It surprises me that I have not turned to this subject sooner in this series of articles, since it is such an important topic. So much of value happens in a manager’s first year — both good and bad — that most of us who have managed for many years, still maintain quite vivid memories [...]
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LITTLE THINGS MATTER: # 10
December 20, 2011
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MINIMIZE THOSE SYMBOLS OF POWER —– When one becomes a manager in many organizations, there are numerous symbols of power and authority that often accompany this newly acquired status. An office, for example, is generally construed as quite a status improvement over a cubicle in the bullpen. Perhaps the office comes with a window to [...]
Read moreLITTLE THINGS MATTER: # 9
December 15, 2011
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NOT PRESUMING YOU KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR OTHERS —– Back in the 1950′s, one of America’s most popular television shows was a program called “Father Knows Best”. Once I became a father myself and gained a little experience at the demanding fatherly task, I began to seriously doubt that was always the case. And [...]
Read moreLITTLE THINGS MATTER: # 8
December 11, 2011
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PITCHING IN —– The scene was the US Army’s 5th General Hospital in Stuttgart — what was then — West Germany. I was a First Lieutenant in the Army Medical Service Corps and was serving as Officer of the Day, occupying, as usual, a small corner of a very crowded Emergency Room. It was a [...]
Read moreLITTLE THINGS MATTER: # 7
December 8, 2011
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CLEAR POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS —– In a previous blog I entitled “Being Smart”, I referred to Stanford Professor Carol Dweck’s remarkable study of over 400 New York City fifth graders in which she demonstrated that simply by creating the mind-set and expectation that one group of the study’s participants were hard workers, she was able to encourage [...]
Read moreLITTLE THINGS MATTER: # 6
November 30, 2011
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SENSE OF HUMOR —– Freud considered humor one of the most sophisticated forms of psychological defense mechanisms. I have long considered it an indispensable asset for succeeding as a manager. To understand why, let’s look at the nature of work. Some time ago, I took an evening walk with a colleague of mine after [...]
Read moreLITTLE THINGS MATTER: # 5
November 25, 2011
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BEING IN THE PRESENT —– Ask any subordinate if he or she wants to work for a manager who really doesn’t want their job and the answer will usually be a resounding NO! From a subordinate’s point of view, their immediate manager serves several vital functions they must depend upon for their own success. Subordinates [...]
Read moreLITTLE THINGS MATTER: # 4
November 16, 2011
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LISTENING —- One of the hardest things I needed to do when I first became a manager, was to learn how to listen. Yes, I realize we all learned the basics soon after birth but I mean “learn how to really listen”. My problem was, in part, the way my brain works. I hear a [...]
Read moreLITTLE THINGS MATTER: # 3
November 9, 2011
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A SIMPLE YES OR NO —- In the first two articles in this series on the little things that matter — and which can make a big difference for a manager — I addressed the importance of acknowledging accomplishments big and small, and of leveling with folks about the way things really are. In this [...]
Read moreLITTLE THINGS MATTER: # 2
November 3, 2011
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TELLING THE TRUTH —- In my previous post on the little things that matter, I addressed the value and contribution of acknowledgment and affirmation to subordinate and team morale and performance. In the second article in this series, I will focus on the importance of Telling the Truth. Truth telling, of course, seems an obvious recommendation [...]
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