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MM MANAGERS STIFLE

Written by: Andy Marken

Article Overview: M&M MANAGERS STIFLE RISK TAKING...TRUST...RESPECT...SUCCESS

MM MANAGERS STIFLE

People.
They're the one dynamic variable in the success or failure
of an organization. They're the glue that educators, academic
theoreticians and financial folks have been unable to quantify.
In the final analysis, people will make or break an
organization. This is especially true in an entrepreneurial or
start-up firm that is finding its niche and growing.
The uncertain climate of start-ups call for more than a
manager, what they really need is a leader, an individual who can
shape and mold the organization through group cooperation. In
almost any company, especially during its formative stages, the
managers must have the ability to develop solid relationships
among people.
Finding a manager that can focus the energies of the
final dynamic factor--people-- toward the same goal is often the
key to the success of a start-up organization.

M&M MANAGER
What such situations don't need is an M&M manager. An M&M
manager is not a specialist in focusing people. He or she is a
specialist in meetings & memos. Even if the company has less
than 25 employees, this executive dictates reams of memos and
schedules meeting after meeting.
The M&M manager would rather dictate a memo to a department
manager than call to discuss a situation or resolve a problem.
This action occupies the precious time of a number of people (the
manager, his assistant, a delivery person and the recipient).
Rather than getting an immediate solution, at least four people
have to research the question, dictate the solution, prepare the
response memo, deliver the response, read it and file the
response.
In other words, M&M management is a gross waste of time,
money and effort.
When the M&M manager is forced to emerge from the office,
it is generally to attend a meeting. Again the new manager
insulates him or herself from the organization with red tape.
This manager has forgotten (or never learned) the basic
rule that you don't call a meeting if you can solve the problem
in any other way. If the meeting is necessary, the manager
should be the negotiator, arbitrator and stimulator by using
skills in delegating, motivating and coaching ... not scolding,
berating or attacking.

Multiple Waste

The question/response situation is more than enough of a
waste for an organization that isn't flush with people. But a
M&M manager can and often does compound this waste by calling
a meeting simply to discuss an idea or situation.
When the meeting is called, it is generally done in memo
form with copies for all concerned.
Next our M&M manager shows his or her management
proficiency by preparing overhead foils so they can be certain
the meeting won't stray (and to prove he or she has given the
subject some thought). Even if the meeting has only five people
present, the M&M manager prepares a full-scale foil presentation
for the event.
Once the meeting is adjourned, everyone who attended will
also receive a copy of the meeting proceedings so he or she can
take the necessary and agreed upon actions.
Our M&M manager suffers from a common affliction that
cripples and sometimes kills progress, success and entire
companies-- lack of communications skills. The M&M manager is
too busy presiding over the business to focus his or her
attention and energy on guiding and leading the organization.
This management style is especially stifling in a start-up
or even seasoned organization where the heart of the organization's success
depends on the creativity and mutual cooperation of the
employees.

Forget Business School Training

The successful manager is an expert at getting things done
by managing change. He or she avoids unproductive tasks, and
delegates well. These mangers know how to use listening,
speaking and writing skills to promote effective exchange of
information.
While the manager has risen to the top by being excellent
in one of a number areas such as engineering or finance, they are
generally very big on people skills as well. They are able to
motivate, encourage, hand out praise and criticism as well as
resolve conflict and promote teamwork.
A number of years ago a popular book, The Peter Principle,
said people would rise to their level of incompetence. But as
we've all seen, incompetent people sometimes to rise higher than
the best. The fine art of M&M management can go a long way in
covering up an individual's lack of communications skills.
However, for the company, the key to success is having a
manager who can create the right climate by sharing objectives,
values, attitudes and interests. The unsure M&M manager feels
such a climate leaves them vulnerable to attack, while the confi-
dent manager understands that you have to persuade and motivate
others to share objectives, values, attitudes and interests.
In the meeting situation, an M&M manager often fails by
presenting multiple ideas in very uninteresting terms. They sel-
dom use word pictures or personalize their presentations and it
is a one-way conversation with little participation or consensus.
Few M&M managers have studied body language, so their
words are blanked by the unconscious body signals they send out.
People can communicate with body language using gestures, eye
motions, touch and space. Good managers know how to use arm and
leg crossing gestures, staying stationary, leaning forward or
tilting back, cocking the head, pointing a finger, eye contact
and other body language gestures.

Motivate--Don't Dictate
M&M managers are hiding behind their memos and foil
presentations. They're hiding from communication. The M&M
manager will dictate that everyone in the organization be
motivated to get the product out on time, to achieve higher
sales or to work more closely together. Such dictations fall on
deaf ears.
Effective listening is the hardest communication skill to
learn. People are motivated because management understands
their individual uniqueness and personal needs. Managers that
listen can quickly isolate those needs and turn them to
benefits. Once needs are turned to benefits people are motivated.
To overcome motivational obstacles, in any size
organization, a M&M manager has to first overcome his or her
reluctance toward two-way communication.
Managers think in terms of planning, organizing,
integrating, managing, interpreting and measuring. Motivators
think in the same terms, but wrap their thoughts and ideas in
such concepts as participation, opportunity, benefits,
involvement and meaningful contributions. All organizations want
and need motivators, but small start-ups and even large organizations
cannot survive without them.

Quality Leadership
What M&M managers fail to realize is that the only way they
can successfully lead is to gain the cooperation and support of
everyone in the firm. No one man or woman has ever turned a
struggling company around or made a firm successful by him or
herself.
The successful leader makes certain he or she satisfies the
tangible and intangible needs of most ,if not all, of the people
in the organization. They also encourage everyone in their
organization to set his or her own personal goals without fear of
retribution if they happen to fail at meeting those goals.
Whether it's a start-up situation or a strong, ongoing
concern, the successful manager is a successful communicator
first. That won't happen until management listens, trusts and
respects the ability, experience and creative resourcefulness of
everyone in the company rather than calls a meeting to discs
it.
# # #

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