Blog
To Be a Go-To Person, Accept the Hard Realities
I’ve been studying go-to people for decades now. Whenever I work with organizations, I ask everyone, “Who are your go-to people?” And I pay attention to the individuals (or types of individuals) whom others cite most frequently and consistently. Go-to people come in every variety and work at every level and are found in…
Don’t Let Diagonal Working Relationships Hold You Back
The collaboration revolution has ushered in a huge increase in interdependent working relationships where lines of authority are not clear, along with the rise of so-called “self-managed teams” and the thinning out of management ranks in many organizations, all of which flatten hierarchies and widen the spans of control for managers. In this environment, the…
Are You Caught In an Authority Conundrum?
Nate works as a manufacturing manager in a major company that makes truck steering systems. To do his job, he regularly collaborates across the organization, whether it’s with purchasing or quality or engineering. One of his biggest frustrations is when things don’t go well with his counterpart from another department. It’s never clear how to…
To Win at Collaboration, Play the Long Game
There is a crucial lesson that Lisa, an experienced emergency room nurse, leader, scholar, and professor of nursing, emphasizes to all of her students: “Before you do anything else, check: Does the patient have an airway? Is there adequate circulation? If those things aren’t there, none of the other issues are going to matter.” …
Working Things Out at Your Own Level Doesn’t Always Work
The fact is that despite the collaboration revolution, with its flatter organizations and self-managed project teams, there is always somebody in charge who is making decisions. Choices are considered up and down the chain of command. At your own level, there will always be conflicts that can’t be worked out. What can you do?…
More Feedback Isn’t Necessarily Better
The biggest takeaway from our research is this: The vast majority of managers do not provide feedback often enough. For the most part, micromanagement is a rare occurrence. However, while most managers should be giving more feedback, this should not mean “the more often, the better.” Managers in this position give feedback at intervals so…
The Five Components of Hands-On Management
There are volumes of research that have attempted to distinguish between leaders, managers, and supervisors: Leaders focus on the big picture, managers focus on details, and supervisors focus on carrying out the details. Leaders inspire, managers do the paperwork, and supervisors assign, monitor, and measure the tasks of individual contributors. But the truth of…
Is Your Workplace Feedback Thoughtful, Balanced, and True?
Every time a manager provides feedback, their credibility is on the line. Giving feedback that is generally inaccurate—off-base, unfair, unbalanced, or factually wrong—is a surefire way to undermine that credibility. On the other hand, employees come to trust and value managers who regularly provide feedback that is thoughtful, balanced, and true. The accuracy of…
Performance Improves When Managers Focus on Short-Term Results
The most powerful approach to coaching is one that focuses urgently on day-to-day, high-quality results. As basketball great Michael Jordan said, “I approach everything step by step using short-term goals. When I meet one goal, I set another reasonable goal I can achieve if I work hard. Each success leads to the next one.” …
Seven Feedback Mistakes Managers Make
Most managers today would agree that feedback is key to employee success. But unless that feedback is high quality, performance will never improve, no matter how frequent your one-on-ones with direct reports. The results of our interviews point to seven major complaints about typical manager feedback: There is not enough feedback (no guidance). There…