OLA Superconference 2012 The Accidental Manager
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Transcript of OLA Superconference 2012 The Accidental Manager
Focus for todayOffer tools, approaches & ideas to new leaders, managers & supervisorsTransitioningTendenciesCreating a Motivating
Environment
What you will be tomorrow, you are becoming today.
Jim Clemmer
Your New ToolKit
Managing &
Leading
Commun-ication
Role
Delegating
Learning
Planning
•Priorities
Politics
Roles Skills Form follows function Roles dictate the skills
required Skills can only be learned
through practice We will discuss skills You will learn these on
the job
New managers need to know: How to assert themselves as leaders today when they
were colleagues yesterday. How to determine the priorities. How to manage “up”. That people come first…if staff isn’t on board, you will
never succeed. Communicating – getting the point across – now. That the world will not end if they delegate. That politics are all about relationship building. That balancing of needs and expectations with realistic
budgets is one that can only be learned on the job. That doing too much will ultimately become too much.
From CEO’s & managers in a
variety of settings.
Some favourite sources:
Harvard Business Review blog www.hbr.org Hill, Linda. Becoming a Manager. Harvard, 2003 Sheldon, Brooke. Interpersonal Skills, Theory & Practice
Mintzberg & Gosling, “Five Minds of a Manager” HBR Nov 2003 Managers Toolkit: The 13 Skills Managers Need to
Succeed. Harvard, 2004. Watkins, Michael. The First 90 Days: Critical Success
Strategies for New Leaders. Harvard, 2003 Ury, William. Power of a Positive No: How to say NO and
Still get to YES
Mintzberg on Managers’ Role
managing self managing relationships managing organizations managing contexts managing change
Setting the context for our
conversations
The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins
Personal disciplines: Plan to plan Defer commitment Schedule time for priority goals Go to the balcony to review
situation Use transparent processes Reflect on how you’re doing Take breaks Build & maintain relationships
3 Months
Furious activity is no substitute for understanding.
H.H Williams
Critical Skills
Establish, impart & implement a vision & strategies that make your organization indispensable
Create & maintain a productive & motivating work environment
Embrace ambiguity
There - simple enough?
As a member of management Your current role incorporates
leadership, management & supervision
You do things with people, not to people
You work up, down, across & beyond the organization
You are responsible for strategies, initiatives & implementation
Lead People
Manage Projects
& Process
Supervise
Details & Tasks
• We lead people• We manage project &
processes• We supervise details
“Leaders do not sit in the stands and watch. Neither are leaders in the game substituting for the players. Leaders coach. They demonstrate what is important by how they spend their time, by the priorities on their agenda, by the questions they ask, by the people they see, the places they go, and the behaviors and results that they recognize & reward.”
The Leadership ChallengeKouzes & Posner
Self
Transitioning
RoleTendencies
Transitioning requires a plan To plan anything effectively you must know:
What you want What you’ve got Barriers and acceleration points that may impact
your journey between the two states
Formally & consciously let go of what you were doing and the professional or functional expertise you relied on
“Promote yourself” Mentally move yourself from colleague or
‘young staff’ to team leader Develop or re-develop relationships with
boss(es), colleagues and staff
Start with a plan for
you
Your boss It’s more important for you to
develop a relationship with your boss than vice versa
When new leaders falter it’s usually because they “concentrate on doing
more of what they have done to succeed…they typically spend too
little time cultivating important relationships, especially with their
bosses.”Almost Ready: How Leaders Move Up, Harvard
Business Review, January 2005, p.49
Your goals must support your managers’ goals
Keep drafting your expectations while you learn No blaming of predecessors
or the past No surprises for superiors Potential solutions for
problems you’re identifying Areas where you need their
support Negotiate – expectations,
timelines, approaches, resources
• Manage the management relationship
• Regular, effective interactions to understand:▫ Their perception of the
situation▫ Their style▫ Their preferred
communication mode
Start by clarifying your role1. Identify the differences between your old and new positions:
2. Identify the similarities between your old and new positions:
And how you will fulfill & succeed in that role3. What strengths and skills have made you successful in the past?
4. Which of these strengths and skills can you continue to draw on?
5. What skills do you need to develop?
Your individual planWhat do you need
to stop doing?What do you need to
continue?What do you need to
start doing?
Highlights the need for:
Clear expectations You must know what your
manager or Board expects of you What do they expect you to
“deliver” in 3 months? 6 months? 12 months? How will they define success
for you? What will success look like from their view point?
Tendencies Understand your own, how you see the
world, and how the world tends to see you Myers-Briggs Keirsey DISC Birkman Strengths-Finder
Your accelerators & Your inhibitors
Know your preferences, behavioral style, motivational needs, stressors.
Keep The Red Sheet and The Green Sheet
Organization
Transitioning
Planning
Smart plans rely on smart goals
SMART goals: Specific Measurable Acceptable Realistic Timed
Must be written
Establishing Goals: be smart
“By July 20th, identify the 4 critical issues impacting the group that need to be addressed before year end.”
“By August, develop a plan for implementing e-book & tablet loans by January.”
“By November, 100% of staff will have received training in: using the e-books & tablets assisting patrons in using the devices
Focus on the goal
Most common error of new leaders is failure to focus
Focus on 2 or 3 critical areas Identify wins that:
Enable you to learn about the function or group
Build credibility for both you and the group
Matter to management Are doable in the culture
Goals are decisions
Discipline means choices. Every time you say yes to a goal or objective, you say no to many more.
Sybil Stanton
Establishing goals What are your goals for the next 6 – 12 months?
Refer back to worksheet #1; if there are skills you need to develop, include them in your goal-setting
GoalWhat will be in place then, that
isn’t in place today?
MeasuresWhat will success
look like?
Target Date
Steps
Relationships
Context
Transitioning
Motivating Environme
ntTendencie
s
People
Today is really about people
It’s all about people
One more time with feeling...
I CANNOT motivate peoplerepeat
I CANNOT motivate people
I CAN create a motivating environment
……………………..and that is my primary job
Context
To “lead” means to take a library, a unit, a program, a service or a project from where it is today to where it needs to be in the future to be or continue to be successful
The library or unit’s context is what is doing today, what is happening around it in its community & beyond, and what it wants to do tomorrow
• Be clear on where you are
• Be clear on where you are headed
• Be clear on the ‘influencing factors’ for the library & the unit
• Keep the context in front of everyone
Establish the context
To “lead” means you want to go forward: decide where draft the framework determine the “givens” describe it in simple terms Involve the team - their input,
ideas & details make it real
Create a positive pull within the context
Your context setting should address 4 things for your team:1. Why they should want to be in
your organization2. Why customers should want to do
business with you3. Why this is the most exciting
organization to be connected with4. What it “looks” like - the details,
as you see them
Establish goals with team Within your organizational structure, work with staff to
establish expectations and their goals Ensure their goals “support” achievement of your goals Ensure your goals “support” achievement of the
organization’s goals (your manager’s goals)
Start at the beginning
Most problems within organizations are the result of people: not understanding where they are
going how their job fits what’s expected of them
Forget the 3 R’s; concentrate on the 3 C’s:Context Communication Clarity
85/15 Rule
Context, Communication, Clarity
To link people & what they do to the {library} (business) strategy & vision requires connecting the dots for people. It means making sure that people understand how they can contribute, that they are able to contribute, that they have the right information when they need it so they can contribute& that they’ll benefit from the results they produce.
The Leadership Solution, Jim Shaffer
But “where do I fit?”
Always link organizational, team & individual goals, roles & expectations
Articulate with each team member:“This is how your job impacts our ability to engage
the community/campus/organization..……..
……….to achieve our vision…
………..to serve our clients...etc..”
Motivating environments rely on communication
Visions become real for people when they see where they fit, where they contribute & the benefits they’ll realize when they do contribute
You cannot hear while you are speaking
If your team doesn’t understand you, they can’t hear you
You can’t not communicateWhat you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear a word you are saying.Samuel Johnson
Confusion causes conflict.Clarity diffuses conflict.Insights develop clarity.
Feedback produces insights.
Clarity keeps the windshield clean
Creating motivating environments
Keep the windshield clean
Clarity is in an individual’s eyes Put on their lenses, their perspective Listen: For why they are saying what they
are saying for ideas for words that make it real for others for gaps for misunderstandings for resistance these will give you the details
needed to achieve clarity for all involved
Creating motivating environments
Identify: An individuals’ strengths Ways their job can capitalize on their strengths &
talents Rewards that are meaningful for the individual – time
with you? Time with a mentor? Time to work alone? The best ways to coach them or provide them with
feedback: Do they need information? Need to “do” things? Need to observe?
What gets in the way? History Human nature
Tendency is to try to understand the motives, values & interpretations of those people we like
What happens if we don’t like the person? Ask yourself this strategic question: What must it be like for “x”, with their
character & perspectives, to work with or report to someone like me, with my character, drives & stimuli?
“How to Motivate Your Problem People,” by Nigel Nicholson in HBR January 2003, pp 57+
Motivating environmentsStart with you:
What are your strengths or energizers?
How does your job capitalize on these strengths?
What rewards are meaningful for you?
What’s the best way to coach you or provide you with feedback?
Motivating environmentsNow talk with those you for whom you are responsible:
What are their strengths, talents & energizers?
How does – or how can their job capitalize on these?
What rewards are meaningful for them?
What’s the best way to coach them or provide them with feedback?
Trust
Determined by every moment of truth
Difficult to earn, & once gone, difficult to recover
We trust others when they are told something will happen & it does
Relies on communication When do you lose trust?
Keep the focus
“Leaders ..........demonstrate what is important by how they spend their time, by the priorities on their agenda, by the questions they ask, by the people they see, the places they go, and the behaviors and results that they recognize & reward.”
The Leadership ChallengeKouzes & Posner
Your New ToolKit
Managing &
Leading
Commun-ication
Role
Delegating
Learning
Planning
•Priorities
Politics
Managing yourself
When a you make a decision or take a key action, write down what you expect will happen (what success will look like), and keep going back to it – in 3, 6, 9 months – to measure where you are
Adapted from Peter Drucker, “Managing Oneself” in
Harvard Business Review, January 2005, p 102
Moving forward1. What will success look like for me in 12 months?
2. What personal disciplines or skills do I need to develop to ensure I do what I can to work towards that success?
You are all leaders
The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.
Peter Drucker, 1993
You are people who know how to ask, and how to learn.
You are the leaders of the future.Rebecca Jones
Let me know how you are doing!
Rebecca JonesDysart & Jones Associates
32 Apple Orchard PathThornhill, Ontario, CA L3T 3B6905/731-5836 Fax: 905/731-5411