18 March 2010
10 March 2010
The 8 things people expect from their leaders
Sent to me by my "boss", from HBR:
(...)
1. Tell me my role, tell me what to do, and give me the rules. Micromanaging? No, it's called clear direction. Give them parameters so they can work within broad outlines.
2. Discipline my coworker who is out of line. Time and time again, I hear, "I wish my boss would tell Nancy that this is just unacceptable." Hold people accountable in a way that is fair but makes everyone cognizant of what is and isn't acceptable.
3. Get me excited. About the company, about the product, about the job, about a project. Just get them excited.
4. Don't forget to praise me. Motivate employees by leveraging their strengths, not harping on their weaknesses.
5. Don't scare me. They really don't need to know about everything that worries you. They respect that you trust them, but you are the boss. And don't lose your temper at meetings because they didn't meet your expectations. It's often not productive. Fairness and consistency are important mainstays.
6. Impress me. Strong leaders impress their staffs in a variety of ways. Yes, some are great examples of management, but others are bold and courageous, and still others are creative and smart. Strong leaders bring strength to an organization by providing a characteristic that others don't have and the company sorely needs.
7. Give me some autonomy. Give them something interesting to work on. Trust them with opportunity.
8. Set me up to win. Nobody wants to fail. Indecisive leaders who keep people in the wrong roles, set unrealistic goals, keep unproductive team members, or change direction unfairly just frustrate everybody and make people feel defeated.
(...)
That's a quite good and to the point list. I like especially number 8. I have this "mantra" to myself, something like "if we are going to make mistakes, let's make them quickly, so we can also try something different quickly". I value so much people that can be decisive as leaders. It takes balls to do so, because, as a leader, "everything is your fault (dot)" and sometimes people believe it's more comfortable to not decide.
I prefer to take a decision, even not knowing if it's the right one (not even mentioning the "perfect decision", which is probably an unrealistic concept anyway). If we new all the answer and had all the information we needed to make a decision, even a monkey could run a business. Leadership is about uncertainty and belief, management is about certainty and facts.
(...)
1. Tell me my role, tell me what to do, and give me the rules. Micromanaging? No, it's called clear direction. Give them parameters so they can work within broad outlines.
2. Discipline my coworker who is out of line. Time and time again, I hear, "I wish my boss would tell Nancy that this is just unacceptable." Hold people accountable in a way that is fair but makes everyone cognizant of what is and isn't acceptable.
3. Get me excited. About the company, about the product, about the job, about a project. Just get them excited.
4. Don't forget to praise me. Motivate employees by leveraging their strengths, not harping on their weaknesses.
5. Don't scare me. They really don't need to know about everything that worries you. They respect that you trust them, but you are the boss. And don't lose your temper at meetings because they didn't meet your expectations. It's often not productive. Fairness and consistency are important mainstays.
6. Impress me. Strong leaders impress their staffs in a variety of ways. Yes, some are great examples of management, but others are bold and courageous, and still others are creative and smart. Strong leaders bring strength to an organization by providing a characteristic that others don't have and the company sorely needs.
7. Give me some autonomy. Give them something interesting to work on. Trust them with opportunity.
8. Set me up to win. Nobody wants to fail. Indecisive leaders who keep people in the wrong roles, set unrealistic goals, keep unproductive team members, or change direction unfairly just frustrate everybody and make people feel defeated.
(...)
That's a quite good and to the point list. I like especially number 8. I have this "mantra" to myself, something like "if we are going to make mistakes, let's make them quickly, so we can also try something different quickly". I value so much people that can be decisive as leaders. It takes balls to do so, because, as a leader, "everything is your fault (dot)" and sometimes people believe it's more comfortable to not decide.
I prefer to take a decision, even not knowing if it's the right one (not even mentioning the "perfect decision", which is probably an unrealistic concept anyway). If we new all the answer and had all the information we needed to make a decision, even a monkey could run a business. Leadership is about uncertainty and belief, management is about certainty and facts.
09 March 2010
8/march was yesterday, but people still don't get what is women's day
My friend Jake sent us because it concerns the Norwegian reality:
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Adding Female Directors Hurts Norwegian Firms' Value
Minus 18%. When Norwegian companies increased the proportion of women on their boards under a new diversity law, the firms' market value suffered, according to Amy Dittmar and Kenneth Ahern of the University of Michigan. If a firm achieved at least a 10% increase in the proportion of female directors, its Tobin's Q — the ratio of market cap to asset-replacement cost — dropped 18%. But gender wasn't the reason, the researchers contend; the decline was due to the new directors' young age and lack of high-level work experience.
Source: Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan
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Talk about understanding the importance of gender equality and doing it wrong by enforcing laws and regulations that demand unqualified people to take the job of qualified ones. We have the recognize the value in every individual, not force an idiot policy of "let's be nice to these poor little girls". Putting women in the board room that shouldn't be there is also undervaluing them. I can almost hear the male board members telling sexist jokes about the women who were put in the board room for questionable reasons. Is this better? Really?
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Talk about understanding the importance of gender equality and doing it wrong by enforcing laws and regulations that demand unqualified people to take the job of qualified ones. We have the recognize the value in every individual, not force an idiot policy of "let's be nice to these poor little girls". Putting women in the board room that shouldn't be there is also undervaluing them. I can almost hear the male board members telling sexist jokes about the women who were put in the board room for questionable reasons. Is this better? Really?
When Project Managers have the key
When Project Managers have the key
by
2500 years after Sun Tzu, McKinsey Quarterly publishes: "Senior executives and nonexecutive managers are unhappy with the performance of their companies’ frontline managers, according to a McKinsey survey".
The frontline managers (aka as Project Managers, Line Managers, LCPs, etc) are the corner stone in translating the strategy into action. Sun Tzu said that Officers are to blame when orders are clear but not follow, when you know what it needs to get done but it doesn't happen.
The great front line managers are CEOs of their processes, projects and initiatives. The ownership they take on what they do and the acknowledgement that success is a direct consequence of the actions of their teams are the ticks for the turn around: "empowering frontline managers to make decisions, anticipate problems, and coach their direct reports (rather than simply following and giving orders and solving crises) generates higher productivity and other benefits"
- Manage the process: and you will get the job done.
- Lead the people: and you will be able to get many jobs done.
- Connect your team to others: and you will release a chain of success that will spread through your organization and your partners.
Source:
https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Organization/Talent/How_companies_manage_the_frontline_today_McKinsey_Survey_results_2537
13 February 2010
Lamebook
I wonder if this is a joke or people really know very little about the most obvious things out there.
21 January 2010
Too much data leads to not enough belief
by Seth Godin
Business plans with too much detail, books with too much proof, politicians with too much granularity... it seems as though more data is a good thing, because data proves the case.
In my experience, data crowds out faith. And without faith, it's hard to believe in the data enough to make a leap. Big mergers, big VC investments, big political movements, large congregations... they don't usually turn out for a spreadsheet.
The problem is this: no spreadsheet, no bibliography and no list of resources is sufficient proof to someone who chooses not to believe. The skeptic will always find a reason, even if it's one the rest of us don't think is a good one. Relying too much on proof distracts you from the real mission--which is emotional connection.
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