|
Letter From the Editor
Dear Readers,
As some of you know, I really like older cars. I’m in the process (five years and running) of working on a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner. If you’re really interested in my car, you can visit my personal website at
http://users.adelphia.net/~trtraut/index.html. But that’s not really the point of my note.
The point of this note is to tell you that I have invested a SIGNIFICANT amount of time and energy into this hobby. Much of my time is spent fixing things I’ve already “fixed.” The fact is that I knew virtually nothing about how cars worked when I started; engines, clutches, electrical stuff, etc. were a mystery to me. However, by getting dirty (REAL dirty) and mucking around – and with the help of some Internet forums and an old service manual – I figured out how to do things. Sometimes I didn’t have the right tool; this caused me to improvise or resulted in the fix taking longer than even I anticipated (and my expectations are pretty low!).
About now you’re thinking, “That Terry’s really something, learning how to fix up cars through sheer will and enthusiasm.” You may even be saying, “That Terry’s an example for ANYONE new to a job. Roll up the sleeves and start wrenching, that’s the ticket.”
Wrong.
I have story after story of things that I screwed up. Things that were expensive (did you know that if you don’t replace the timing chain you can ruin your $3000 engine?). Things that were dangerous (did you know that if all but two of your lug nuts fall off, your wheel starts a VICIOUS shimmy right before
it falls off?). Things that were embarrassing (did you know that if you keep your manual choke on too long, your car’s exhaust begins to resemble a mosquito fogger?)
Please understand that I’m a fairly intelligent guy: I have a master’s degree and all my coursework for a doctorate. And I’m no stranger to machines having grown up in farm machinery country in central Minnesota. I just didn’t know much about cars. And trust me, it isn’t just “common sense.”
Here’s my point: how often do we just assume that the job we place our new hire into is “common sense”, or that because the new hire may have come from a similar position that he or she will automatically know how to do this job? The answer is, “far too often.”
Unfortunately with new hires, the warning signs of impending failure aren’t as clear as a vicious shimmy or a cloud of blue smoke. It’s critical that we provide new hires with clear expectations, guidance/training, and feedback. By providing these things, we’ll end up with a new hire that is confident, capable, and committed. Without these things, we’ll end up with…. Well, let me ask you, “Would
you want me to work on your car?”
Terry
What You Believe
How do you as a manager or team lead view the work habits of your employees? Do you consider most employees to be lacking in motivation and indifferent to departmental or company goals, needing constant management and intervention from you? Or, do you consider most employees to be intrinsically motivated wanting to do well for themselves, your department, and company? The answer to these questions will reveal if you are a Theory X or a Theory Y manager.
 In 1960 Douglas McGregor introduced differing styles of management in his book
The Human Side of Enterprise. In his book, McGregor illustrates what is known as Theory X and Theory Y styles of management. According to McGregor, Theory X managers believe that employees lack motivation to achieve desired results and that the employee needs to be heavily managed and monitored. Theory Y managers, on the other hand, believe that the work itself is its own intrinsic reward, and that employees indeed want to do a good job for the company. Although McGregor’s theory is over 45 years old and is a little outdated in today’s management world, its simplicity poses an interesting question to all managers and team leads. When the heat is on and your team has to deliver results do you trust your employees perform or do you feel that you have to micromanage them to success?
One of my friends works in sales for a large software company. My friend’s boss manages 20 people yet still feels it is necessary to be copied on all emails sent to the customers to ensure that all the close plans are executed correctly. At the end of one stressful quarter the same manager had an employee whose wife was scheduled to give birth. The manager asked the employee why he couldn’t be back at the office by noon. “After all, your wife is schedule for the C section at 8 am. Don’t you have family who can watch your wife?”
It’s pretty clear to me that this particular style of management isn’t going to get the most from employees. I’ve seen this type of manager in action many times and they may generate short-term results (the employee DID come in by noon) but lose over the long haul. Hovering, yelling, and constantly micromanaging create stress and breed distrust. In this situation, the employee and the manager both reached their personal goals for the quarter; however the very talented employee left shortly after. This same employee had joined the company for its reputation but left because of the management style. Do you really want to be the manager who creates unnecessary stress and contributes to attrition? Imagine what kind of long term value that same employee could have generated for the company under better management.
 As you continue to evolve in your leadership role, the challenge becomes finding the right chemistry between the two extremes of Theory X and Theory Y.
A good manager has to be willing to become an alchemist and adapt his or her own personal management style to the employee’s personality and work style. You have to be willing to believe in the motives of your employees and have faith that they will succeed. You have to be willing to let employees fail, succeed, discover, and learn as you coach them to greater success.
As managers we all wear a variety of hats, but it’s very important for each manager to have enough self-awareness to understand how we manage under stress. When everything is on the line do you understand your natural belief system about your employees? Does it lean more towards Theory X or Theory Y? How is this belief benefiting or costing your organization?
In the end what you believe is what you get.
Communication Series: Listening
Recently, a series of events has made me realize that listening is not only a skill, but an art. Mastering the skill of listening can make the difference between assuming you understand what is being said and
 truly understanding what is being said.
The first event was last week, when I had to go to the doctor. I asked a simple question. Five or so minutes later, after repeated attempts to be stop my doctor from talking, I received an answer that vaguely resembled an answer to some other patient’s problem. I left her office feeling like I had wasted my time and money. I also felt like I might need a new doctor.
The second event, also last week, occurred when a home contractor came to look at our roof, which had sustained some damage during a thunderstorm last month. We need to replace our roof, and at the same time don’t want to take the plunge without first knowing our options if we wanted to finish our attic. The contractor took one look at our roof, and thirty minutes of talking and interrupting me later, I had the cost for what
he thought we should do, but nothing close to what
we originally had in mind. Needless to say, we won’t be choosing this particular contractor because he failed to listen to our basic needs and what we wanted to do.
Between the doctor and the contractor, I just wanted to shout, “Will somebody please just listen to me?”
After these two events I began to ponder just how much communications in business and in life could be improved if we could just master the art and skill of listening. In my two circumstances poor listening skills resulted in wasted time and money, and worse, lost business. The impact of poor listening skills in business means lost sales, project failures, or failed business.
Poor listening in relationships could destroy the relationship.
How good of a listener are you? When was the last time you noticed yourself doing all of the talking and not listening?
Here’s a quick quiz. Review your answers to improve upon your listening
skills.
Happy Listening!
- Do you let the other person finish speaking or do you interrupt frequently?
- Do you pay attention to the other person while listening or do you
multitask?
- Do you summarize what you’re being told to check for your understanding or do you “take your turn” when the other person stops for a breath?
- Do you take notes to increase your understanding and remember what you’re being told or do you trust your memory?
- Are you focusing on what the speaker is saying and feeling or are you thinking about what you’ll say next before the speaker finishes?
- Do you let go of your assumptions or do you anticipate the speaker’s thoughts and finish the speaker’s sentences?
- Do you ask questions to stimulate dialogue or do you do most of the talking during conversations?
- Do you actively focus on the speaker or do you day dream or think about other things while you’re listening?
- Do you nod and maintain eye contact to demonstrate interest in what the speaker is saying?
Entelechy Brings Sales Success to Xiotech (a Case Study)
 Entelechy designed, developed, and delivered custom sales training for Xiotech in a very tight timeframe. The result was a 100% improvement in lead generation among sales representatives for
Xiotech. To learn more, check out :
http://unlockit.com/docs/CS-HPSxiotech20050807.pdf
Mailing and Privacy Information
You have received this email because you are in Entelechy's database of people that we've interacted with directly or indirectly or you've signed up for The Key. If you've received this email in error, please click on
http://unlockit.com/newsletter.htm
to be removed immediately from our mailing database with our apologies. (If you have trouble with the opt out link, please reply to this email directly and I'll personally remove your name.)
Send this email to your friends and colleagues who may be involved in training and the performance of others and could benefit from FREE performance tips, tools, and techniques.
Entelechy will not sell, rent, or otherwise provide anyone else your membership information for any reason. Period.
Terence Traut, President of Entelechy "unlocking potential"
ttraut@unlockit.com
phone: 603-424-1237
fax: 603-424-6361
http://www.unlockit.com
|
 |
