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“Management by drive, like management by ‘bellows and meat ax,’ is a sure sign of confusion. It is an admission of incompetence. It is a sign that management does not know how to plan.” -Peter Drucker
Many managers are heads down, hard chargers all day long. Their relentless pace can exhaust their team and often causes widespread confusion. As the leadership proverb goes: Do not confuse frenetic activity with progress. There can be an addictive rush in being the hero manager; the feeling of being important and needed (who else could do this job as good as me?). Letting go of the need to control is imperative to organizational health.
These 5 Key Performance Dimensions (cascading in importance) offer a steady leadership path out of the frenzy
KPD 1 – Over-communicate the WHY vision. Clarity is the antidote to uncertainty, a common root cause of workplace anxiety. Managers who master communication foster meaning and purpose, a key dimension for attracting and retaining top talent.
KPD 2 – Be tough on performance expectations, gentle on people. The only employees who like wishy-washy managers are slackers. High performers are repelled by cultures where everyone wins a trophy. Be kind and caring, but let people fire themselves.
KPD 3 – Coach and develop. Make people better each day. These 2 tools support, stretch, and ensure accountability: 1) Regular 1:1’s, and 2) Delegating. Building the organization’s leadership pipeline ought to be every manager’s legacy.
KPD 4 – Build a safe and collaborative culture. Fostering psychological safety is a prerequisite for team performance, according to Amy Edmonson, author of Teaming. Great teams will always outperform a culture of individual stars in the long run.
KPD 5 – Recognize achievement and have fun. Workplace stress continues to be a top complaint for most employees. Chronic stress, as we know, is literally a killer. Create regular rituals of renewal that will benefit the company in the long run.
“Discern the vital few from the trivial many.” -Greg McKeown
Think of implementing the above 5 dimensions as utilizing the 80/20 rule. Allocating your time to a few vital areas (20%) assures the busy manager that her focus yields outsized (80%) results. Executing these high-leverage activities helps managers regain a sense of healthy control while providing team members increased clarity and direction – a win-win!
Keep it simple, keep it focused, and definitely keep it inspiring.–Steve