In ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’, By Mark Twain, the hero uses his delegation skills to get his pals to paint the fence for him – a task assigned by his Aunt Polly for his misbehavior.
His friends are inquisitive enough about his activity, he smartly recognizes the opportunity to ‘sell’ the task as something special. And he is so good at it that they buy their way, through some small offerings, into experiencing the paining job for themselves.
He makes it attractive through it’s uniqueness as well as the clever marketers tactic of its scant availability.
They are happy that they have achieved something special to experience. Tom is happy, because he gains time off the onerous task (as wells as the gifts) and, of course, Aunt Polly gets her fence whitewashed.
Delegation is its most ideal form – where everyone is a winner.
As managers, we can often take most of the typical workplace activities on ourselves. Then, because we are doing all the doing, we know it will all get done perfectly (at least in our eyes).
Yet, if we want to step up to the plate and evolve into true managers, we start to appreciate that the role
we have is about managing others to deliver and not to have to do it all ourselves.
When we have work that others could do perfectly well (and usually less expensively) we have an obligation to ourselves to let it go.
When we have work that might appeal to others for their own benefit too, we indeed have the makings of that win-win.
Now, we cannot expect our people to give us small presents to do our work for us. That maybe is a stretch
too far. What we can do is to encourage them to take on the work that we wish to delegate, by ensuring that it enriches their job, through being the type of work that they love.
And, where possible, where it will enhance their capabilities such that they will be much more attractive as
employees in this employment – and for new career opportunities in their future too.
Though you might not receive the various apple cores, kites and even dead rats that Tom was able to cajole from his friends as they enjoyed whitewashing the fence, you might be surprised how many of your people thank you.
Sometimes they may even appreciate you to others, just because you recognized that win-win opportunity, as you actively delegated work to them where they – and you – will benefit.
One of the biggest reasons managers fail to achieve their best results is because they fail to make the move from ‘doing’ to ‘managing’. It seems much easier to work even harder and make sure the job is done right because it’s you doing it. This is not a solution that is sustainable.
Many managers make assumptions about the capability of their people based on the flimsiest of evidence, if there is any evidence at all. Often there is a belief that employees are incapable of taking on more and growing in their role.
They fail to do this because they find it hard to nurture and raise the bar for the people in their teams, many of whom have significantly more potential than is visible at the surface.
It’s not easy to pin the causes of this directly on those managers who seem to miss the ‘developing others’ boat. In many managers there is a significant difference in their aptitude for seeing the value in their people. Some seem more able to make the best out of the individuals who work with them and others find it harder.
In fact, there are real gems out there in our teams. Pretty often, you have people right now who are capable of much, much more. And when you find the right key, unlocking that potential can quickly and easily provide success for your business for years to come.
Just some of the benefits of well managed teams, where the individuals have been enabled to meet their potential are as follows:-
1. Developing your people will make your job a lot easier, because much of the work that you seem to need to do right now, can be effectively delegated to others who are just as able to do it as their skills extend
2. Developing your people will make them much happier, because as they succeed in achieving new challenges that stretch them, their interest is maintained, they feel good about themselves and they become more marketable, as their skills grow
3. Both of these will make you a lot happier and much more fulfilled, when you see your people become better employees and that you have been the facilitator of them achieving their potential in the work they do
Each of these aspects of management are so often underplayed. It’s safe to say that there are far wider implications emotionally, mentally, socially and well as economically when you take the time to get people development right. This is where everyone’s a winner
You cannot make the business thrive without ‘Developing Your People’ being on the highest of your agendas. And that’s where many managers fall down.
They simply struggle to move from doing it all themselves, to fulfilling their own role of managing others to do their jobs well.
(c) 2010 Martin Haworth. This is a short excerpt from one of 52 lessons in management development at Super Successful Manager!, an easy to use, step-by-step weekly development program for managers of EVERY skill level. Find out more at http://www.SuperSuccessfulManager.com.
Twitter For Business? Yes, You Really Can!
It’s a small world out there and getting smaller. In fact whilst doing business in 140 characters might seem unlikely, here’s a real story that proves that just a few minutes a day – as well as a healthy interest in other people – really can bring business to a business.
A few months ago, a training organization who I do some work for asked me to take a look at how we might build awareness of their brand.
Maybe I was a bit inattentive in the moment, but I ended up with agreeing to investigate the ‘Twitter’ phenomenon for them and make a few posts.
Till then I’d known little about Twitter and as anyone who knows me could attest, 140 characters did not seem a viable experience at all for someone who, on their day, can chat for England.
Still, I took on the opportunity to expand my interest and also took on a few lessons about what to do to build a following etc.
Then I met Gordon.
I don’t know what it was about finding @Leadership1 (in Twitter language) it was, but as I often do, I decided to investigate someone with potential whose moniker showed up in my feed. Curiosity is just one of my weaknesses!
And so, an opportunity to spread the wings of my new product Super Successful Manager! was born.
As we exchanged dozens of e-mails and Tweets, it became clear that the product I had sat well with the offer of Leadership Courseware and a few months later the product went live on their site on April 1st – you can see it here.
In fact, we evolved a new product line as well, since they had the facilities to incorporate a hard copy into their range, whilst I had only thought of online delivery.
This involved a frantic week of my adjusting and often rewriting chunks of the Program, so that it work in booklet format too.
The two products complement each other and Gordon and I have a mutually beneficial arrangement marrying up my management expertise and product, with the marketing nous and range of their regular followers.
So spending a few minutes each day Twittering looks to have had a strongly positive impact on my business.
And, you know what, I suspect that there are other opportunities coming along too!
PS – If you want to read about Gordon’s side of it, his blog is right here.
Extreme Productivity – The Lucille Ball Way
As we work in ever demanding circumstances, I’m reminded of those occasions where as managers we want to get more from our people and willingly, they are prepared to do their very best for us too.
This classic Lucille Ball clip shows how often they are prepared to go the extra mile, whilst reminding us that sometimes, we have to be appreciative of what our demands actually mean of them.
I remember watching this as a child and occasionally, when my work flow goes into overload, it becomes a recurring nightmare!
A significant part of our role as managers is the development of our people.
In some cases this can be challenging, because of the circumstances in which your management takes place.
For example, when you are new to a management role; when you inherit a new team or when you have individuals for whom progress is too big a step.
In your keenness to show that you mean to support and help progress, your enthusiasm can be misinterpreted and make these people step back.
In situations like these, it’s vital to ensure that the people involved make some progress, rather than struggle and fail.
By working closely with them to ensure that they do succeed, in however small a step it takes, you will have created a foundation to build on in the future.
Whilst progress might seem to be slower than you want, the patience you show is much more likely to create an environment for the future where many more of your people become stronger assets for your team.
Ready for Some Positive Feedback?
Two activities – one group and one personal.
1. Here’s a cool activity if you are in a meeting, or running a training session.
At the end of the meeting, give everyone a blank sheet of paper. Ask them to write their name at the top.
Ask them to pass the paper to the left and to write the answer to this at the very bottom of the blank sheet (above the fold):-
“In one line, what value does the person at the top of the sheet of paper bring to this gathering?”
When each person finishes, they fold their comment over.
They then pass the sheet along to the next person on their left, who cannot see the previous comments because they are folded over!
When the page reaches the owner, they have a wonderful gift to take home with them (I still have one given to me over 11 years ago!).
2. My coach got me to do this.
He asked me to find a number (I chose 10) colleagues/friends/family etc., and ask them the following question:-
“What value do you receive when you work/live/spend time with me (just one of these, depending on who they are).”
On both occasions, you will generate some positive and even unexpected responses that show you truly what others think of you – and it’s great, because it’s positive!
