11/4/12

Has Your Title Clouded Your Progress?


“Okay George I took your advice and invited my key executives and department heads to an offsite dinner meeting.  They were told to bring two sentences that described me on an unsigned piece of paper so I didn’t know who wrote what.  I assured everybody there would be no indignation or retaliation just a learning experience for me to be a better owner.  And much to my shock, I was defined as a micro-manager and narcissistic.”

“Once I got my composure, we talked and there is no doubt I have been a micro-manager and yes I certainly give off the appearance that it IS all about me.  So now George my old friend of great wisdom, “HOW DO I FIX ME?”  (Sammy M. CEO, Heavy Equipment Manufacturing, Missouri)

First and foremost, you must want to change for the good of YOU.  Management and ownership of any company comes with tremendous responsibilities.  You must demonstrate knowledge, judgment and technique on the business side.  And you must be filled with logic, compassion and understanding on the personal side.  But most of all you must demonstrate CONFIDENCE IN YOUR TEAM!  If there is no confidence then there is no team or worse there is no manager.

Your personal experiences may give you a false sense of security or confidence in the quest to manage your organization affectively.  Most all companies are filled with live, breathing, human beings who have brains and are willing to use them.  USE THE RESOURCES that you have within your organization because they have talent and abilities and because you have confidence in them.

The next concept you must grasp is a little word called, “TRUST.”  This is one of the most difficult processes to master for a micro manager.  Learn to delegate and have an understanding  that other people are in most cases, NEVER going to do it just like you do.  Be willing to deal with it and become a mentor/teacher so those employees improve and continue to make your life easy.

You must learn to hold your tongue.  Get the people who attended the dinner to give you a secret signal when they hear you get on one of your “hey look at me moods.”  Think of the words you say and ask yourself, “How would I react if my boss just said that to me?”  You CAN teach old dog new tricks and you must start retraining yourself to give the accolades to the team and take the heat when heat comes on behalf of the team.

There is no magic, just discipline of self.  If you don’t want to improve, I can say with some certainly you will never achieve measurable improvement.  If you are having problems getting your arms around this problem perhaps a Management Acclimatization® event in your conference room is in order.

Remember that your thoughts of today are programming your tomorrow.  If you woke up this morning and said to you, “this is going to be a terrible day” it probably will be.  So why not wake up each day and tell yourself, “I’m going to be a better person today” and you will be.  Again I say to you, YOUR THOUGHTS OF TODAY ARE PROGRAMMING YOUR TOMORROW!  Use that thought process wisely and you will reap the rewards.

Have a tremendous week.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CEO
Client Growth Consultants, Inc.