Over the past six months, I’ve been touring the world to meet with CEC members about the topic of Mobilizing the Workforce (some of the best work CEC has ever done, IMHO). One of the central themes is the power of personal connection…when employees can see a clear link between their daily work and the organization’s larger mission. These employees are proven to work smarter and harder on the things that matter most…and hey, who couldn’t use more of THAT these days?
But how can we as communicators help every single employee make that connection? The short answer is simple: WE can’t. That responsibility has to rest with the managers throughout the organization—the people who employees know, and have some kind of relationship with.
At this point, you might be wondering, OK…so how can I help managers create that connection? I think you already know. And I think I can prove it.
Just for a minute, think about all the people who have ever managed you in your career (in your present position, in past communications jobs, even back when you were just a teenager spraying rental shoes at the bowling alley or slinging burgers at McDonald’s)…think about the best manager you ever had. What was special about him or her? Here are the most common answers I get from communicators around the world:
- “He took time to explain things directly to me in a very personal way.”
- “She always let me know why we needed to do a certain thing, not just what I was supposed to do.”
- “He was a great listener and frequently asked me for my opinion.”
- “She always made me feel like I was part of the inner circle.”
The conclusion is pretty clear—and borne out by CEC research. The best managers engage their employees in one-on-one conversation about business issues that are personally relevant.
Here’s the thing: I bet if you asked the same question of your company’s managers—What was special about your own best manager?—they’d come to a similar conclusion. So, the trick is…to awaken this sense in our company’s managers when it comes to leading their own teams today, and to give them the tools and skills to have these conversations.
CEC members, take a look through our extensive suite of dialogue skills training and tools designed for this exact purpose.
So how about you? Tell us about your best manager—what made that person special?
on 14 January 2010
Respond
Larkin & Larkin (“Communicating Change”) put a slightly different emphasis on what’s happening in those kinds of conversations. The manager is *mediating* the strategy into terms that have instant, practical applicability for the performance of the team member’s task … calling it ‘line of sight’ might suggest that this is about managers parroting the corporate vision, by no means a value-adding activity (which is why managers have the good sense to reject it)!
With thanks to the materials CEC provided us with last year (now in the handy archive referenced above) I think we’re getting clearer about the implications for communicators. Yes, there’s definitely a line capability piece, effectively coaching managers to become better mediators. There’s also an implication about what content we equip them with to communicate, ie, the extent to which we translate vision into detail.
Larkin and Larkin recommend translating any strategic priority into a performance metric managers can share with their teams on the frontline, ie, information about their performance, locally, against the strategic measure. That’s hard graft, but compelling information!
on 19 January 2010
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When you are managing a staff, first and foremost, you must remember that you are only as good as they are. That means that your ego cannot get in the way of giving staff praise, complimenting them in front of other execs, inviting them to learn some of your responsibilities, offering them attendance at some of your management meetings, etc. Don’t shut them out. The mistake managers make is they get insecure and they have a tendency to resist praising any member of their staff for fear that they will look better to execs than they are. That is exactly what CEO’s want their managers to do. Develop a superb staff, know when an employee cannot meet expectations, maintain a positive relationship among all and with each other….this makes the manager look irreplaceable.
Staff wants communication, they need to feel value, they definitely need direction and they expect managers to be leaders. If you say to your staff “It is not me that’s making you do this, it is the CEO”. Trying to make someone else the bad guy only diminishes your ability to lead. Next time you will be bypassed by your staff and you will be weakened.
Message….let go of your ego. You are only as good as your staff. Think about it….whose head rolls when a company isn’t doing well or…… even in politics. No matter what…it comes back to the President. He or she has to have good people in place so that everything goes smoothly. Micro-managing isn’t acceptable and frankly impossible in this fast-paced world we live in.
on 19 January 2010
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by CEC Researchers, Diane Meyer. Diane Meyer said: RT @CEB_CEC: All great managers share ONE communication quality. WHAT that quality is & share thoughts: http://bit.ly/7fhMHx (CEC Insider) [...]
on 24 January 2010
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Hey there…some really helpful points there…expressed very well. I particularly like “let go of your ego.” Of course, the ultimate ego boost is success, right? And, as a manager, great success can only be achieved through great communication.
Thanks for such a thoughtful response. –RD