Management
The Invisible Spotlight: Why Managers Can鈥檛 Hide
Two principles are at the heart of your management relationships. Become aware of them, adhere to them and you鈥檒l join the ranks of the most successful and respected managers in the industry.
Craig Wasserman and Doug Katz
No matter what management role you play in the waste industry, you can be certain of one thing: Your employees talk about you at dinner. The meal is placed on the table, and your employee鈥檚 significant other asks the fateful question, 鈥淗ow was work today, dear?鈥� The next words are about you. Sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly. Either way, they鈥檙e about you.
鈥淚t was great today; my boss was out at a conference.鈥� Or 鈥淚t was really aggravating; the boss was at an all-day meeting and left no one in charge.鈥� Or 鈥淚t was aggravating; she was at a training class and left Larry in charge.鈥� Or 鈥淓xcellent day. I finished the recycling review ahead of schedule, and my boss was all over me with gratitude.鈥�
As a manager, you work in the constant glare of an 鈥渋nvisible spotlight.鈥� When you come, where you go and what you do in between are of the utmost importance to your employees. Yet, the most frequent and fundamental mistake managers make is to underestimate their impact. Managers invariably fail to recognize the influence they exert over their employees鈥� lives. They fail to recognize how vital their management relationships are.
It all boils down to an inescapable truth: If the foundation of the management relationship is solid, it鈥檚 because the manager is doing something right. If the foundation falters or fails, it鈥檚 because the manager is doing something wrong. It鈥檚 that simple and that difficult. Two principles are at the heart of your management relationships. Become aware of them, adhere to them and you鈥檒l join the ranks of the most successful and respected managers in the industry.
Principle #1: The Burden of the Management Relationship is Yours
Think about the balance of responsibility in a healthy manager-employee relationship. Would you say it鈥檚 50/50, with each of you contributing equally to the relationship鈥檚 success? How about 60/40, with one or the other assuming a greater load?
Too many managers, new and seasoned, step into their role assuming the relationship is a 50/50 affair, and this begins their slide into ineffectiveness. Their problem is that they want to apply the ideals of equality and shared responsibility. They act as if they鈥檙e still employees or colleagues. But while these ideals are important to the longevity of most relationships, they just don鈥檛 apply to the professional management of employees. The management relationship is not like most others. It鈥檚 unique because of the obligations that accompany it and the fact that it exists within an organizational hierarchy.
In this unusual relationship, the responsibility for creating a durable foundation isn鈥檛 50/50, and that鈥檚 because the balance of power isn鈥檛 50/50. It isn鈥檛 a marriage. It isn鈥檛 a friendship. You and your employees aren鈥檛 siblings, classmates or business partners. In fact, despite what some management gurus would have you believe, you鈥檙e not even teammates.
In this unusual relationship, you shoulder a disproportionate burden for the foundation. To say you shoulder as much as 80 percent would not be an overstatement. And guess what: your employees don鈥檛 want it to be any different. No matter how it may seem, no matter how you may want it, your employees don鈥檛 want your friendship. They want your leadership.
Once you accept this fundamental burden, you then have to take into account what you bring to the invisible spotlight and whether your 鈥渘atural ways鈥� are always the best ways to conduct yourself in its glare.
Principle # 2: Managerial Self-Acceptance Can Be Self-Destructive
So many managers make the unconscious assumption that 鈥渉ow they are as people鈥� is how they can and should be as managers. Without giving it much thought, they figure that developing professional relationships with their employees takes no more forethought and practice than working with colleagues or having dinner with friends on a Saturday night. It鈥檚 the 鈥淛ust Be Yourself鈥� theory. It鈥檚 an example of when self-acceptance can be self-defeating.聽
Managers spend their days in an invisible spotlight. They are being watched by their employees and being talked about at dinner. Their actions exert an enormous influence on the performance and spirit of their staff. To be capable and credible, every manager has to consciously hone the assets that strengthen his impact and find a place to shelve the liabilities that do damage.聽
It takes a lot more than 鈥渏ust being yourself.鈥� We鈥檝e all known managers who are 鈥渘aturally鈥� overbearing, glib, emotionally volatile, tightly wound, scattered, over-intellectual, perfectionistic, intolerant of criticism or fearful of hurting anyone鈥檚 feelings. The litany of instinctive but destructive qualities that managers inflict on employees is endless. What鈥檚 stunning is how unaware most managers are of their impact in the invisible spotlight. And when this impact is brought to their attention by a boss, a colleague, an employee or a consultant, so many say, 鈥淥h yeah. I鈥檝e been hearing that all my life. That鈥檚 just the way I am.鈥�
What It Takes
Managers who are self-observant, willing to learn and improve as a result of their mistakes are much better at forging productive relationships with their employees. Their relationships have far fewer unspoken anxieties, annoyances, expectations and disappointments. However, it takes two things to achieve this in the heat of the invisible spotlight: 1) accepting responsibility for the foundation of the relationship and 2) playing the management role consciously. The role demands constant self-awareness and deliberate self-development.
Craig Wasserman and Doug Katz have been consulting to managers and organizations for 35 years. Over that time, they鈥檝e consulted extensively to the waste industry. You can reach them at [email protected] and [email protected]. This article was adapted from the book, The Invisible Spotlight: Why Managers Can鈥檛 Hide available on www.. For more information, visit .
Sidebar
Phil鈥檚 People Problem
A national waste company鈥檚 regional vice president of operations asked me to spend a day on site with Phil, a district manager in a mid-west city, who managed more than 230 employees for his company. Phil was wrapping up his first year at the helm, and by all business measures鈥攔evenue, cost control, safety, routing efficiencies, process improvements, record keeping and customer satisfaction鈥擯hil鈥檚 first year was a success. But the regional VP had detected a few murmurs about Phil鈥檚 鈥渕anagement style鈥� during his own trips to the district. Because Phil was so promising, the VP wanted to nip any stylistic problems in the bud. He knew that Phil鈥檚 success could unravel quickly under the burden of an erratic, dictatorial or indifferent management approach.
I spent an early morning hour with Phil before meeting anyone else. I explained my role: 鈥淧hil, I鈥檓 a management consultant. My job is to hold up a mirror that reflects the impact you鈥檙e having on your organization and to show you where you can make improvements. So I鈥檒l take a snapshot today. I鈥檒l share my impressions with you at the end of the day along with my best advice.鈥�
At 4 p.m., after a day of formal interviews, casual conversations and many observations, Phil and I reconvened for our debriefing. In his year as district manager, Phil had brought order and discipline to his operations. The stiff standards of excellence he had introduced, though initially met with protests, were now a point of obvious and genuine pride. But one other theme ran through every conversation I had with his supervisors and staff. Phil scared the crap out of everyone.
After I presented his achievements, I moved the conversation to Phil鈥檚 management
style. I explained that in his enthusiasm to turn the organization around and to surpass corporate standards, he鈥檇 taken no prisoners. Just about everyone told some version of the same story: A supervisor was demeaned in midsentence for a scheduling procedure that Phil thought was misguided; a newer supervisor鈥檚 safety improvement recommendation was harshly dismissed because Phil declared it too costly; a department head鈥檚 plans for the layout of the truck bays was summarily overridden. The word in the hallways was that Phil had no patience, his ideas were the only viable ones, and he was callous, thoughtless, and intimidating. Several supervisors were actively seeking other jobs. Not surprisingly, these were some of Phil鈥檚 best and most promising.
My message should have been tough for Phil to digest. But as I held up the proverbial mirror, Phil simply looked at me, occasionally nodding in agreement. When I finished, he reflected a moment. Then said, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not telling me anything I don鈥檛 already know. My family has been telling me these things for years. I don鈥檛 suffer fools well. That鈥檚 just the way I am.鈥�
I had to respect the guy for his candor. But his self-acceptance was self-destructive. 鈥淧hil, we鈥檝e just come to the reason your VP sent me here. He didn鈥檛 give you this job so you could be the way you 鈥渁m鈥�. He gave it to you with the expectation that you would be a professional leader. Those are far from the same thing.鈥�
Phil sat calmly and considered my response. So I continued, 鈥淚f you want to be a barbarian with your family and friends, there鈥檚 nothing I can do about it. For all I know, they love you the way you are; if they do, you鈥檙e a fortunate guy. But at this company, you鈥檙e expected to work at being a manager. You鈥檙e the guy responsible for making these relationships work, not driving them into the turf. You鈥檙e the guy who has to develop these supervisors into confident captains, not shadows of themselves, limping away for safe harbor. You鈥檙e the guy who has to establish an atmosphere that encourages best efforts, not one that exposes vulnerabilities and insecurities. Being an effective manager is your job. It鈥檚 a set of skills that needs to be mastered. In this regard, you鈥檙e failing.鈥�
In the months following, we worked together at his request on his management approach. He learned to create those pivotal moments that are the foundation of the management relationship, rather than relying on his own reflexes. He began to allow others to succeed and err more on their own and to learn from both. He learned that listening to his employees was as important as taking a phone call from his corporate office. He learned that his natural impatience was a virtue so long as it聽served to energize, not humiliate. And most important, he came to appreciate that his employees wanted to please him; he needed to master the art of making that possible for them.
Craig Wasserman and Doug Katz have been consulting to managers and organizations for 35 years. Over that time, they鈥檝e worked extensively with the waste industry. You can reach them at [email protected] and [email protected]. This article was adapted from their book, The Invisible Spotlight: Why Managers Can鈥檛 Hide, available on www.. For more information, visit .