Now, attention to detail is important. You cannot have a quality outcome without attention to detail.
But, micromanaging is another story. This is probably one of the top pet peeves people have of their manager. How do you know if you do this?
Tag Archives: managing
Slow Down
People are always in a rush. We’re running from one meeting to another, dealing with unexpected demands, trying to get things done. But doing things in a hurry can backfire on you. Here are some indications that you need to slow down:
Quotes I Love
“People do not change when they see the light. They change when they feel the heat.”
Freda Lewis-Hall, Chief Medical Officer, Pfizer
Still Learning (sigh)
So you know when you have one of those weeks when it seemed every day someone was pushing your buttons and you behaved in a way you now regret?
All of us have triggers: something that when someone does it to you, you see red. For me, it’s when someone makes excuses when something goes wrong. I am not happy when mistakes happen, but if you take accountability, explain to me how you’ll make sure it won’t happen again, I’ll get over it.
It’s a mistake to give me a bunch of excuses. I will see red. (BTW, most managers will too).
The problem is that when we see red, we lapse into our more basic “fight or flight” mode. For some people, they will start dissolving in tears. Some people will shout back and get abusive. Some people will shut down.
There is nothing harder than trying to overcome your natural tendencies. The first step is to be aware: what happens when I am in flight or fight mode? What are the warning signs so that I know to pull back, excuse myself, do something so that I’m not pushed into the danger zone? If you are self-aware, you know to take yourself out of the situation before you do something you’ll regret.
Someone sent me this article about what distinguishes the people we love to work for. It’s a great aspirational article that absolutely hits all the right points. I struggled with number 5 this week “They always think before they speak and act.” I didn’t throw a chair, but I did raise my voice and get visibly mad. Now, I’ve learned enough in my career to know not to make it personal, and I know to do number 8.”They never talk out of school”, but still. I wish I could have stayed calm and kept my volume down. I knew the person felt bad. I just didn’t exercise the self restraint because I saw red.
Still learning. Sigh
18. Mentoring
Full confession: in my career, I’ve not had great success with formal mentoring programs. Maybe it’s just me.
Once, I had breakfast with a “mentor” who was assigned to me. We had nothing in common. We’d try to get a conversation going, only to have it run out of gas. I kept trying, but it was really hard. It was the longest breakfast I ever had, and all I had was oatmeal.
A mentor is someone who knows you, who’s interested in your career, who feels a connection to you. Someone you can trust, share your concerns, go to when faced with dilemmas. It’s hard to successfully assign a match for both the mentor and the mentee.
But I have had many people mentor me. How is that possible?
One way to do this is to reach out for a conversation. Like “having a cup of coffee” with various people. So, if someone has a really interesting role, or has done some interesting things, drop them an email “Would love to have a cup of coffee/meet for lunch/meet for breakfast/just meet to talk about your career and how you got to be “fill in blank”. Would it be all right for me to set up something at your convenience?”
It’s much less stressful than the formal “will you adopt me, pay for my wedding, forever be there” mentor set ups.
Everyone says yes. It may take some time, but you won’t hear no.
This lets you get to know the person, and gradually develop a potential mentoring relationship. At the very least, you’ll spend an hour with someone who will share their experiences with you. At the most, it might evolve to a true mentoring relationship: someone in the organization who feels responsibility for you and is there to help you. BTW, it’s great when they’re senior. But it’s also just as rewarding when it’s a colleague.
If you don’t have a mentor, and always had mentor-envy, try it and see.
21. Is it a skill or will issue?
f someone is faltering, ask yourself “Is it a skill or will issue?” Skill you can change, will you can’t.
This is something I learned to use as a manager as a helpful way to assess people. So think of the x and y axis: one representing “will” and the other “skill”. Will is the desire to do whatever it takes in the job to be successful, skill represents the technical aspects of the job, and on both, one can score from low to high. Continue reading