Touting your rising stars

Excerpted from the Executive Report 9 Mistakes New Managers Make Most Often

Whenever there is any question as to who gets credit for an accomplishment, pass the credit to the employees.

Why? It's good for managers to develop a reputation of helping rising stars.

In an essay titled How to Manage Smart People, business consultant Scott Berkun makes an amazingly simple and telling finding:

"A manager who treats his reports as cogs in a wheel is guaranteed to get the performance of a cog in a wheel. But a manager that develops and grows people into new strengths and abilities will always get more out of the team."

Cogs in the wheel are just fine if the task is simple and straightforward, and the wheel never needs greasing or changes direction.

But that's not how most of our businesses really run.

Today's managers are challenged with an array of ever-changing tasks, most of which must be performed under the "do more with less" scenario.

Smart, talented employees make the job easier. And touting their accomplishments to others not only motivates the employee, but enhances the manager's reputation as someone who knows how to develop people.

DIGGING DEEPER
The hardest thing to do in business is manage people. Great managers are worth their weight in gold. So how do we turn new managers in to great managers? For help, take a look at the Executive Report 9 Mistakes New Managers Make Most Often

Comments

[Bill Carlson]

I was mentored over 30 years ago by a polished pro who subscribed to this approach, and I still live by it.

However, in today's world there's much more of a "looking out for myself" mentality which I think has grown for a couple of reasons.

Certainly a bad economy and mega-layoffs has demonstrated that no matter how "nice" a company or a boss may be, business is business. The problem is NOT that companies need to deal with financial realities to insure self-preservation but rather that employees feel a need to operate in THEIR best interests, sometimes at the expense of others.

Businesses need to find and hold on to good leadership, good role models who demonstrate by living it a commitment to running a business that recognizes good performers and deals with underachievers (positively to start with!).

And there needs to be patience in letting that attitude be recognized by employees and proven over time -- at which point a company is moving toward a point where people WILL make the extra effort, seeking to step beyond their job descriptions, knowing that they'll be recognized for the effort. And knowing that MAKING the effort is key -- not necessarily the success of the outcome, but the willingness to try is something a good leader can harness and direct.

All that being said, with due credit to EP (my mentor from long ago), one thing I've enjoyed more than any other in my business experience is the opportunity to point out the contributions of others.

Imagine an entire business culture filled with the recipients of that recognition -- and don't be afraid of it!