In the movies the leading man often was portrayed as the strong, silent type. A man of few words, but those words carried a lot of weight. Think Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry muttering, “Go ahead. Make my day.”
But as I was reminded recently, in business being a man of few words isn’t such a great thing. Our senior management team just went through a 360-degree leadership assessment. One of the things I learned about myself through the process is that I haven’t been very good about providing feedback. Frankly, I wasn’t all that surprised by the finding. Disappointed in myself, but not surprised.
I could probably come up with a bunch of excuses about why I am the way I am. I was a bottle-fed baby or my fourth-grade teacher suppressed my childlike exuberance by making me write, “I will not talk in class” 200 times on the chalkboard. But when I stopped to think about why I’ve fallen way short in the feedback department, I came up with the two biggest mistakes I’ve made (there were so many that for brevity’s sake I limited it to just the two most glaring mistakes) that have caused me to undercommunicate.
Bad news, isn’t no news
Let’s face it, given the recent economic environment, operating results for many companies haven’t been what we’d expect or want. I just read this morning that Sony hopes to return to profitability this fiscal year after two consecutive years in the red. Sony! We’re talking about one of the most respected companies in the world.
It’s easy to get up and brag about great things that are going on in good times. It’s much less fun to get up in front of a group of employees who you know are working their tails off and tell them that despite all that great work the results are less than expected. It’s hard to sit down face-to-face with a subordinate who did a stellar job on a project she just completed and tell her that there’s no bonus or pay raise in her future. It stinks to look at a group of people who are trying to help the company succeed by doing far more for less and not be able to tell them that all that hard work has paid off with improved results.
So, mistakenly, I chose to communicate less. Instead of getting up in front of the group of employees to tell them that I recognize and appreciate their hard work and dedication, I chose to say nothing. Instead of praising the woman who knocked it out of the park on the project and explaining that while she deserved to be rewarded I had nothing to give, I figured she knew. Instead of using one of the most important tools of management — recognition — I ignored it because I felt that my words would not be enough.
I’m here to tell you I’ve made a big mistake. Don’t make that same mistake in your organization. Use your words, your presence, your resolve, to communicate to your people that despite the tough economy and the lackluster results you realize the effort they’re putting forth to help your business survive and, ultimately, thrive once more.
Not everyone needs or wants to be managed like you do
This sounds obvious and maybe it is, but it didn’t stop me from managing people the way that I like to be managed. I like to be left alone to do my job. I like the independence and autonomy. I think I have a pretty good idea when I’ve done a good job and when I’ve stunk up the joint. I don’t need someone to tell me.
But that’s me and other people are different. Early in my career, I had the opportunity to coach high school football. It was something I truly enjoyed, and I learned a lot about managing people from my days on the football field with those boys.
One thing that became very apparent to me was that to motivate some boys you need to give them a swift kick in the rear (not literally), while others needed a pat on the back. What’s more, the mix between the two was different for every player on the team. Part of coaching a successful team is finding the right mix for each player so everyone can perform at their highest level.
That’s why I believe that a dedication to treating every one of your people exactly the same is one of the biggest sins in management. You need to treat each of the people who report to you like the individuals they are. Find out how best to manage them to maximize what they can contribute to your team’s success. And managing them the way you tend to like to be managed isn’t the answer either. Just because I don’t need much feedback doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t give it. It was another lesson learned.
It’s important as a leader to provide feedback to the people in your organization. Let them know how they’re doing. Even when things aren’t going well, in fact, especially when things are at their toughest, it’s important that you let people know how they’re doing and manage them they way they need to be managed. Don’t make the same mistakes I did.