Not good…

I recently read Go Put Your Strengths to Work © by Marcus Buckingham.  I’ve read another of his books and like the research he invests for the theories and best practices he espouses.

Part of his piece discusses managers interactions with their team members.  I’m fascinated by such interactions having been a manager on a few occasions throughout my career.  I was not good; at least at the beginning.  Some of my direct reports might say I never improved, LOL!

With my very first sales team I knew if I was not good during a sales meeting when my top rep, Lisa Kwiecien, would say, “Gary, you’re killing us!”  You see, I’ve always been verbose when trying to emphasize an important point.  I guess I can describe a walking pedestrian with the best of them which is…  not good.

I was good at a couple of things…  holding people accountable for one.  Stephen M.R. Covey wrote this about that in The Speed of Trust ©:

…people want to be held accountable… performers also want others to be held accountable.  They thrive in an environment where they know that everyone is expected to step up and be responsible…

Part of that accountability was my ability to observe my people in the field and then offer feedback.  Knowing my propensity for verbosity, I learned how to limit that feedback to 3 things.  I also learned the power of specificity:

The HR Team at a major bank sent out a memo with recommendations to help managers make their praise more specific.  They suggested that telling people, "You’re doing a great job" isn't going to make them want to stay.  Praise can help you retain your top employees - but only if it is detailed and relevant.

Beverly Kaye

Just not too detailed…

By observing my people in the field, I continued to learn:

What Great Managers Know:

·         People don’t change that much.

·         Don’t waste time trying to put in what was left out.

·         Try to draw out what was left in.

·         That is hard enough.

Marcus Buckingham 

I know I carried that wordiness trait throughout my management career.  Even beyond business, loquaciousness has stayed with me which is… as I’ve already shared… from the Department of Redundancy Department… not good!

And when I get going in a social setting with one of my stories thankfully my patient wife simply smiles and suggests what Debbie Ryder, one of my business colleagues from back in the day said, “Gary, land the plane.”

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.