Transcript Nine Characteristics of Successful Managers Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Nine Characteristics
of Successful Managers
Wake Forest University
Health Sciences
Research Managers Meeting
April 8, 2004
Characteristics of Great Managers:
1. Recognize that people are unique
We are a blend of skills, knowledge,
experience and talents!
Evaluating an applicant/employee’s skill,
knowledge and experience is relatively
straight-forward. Evaluating for talent is
much more challenging!
What Do We Mean By Talent?
Conventional
wisdom – rare
ability pertaining
to sports or the
arts!
What Do We Mean By Talent?
X
Myth – with
enough hard
work, we can
accomplish
anything!
X
What We Have Learned From
Neuro-Science
Born with 100 billion neurons
• synaptic connections form by age 3
• strong ones grow/weak ones wither away
• may be genetics or Darwinian pruning
• by mid-teens – unique set of synapses (about half the
number as at age 3)
• these synapses define our talents!
Talents Can Be Defined As
“A Recurring Pattern Of Thought,
Feeling Or Behavior That Can Be
Productively Applied.”
Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
First, Break All The Rules
Simply put – the behaviors you find
yourself doing most often are your talents.
“No Matter How You Total Success
In The Coaching Profession, It All
Comes Down To A Single Factor –
Talent … Although Not Every
Coach Can Win Consistently With
Talent, No Coach Can Win Without
It.”
John Wooden, UCLA Coach
Characteristics of Great Managers:
1. Recognize that people are unique
2. Identify talent and reposition for success
• Every role, performed at excellence, requires
talent
• Determine what talents are associated with
excellence in every role
• Key – find match between person’s talents and
role
Characteristics of Great Managers:
1. Recognize that people are unique
2. Identify talent and reposition for success
• Study your best
• Conventional wisdom – good is opposite of bad, so if
you want excellence, investigate failure and invert it.
• Excellence and failure are often surprisingly similar
• Danger of “Averages”
Characteristics of Great Managers:
1. Recognize that people are unique
2. Identify talent and reposition for success
3. Treat people differently
Break The Golden Rule
“Don’t Treat People As You Would Like To Be
Treated. This Presupposes That Everyone Breathes
The Same Psychological Oxygen As You”
Buckingham & Coffman
First, Break All The Rules
Figure out what motivates each person and devise a
system of appropriate rewards
Characteristics of Great Managers:
1. Recognize that people are unique
2. Identify talent and reposition for success
3. Treat people differently
4. Focus on desired outcomes, not process
Characteristics of Great Managers:
DANGER – “One Best Way” Approach
• Frederic Taylor: time-and-motion studies
• Madelaine Hunter: seven basic components of an
effective lesson plan
• Expert Systems
Remember, unique people with different
combinations of knowledge, skill, experience
and talent will determine their own way to
achieve the desired outcomes!
Characteristics of Great Managers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Recognize that people are unique
Identify talent and reposition for success
Treat people differently
Focus on desired outcomes, not process
Foster an environment that allows people to
fail intelligently
“Failure Is The Opportunity To
Begin Again, More Intelligently.”
Henry Ford
“I Have Not Failed. I’ve Just Found
10,000 Ways That Won’t Work.”
Thomas Alva Edison
“The Only Man Who Makes A
Mistake Is The Man That Never
Does Anything.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Failure–Tolerant Organizations
• Encourage Intelligent Risk Taking
• View Failure As A Pre-Requisite For Invention
• View Failures As Outcomes To Be Examined,
Understood, And Built Upon
• Focus On Increasing Their Organization’s
Intellectual Capital
• Create A Culture Of Collaboration Rather Than
Competition.
Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes
The Failure-Tolerant Leader
• Spencer Silver’s “Failure” Imperfect Adhesive
resulted In 3M’s Post-It Notes
• Jack Welch, Former Head Of GE
“We Reward Failure.”
• Charles Kettering, Former Head Of GM
“A Good Researcher Failed Every Time But The
Last One.”
“Failing Is One Of The Greatest Arts In The World.
One Fails Forward Toward Success.”
• Thomas Watson, Sr., Former Head Of IBM
“The Fastest Way To Succeed Is To Double Your
Failure Rate.”
Characteristics of Great Managers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Recognize that people are unique
Identify talent and reposition for success
Treat people differently
Focus on the desired outcomes, not the
process
5. Foster an environment that allows people to
fail intelligently
6. Encourage development of effective teams
“Individual Commitment To A
Group Effort – That Is What
Makes A Team Work,
A Company Work,
A Society Work, A
Civilization Work.”
Vince Lombardi
• Teamwork – A Worthy Goal!
• But Not All Groups Become
Teams
• What Makes A Group Become A
Team?
“A Team Is A Small Number Of
People With Complementary Skills
Who Are Committed To A Common
Purpose, Set Of Performance Goals,
And Approach For Which They
Hold Themselves Mutually
Accountable.”
Jon R. Katzenbach And Douglas K. Smith
The Discipline Of Teams
“A Team Is A Small Number Of
People With Complementary Skills
Who Are Committed To A Common
Purpose, Set Of Performance Goals,
And Approach For Which They
Hold Themselves Mutually
Accountable.”
Jon R. Katzenbach And Douglas K. Smith
The Discipline Of Teams
“A Team Is A Small Number Of
People With Complementary Skills
Who Are Committed To A Common
Purpose, Set Of Performance Goals,
And Approach For Which They
Hold Themselves Mutually
Accountable.”
Jon R. Katzenbach And Douglas K. Smith
The Discipline Of Teams
“A Team Is A Small Number Of
People With Complementary Skills
Who Are Committed To A Common
Purpose, Set Of Performance Goals,
And Approach For Which They
Hold Themselves Mutually
Accountable.”
Jon R. Katzenbach And Douglas K. Smith
The Discipline Of Teams
“A Team Is A Small Number Of
People With Complementary Skills
Who Are Committed To A Common
Purpose, Set Of Performance Goals,
And Approach For Which They
Hold Themselves Mutually
Accountable.”
Jon R. Katzenbach And Douglas K. Smith
The Discipline Of Teams
“A Team Is A Small Number Of
People With Complementary Skills
Who Are Committed To A Common
Purpose, Set Of Performance Goals,
And Approach For Which They
Hold Themselves Mutually
Accountable.”
Jon R. Katzenbach And Douglas K. Smith
The Discipline Of Teams
Harvard Business Review
Case Study: MacGregor
Reward People For Solving
Problems Without Coming To
See You First!




Unconventional Weekly Staff Meetings
Agenda – “The Problems You Faced And
The Decisions You Made And, If You
Got Help, Who Helped You.”
Builds A Team That Works Together!
McGregor Played A Lot Of Golf!
Characteristics of Great Managers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Recognize that people are unique
Identify talent and reposition for success
Treat people differently
Focus on desired outcomes, not process
Foster an environment that allows people to fail
intelligently
6. Encourage development of effective teams
7. Have a clear, unambiguous approach to
supervision
Key Elements of Supervision
1. Set clear performance expectations
2. Motivate performance
3. Evaluate performance
Characteristics of Great Managers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Recognize that people are unique
Identify talent and reposition for success
Treat people differently
Focus on desired outcomes, not process
Foster an environment that allows people to fail
intelligently
6. Encourage development of effective teams
7. Have a clear, unambiguous approach to
supervision
8. Understand components of human motivation
Employee Motivation is Based
Upon:
MOTIVATION
A
B
C
A= Does My Job Contribute To My Personal Goals?
B= Am I Confident In My Abilities To Do My Job?
C= If I Do A Great Job, Will I Be Recognized And Rewarded?
9 Characteristics of Great Managers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Recognize that people are unique
Identify talent and reposition for success
Treat people differently
Focus on desired outcomes, not process
Foster an environment that allows people to fail
intelligently
Encourage development of effective teams
Have a clear, unambiguous approach to
supervision
Understand components of human motivation
Have a clear sense of organizational mission
Understanding Mission:
Harvard Parking Story

1950’s – 2 UNC Grads To Harvard
One in Wheel Chair

Arrived In Boston One Evening
• No
Parking By Dorm
• Parked By Front Door To Unload

Campus Police Came
• Returned
With Workman – Painted Yellow Line
“As Long As You And Your
Roommate Are Students In
Good-Standing At Harvard,
This Parking Place Is For You!”
Key To Success in
Management
• Integrate these insights/approaches
into your own style
• There is no “one size fits all” model
of management
• But if there was, I believe that at its
core we would find:
Drucker Says:
“The Key To Greatness Is To Look For
People’s Potential And Spend Time
Developing It”