in their hands.
In his text An Introductory View of Management, Peter Drucker
commented, "Managers are the basic resource of the business
enterprise". As well as being a "basic resource", managers are
one of the most expensive resources in that enterprises. Drucker
went on to comment, "To be a manager means sharing in the
responsibility for the performance of the enterprise. Anyone who
is not expected to take this responsibility is not a manager".
One of the key areas that managers are most often judged is
their relationships, the effectiveness of their interactions
with their subordinates, their peers and the people to whom they
report. In other words, "how effective are their people skills?"
Your behavior as a Manager, and the effect that it has on your
results, can, and will, vary from time to time depending on any
one of a number of outside influences. However, you will
probably have an underling behavior pattern, consisting
predominately of people skills, which will be the base from
which you operate regularly.
If there is one area of competency that you should do a
self-analysis on, it's probably your people skills. Of all the
skills needed to be a "BOSS", a manager, the single skill that
far surpasses any others is the use of effective people skills.
A study of the most effective, as well as most admired
executives, would reveal a population of managers who exercised
good people skills. What it would also reveal is a group of
"BOSSES" who were not push-overs or wimps, but rather people who
were strong and decisive leaders.
OPTIONS
As "THE BOSS" you could adopt the methodology mentioned earlier,
the person with the whip on the merchant ship, saying, "Do it my
way - or else!" This can get results, not usually long lasting
results, but results in any case. It doesn't foster deep loyalty
in subordinates, or an attitude that leads to creative team
solutions to problems or objectives. It very often leads to
unrest and high turnover rates among employees. It most often
establishes a combative atmosphere and one in which fear
replaces objectivity and unbiased interactions.
Or, as an alternative, you could adopt a style of management,
which avoids confrontations, rejects new, untested and untried
methods out of hand, and avoids decision-making. The people
skills used in this style of management usually favors avoidance
with people so that you don't have to worry about using
effective people skills. In other words, don't change the status
quo, rock the boat, or take any risks. This type of management
demands keeping a low profile of yourself and your people. The
surest way to stay alive in your position is to avoid
interaction with those above you and to keep yourself and your
people as far out of sight as possible. Much of the time,
employees don't know what their goals are and do not have a full
understanding of what is expected of them. Not very effective or
long lasting management.
Let's look at another style of being "THE BOSS"; one where
"chatting" people skills dominate. This style demands as much
interaction with your people as possible so that you all become
friends. That's because you, as their manager, believe that you
can get the most results from your group if they're happy and
contented. This type of interactional process rarely focuses on
problems, addresses areas of concern, and above all avoids
confronting an error by an employee in any way other than a
superficial manner. We would refer to this style of management
and interpersonal skills as a "Love-In". In fact, this style of
management can be deadly, much like a cancer that goes
undetected until it is too late. In this scenario, problems
rarely get resolved because they go unaddressed so as to avoid
confrontation. Does it work? Sure. Not very effectively or long
lasting. It's non-threatening, discourages candid interactions,
and is not normally highly productive. But, after all, there are
a lot of people who like to work in a "Love-In" environment
It is our view that the best style of management that you, as
the new "BOSS", can adopt is one that, on the whole, meets the
test of common sense. This approach is one that uses effective
people skills to the fullest. Let's list the qualities and
practices of this approach as follows:
-
Get to know what the skills are of the people who report to you.
-
Realize that not each member of your team is the same - they
will have different strengths and weaknesses and each will have
different concerns and needs, therefore may have to have a
different style of interaction with you.
-
Understand and convey to your people the reason why a particular
activity is important - people work at a higher level of
productivity when they know why what they're doing is important.
-
Demand results from your people - set tough, but attainable
goals for your people.
-
Be tough on yourself - you must be accountable to you before you
can be accountable to others.
-
Seek assistance from your people. This will result in an
interaction in which both of you will probably learn something
and help each other.
-
Listen to your people at a thinking level. Let them know that
what they think and say is important to you. You'll probably
find that they have some very helpful and profitable ideas.
-
Recognize that it's OK to make mistakes, as long as you readily
admit them and learn from them.
This kind of "BOSS" is decisive, while at the same time willing
and wanting to get as much input as possible. He recognizes that
any decision made will probably not please everybody, but he
makes certain that every body knows what the decision is and, if
possible, why that decision was made. This kind of "BOSS"
understands that "people work best when they have a reason to.
High productivity depends on their understanding 'what's in it
for me' … Hard, intelligent, efficient work is something people
do because they'll get something out of it." There are two other
qualities that separate this kind of manager from the field:
-
This manager encourages and appreciates disagreement. He
realizes that this is one way to get problem areas on the table
and addressed and if it sheds a more realistic light on the
problem area the problem solving process becomes more
enlightened. We are in no way encouraging arguments or
in-fighting within your group. What we are suggesting is that an
intelligent debate or discussion about a problem or situation
can only increase the possibility of a more effective decision
being made.
- This manager also wants to have as many people who may be smarter than
him on his team or around him because he realizes that they are not going
to be a threat to him. On the contrary, he believes, correctly, that their
participation will make him look that much better.
CONCLUSIONS
After examining the various styles of behavior that we have very
briefly discussed, we hope that you will recognize and use the
latter. One thing you must realize, it's not always going to be
easy, but in the final result you, and you alone, will determine
how successful you will be in your new position. Use good common
sense, make sound business judgments based on as much
information as possible, and realize that it's OK to have fun.
After all, NOW, YOU'RE THE BOSS.
|
