People can be messy…

What kind of manager or leader are you? 

I was asked recently why I didn’t raise my hand for a manager’s role in my department.  Well… speaking from personal experience I can say with confidence, managing people is messy LOL! 

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed managing people in my career; for a while.  It’s just that people have complexities and complexities are messy for managers to “manage”.  That’s why I say managing people is messy.  Or is it? 

Whether due to the pandemic; generational differences; our preoccupation with technology; or simply that I’m wrong; I’ve noticed a “less messy” approach taken by many managers these days.  It’s less messy because it’s less personal; metrics-driven; less direct; very management-by-email. 

I remember meeting Bob Perkins, Founder and Chairman of the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals a while back.  He told a story about his son’s foray into sales.  Based on Bob’s extensive experience in the profession, he’s certainly a subject matter expert.  I found it interesting that he presumed his son would fail. 

Early on, Bob’s son described his prospecting process and shared some of his phone scripts with his Dad.  Bob, having observed in his career too many other salespeople to count, didn’t think his son was very good; didn’t think he would make it.  But Bob’s son persevered; tried; failed; tried again.  He had heart which is hard to tie to metrics and even harder to detect in emails.  

When his son called one day to talk about his sales year, Bob was expecting to hear defeat.  Imagine his surprise when his son was calling to invite Bob to join him at his company’s President’s Club!  As it turned out, not only did Bob’s son not fail; he was a top salesman that year. 

Bob said he thought his son’s first President’s Club was just luck.  He finally changed that view but only after his son earned President’s Club recognition his second year and beyond.  It was a valuable sales management lesson about superficial, long-distance, wrong, impressions. 

With today’s plethora of technology, sales reps are often measured – and managed - by metrics.  Management-by-metrics is not limited to sales and managing people can be extremely challenging.  Especially if you don’t have the “secret” LOL! 

The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided. 

Casey Stengel 

I was chatting with a manager the other day.  She asked me to do a check-in call with one of her people.  I think she wanted to know if he hated her or was still undecided.  

She told me he never has any questions or asks for help.  During their 1:1s when she asks how’s he’s doing, he’s always, “fine”.  When she asks if he needs anything the response is usually, “nope”.  I congratulated her for noticing the nuances most managers miss. 

What do you think?  Is her situation with her person good?  Do you think her person is engaged?  Maybe he’s introverted.  Maybe he’s looking for another job.  Maybe he doesn’t trust his manager.  How could you tell? 

We spend a lot of time teaching leaders what to do.  We don’t spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop.  Half the leaders I have met don’t need to learn what to do.  They need to learn what to stop. 

                                                            Peter Drucker 

My opinion?  Whether manager or leader stop managing by email.  Try having genuine conversations with your people.  Their nuances may just surprise you! 

GAP 

Did you like this little ditty?  You might enjoy my past posts too: www.TheQuoteGuys.com