Chapter 1
People management — the foundations of success
I believe the real difference between success and failure in a corporation can be very often traced to the question of how well the organization brings out the great energies and talents of its people.
Thomas J. Watson Jr, former CEO of IBM and author of A Business and Its Beliefs (1963)
Your ability to influence the success of your team is driven by both your approach and how effectively you apply the tools in the people manager’s toolkit. In later chapters we will look at how each tool can be applied to leverage maximum return on your investment of time, energy and resources. First, however, we will explore the approaches to managing people that enable us to exert a meaningful influence on their success at work. We will look at why personal ownership, accountability and leading by example matter as much as they do, and what a manager must do to foster healthy working relationships.
I will share with you why the same core values and behaviours influence the success of every manager responsible for a team, no matter what their level of seniority or how technically complex their department is. In this chapter we will look at:
• a code of management conduct that defines successful behaviours
• golden rules of engagement that underpin successful work relationships
• the importance of adopting an integrated approach that balances a focus on results and on people.
What success looks like
The primary indicator of the effectiveness of your approach to managing people is the performance of your team or business. Other measures of success are reflected in the capabilities, typical behaviours and effectiveness of the people who work for you. The most important indicators of successful people management practices include the following:
• High-potential candidates want to work with you and your organisation.
• Every member of your team is able to perform their role up to or above the standard expected.
• Most of the people on your team are proactively developing their capabilities and careers.
• You are able to access capabilities and resource capacity when needed.
• Behaviours are always aligned with business values and contribute to a successful culture.
• All staff feel they are treated fairly and have a positive perception of your business culture.
• People-related issues or challenges cause minimal disruptions or adverse impacts.
• Levels of staff turnover, both voluntary and involuntary, are generally low.
• People on your team choose to stay for longer than your industry average.
Case study
Quietly connected
Joe, the leader of a finance team for a large industrial manufacturing business, is one of the most capable and successful people managers I have ever worked with. Far from being the type of person eager to stand out from the crowd, Joe can best be described as a quiet achiever. Despite his reserved manner, Joe exerts a powerful influence on the engagement and success of his team. The rapid rate at which he has turned around their performance is strong evidence of the effectiveness of his approach.
Joe was hired following the abrupt departure of his predecessor, Malcolm, who had been with the business for more than 20 years, 10 of those in the role of finance manager. Joe’s brief was to dramatically improve how the team functioned and what they achieved. In particular, the organisation was anxious to ensure that better governance and controls were established to mitigate the risks of non-compliance and errors. When Joe arrived, his team were buried in a backlog of work, struggling to get on top of things, let alone put improved systems or controls in place.
Joe addressed these issues and achieved the specific objectives asked of him very quickly. Over the months that followed he also took steps to ensure his team supported business decisions more effectively. Previously operating purely as a processing unit, under Joe’s leadership the finance team developed a trusted adviser relationship with the rest of the organisation. Experienced members of the team now work closely with business leaders and provide the financial data and analysis needed to support critical business decisions, such as those relating to tenders and acquisitions.
The first thing Joe did when he joined the business was spend time listening to and learning from both his team and other colleagues in the organisation. Over the first couple of months he worked hard to form a clear view of what was working well and what needed to change. Included in his assessment were the capabilities and spirit of his team and what was needed to enable them not only to meet the expectations of the organisation but to realise their full potential.
While some experienced managers would have been tempted to dive straight into solutions mode, Joe chose first to listen, observe and learn. He wanted to understand the role of each member of his team — what they were there to do, the obstacles and challenges standing in their way, and how they felt their own problems could be solved. Adopting a hands-on approach, Joe plunged into the trenches with his team and spent the early stages of his employment working alongside his staff.
It was impressive to watch the ways in which Joe engaged with his team and inspired them to achieve more. Not long after taking on the role, Joe had managed to win the support he needed not only from his staff but also from his peers. Now facing little resistance, Joe quickly established strong relationships that reflected the trust and respect he had earned. It was evident to any observer that Joe was clearly focused on the goals he was there to achieve and understood well the importance of his team in making that possible.
Many of the leadership qualities, priorities and behaviours Joe brought to his role are the subject of the remainder of this chapter. Outlined are the approaches needed by any manager looking to leverage the full potential of their team to achieve the best possible outcome.
A code of management conduct
While we can and should bring our own unique style and methods to the way we lead people, in this section I will share what any manager needs to do to effectively influence the success of their team. These are the non-negotiable foundations of a successful approach that will enable you to inspire and lead your team not only to reach their objectives but to far exceed them. We will explore the importance of and best approaches to the following:
• earning trust and respect
• assuming ownership and accountability
• leading by example
• collaborating and consulting
• building strong relationships
• balancing your focus between results and people.
Priority 1: earn trust and respect
Earning trust and respect is a prerequisite, a starting point from which to positively influence the thoughts, feelings, behaviours and ultimately performance of those we lead. It’s important to remember that our ability to influence the success of others is proportionate to the extent to which they are willing to let us. Therefore to elicit best efforts, to push people beyond their self-perceived limits, to motivate them to move forward or to step up and have a go at things outside their experience, we need their trust and respect.
Trust and respect are equally important prerequisites to delivering tough love with positive effect. To be sure that the person on the receiving end of our constructive feedback will at the very least be willing to listen, we must have their confidence. If they are willing to listen they are more likely to hear, and if they are able to hear they are more likely to invest the energy or courage needed to respond usefully to our feedback. People are far more likely to be enabled and encouraged — that is, motivated to be courageous — by a leader they trust and respect.
Just as important as a team’s confidence in their manager is the respect and trust the manager has in the team. Having faith in the character and competence of the people we work with allows us to delegate roles and responsibilities without hesitation or misgiving. While our trust must be earned, each of us as a manager also has a role to play in being open and receptive to trusting. This is easier said than done for some managers, but unless we are willing to be open to trusting others we will never reap the full benefit of our working relationships. An important influencer of your ability to trust is your willingness to respect what other people offer. Of course it is necessary to identify and address gaps in your team’s capabilities, but it is also important to recognise and respect what they bring.
Lead with integrity
The integrity you bring to your role as people manager is reflected in the way you choose to speak to, guide and respond to members of your team. Equally, the decisions you make and the actions you take reflect the integrity you bring. Leading with integrity takes self-awareness and consciously choosing to apply high ethical standards. The form integrity takes will vary from one person to the next. Each of us will find its meaning reflected in our personal values and beliefs, and in our own understanding of how to live an honourable life.
Each of us must decide what integrity means. Here are some examples of the approaches ty...
