Greg's Right FIT #530 – This week: Managing, Supermanaging, Dorm photos

Quick notes to help you find new business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week. 

In this issue: 

• Thoughts on Managing
• Being Human – Super Managers
• Random Stuff
• Back In The Day

Thoughts on Managing

• Bold management decisions come from having bench strength at your disposal. It lessens risk when you know you can plug the next person in.
• A successful outcome viewed through a motivation lens credits the achiever. Switching to a momentum lens highlights the effect of the environment. Focusing on a successful environment makes it easier for managers to get results compared to trying to motivate people to reach goals. 
• A manager's goal is to encourage the behaviors that get results. To know which behaviors to focus on, they need a clear vision of where the firm wants to go. 
• The management technique that delivers the best results in the shortest amount of time is helping people use their self-identified strengths in their jobs. It reduces turnover and increases job satisfaction. It just works.

Being Human – Super managers

"Manager' is a title, not a function. It's better to be one than not. Since you spend all day doing the job of the person above you, the higher up you are, the less you have to do." – Corinne Maier, "Bonjour Laziness"

I saw a friend's title change in LinkedIn, and sent a note to congratulate him. "Just a title, no $$," he said. "More direct reports though." I don't know if he sent it "sad" but that's how I read it. I remember living through RIFs, Right Sizing, Layoffs, and Re-orgs. It's an anxious time. Especially when peers that were let go start landing in new positions. They all sound better than managing twice as many people for the same pay.

The flip side is you get to be Super Manager.

I could run an entire workshop on how to do the super manager bit. Today, I want to cover just one tactic. It's inspired by running into an old friend at an event. We introduced him to another friend that stopped to say hello and he overheard her telling us that she is two years from retirement. He's obviously older, so she asked for his retirement advice.

"Learn to say no," he said. Once you stop working you'll find yourself being asked to do a lot. "Get good at saying no, and retirement is wonderful," said the wise old man.

I have the same advice to people thrust into the super manager role. With twice as many people to manage, you might think I'm talking about saying no to requests from direct reports, but I'm not.

You need to get good at saying no to your leadership.

Every day my leadership had a new idea for me. They were excellent ideas. When I wasn't a super manager I used to try to make them happen. However, when I switched to a super manager role that had to end. I had to get good at saying no, without being a pain in the butt to manage.

Here's how I did it: Agree with them, tell them it's a great idea, and do nothing without an explicit instruction. It sounded like this: "That's a great idea." Then silence. I didn't ask any more questions. I didn't offer to look into it. I told them it is a great idea, and moved on. If they pressed me and offered plans, I'd ask for their help in prioritizing the new idea inside my day/week/month. What could I let slip lower on the priority list to make the new thing happen?

It's a gentle way of saying no without being a pain. Many ideas are just that, ideas. As a super manager, you have enough to do. Whims and great ideas get put to the side. You're in execution mode, getting things done.

Effective Super Managers are good at saying no. Nicely.

Random Stuff

"How can you be sick? You have a mustache." – dialogue in American Flyers

My college roommate sent me an old picture from my birthday in our dorm. In the back of the photo, is a snapshot of the important things in my life at that time. Nilla wafers, a hotpot for ramen noodles, and photos of friends. Rugby shirts were obviously a thing. I wore contact lenses too.

It's those pictures on the wall that I'm focusing on. I've lost them to time.

I see one of my lovely bride, I see friends from first year, some I am still in touch with. And I see a photo of a bicyclist racing by. I took that photo on a movie set.

Did I tell you about the time my friend was convinced we would be discovered by Hollywood if we spent two days being movie extras in the Colorado mountains? We had to be there early to receive our instructions for they day, and were given a free lunch. The movie set was an hour and half away. We did this two days in a row. The movie is American Flyers, starring a young Kevin Costner before Dances with Kevin Costner, Rae Dawn Chong before, um, Commando, Jennifer Grey before Dirty Dancing, and an appearance by cycling great, Eddy "the cannibal" Merckx.

Each day we wore the same bright red shirts, hoping to stand out when we saw the movie in theaters. We were young and attractive, so a casting agent was sure to take notice. Who needed to finish college when the bright lights are calling?

In the final race, Costner's brother goes out early and needs to beat his nemesis by 11 seconds or more. He wins the stage and after he finishes the crowd counts down the seconds before his menacing square jawed competitor crosses the line. The brother wins. Pandemonium ensues. We weren't close enough to see Costner and the other stars hug when it happens. It was high drama on the screen, but on the set we just counted down. Over and over. A guy on a bullhorn yelling, Cut! Take twelve! More energy! I think the final scene was filmed in California or something. I don't remember it.

Needless to say, we weren't discovered.

It was one of the more boring events of my youth. But I was with my friend. We were in the mountains. It kindled an interest in cycling. And who knew, right? We took a chance. We could have been discovered. Stranger things have happened.

Back in the Day

What was on this guy's mind last year, five years ago, and ten years ago.

• Last Year: Right FIT #478 – A reminder the ability to stop and think before reacting is one of the things setting us apart from other animals. Stimulus, PAUSE, response, I can hear Mr. Carl saying.
• Five Years Ago: Right FIT #269 – A story about getting everyone on your team to contribute a little toward sales. It comes from my book, The Human Being's Guide to Business Growth, long before there were casinos in our pockets. A story about me jogging too.
• Ten Years Ago: Right FIT #7 – Defining terms to help with communication, illustrated by a bad joke I used in workshops about a dog sending a telegram. I might need to bring that one back.