Thanks to http://notanmba.com and Todd’s comment for getting me thinking like this.
As an outsider (corporate outsider, that is), it seems unbelievable to me that managers don’t make a point to communicate/get to know their team. I can understand the desire to keep secrets/keep things non-transparent, but I liken that to being a wimp. A pushover. And other terms. That’s just weak. If you are the best, you should have nothing to worry about, challenge that. Be the best. Let your guard down and ask questions.
Here’s something I was talking about with my uncle yesterday: You get into upper management because you are a gal/guy who can get things done. You got there because you are a top performer. Now you’re leading a group and you think you have to continue doing the same thing. So, you crack the whip and push your team hard. You work 90hrs vs 60 because “you know best.” Nothing happens.
Here’s what I think: Rethink the position you are in. A great manager/exec is a coach/a teacher. You’re not there to continue doing what you did. You’re there to teach your whole team how to achieve, like you used to. To do this successfully, be a good teacher you have to stop doing, doing, doing and start talking, communicating, getting to know your team, understanding why each of them do things the way they do. Allow yourself to empathize with them, and they with you.
This is good for two reasons. 1. If they can see themselves within you, and they respect you, it will encourage them, motivate them. 2. If you can empathize with them then you can understand their intentions. Understanding their intentions is like understanding their thought process.
Where did I come up with this response? I thought about what I learned from the ad industry: How to reach and know your target market. …The same principles apply to so many domains. Listen. Communicate. Ask questions. Achieve empathy.
The Nobel Peace Prize I’m curiosity if past recipients ever had the prize as their goal. Likely. The winners of this prize genuinely inspire me. I aspire to be among the ranks of these individuals.
Friday the 19th I attended Bootstrap Bootcamp, hosted by Bijoy Goswami. It was a very interesting seminar. About 40 Austin locals showed up all in various stages (ideation, valley of death, growth) of development with their ideas and/or companies. Though the theme was “bootstrap” there was a philosophical emphasis too. If you are going to be starting a company and running it by the skin of your teeth you better know yourself; more specifically your weaknesses.
In Bijoy’s book, The Human Fabric, he, like many other self-help, self-improvement, self-discovery books, classifies people based on their “core energy.” We did a few exercises to help us figure out what energy defines each of us. Below is a triangle I drew at the event to represent my core energy distribution:
36% Maven, 34% Relater, 30% Evangelist
Via the exercises and talking to people at my table, I discovered the concentration of my “core energy” did not lie in the evangelist/relater corner, where I would have instinctively placed myself, but in maven/relater. This said, just as I have scored on the Myers-Briggs, my variances from the median are slight. I think that means I’m well-rounded.
Another cool exercise we did was creating a mind map of concepts that define our passions. Here’s mine:
I have been corresponding today with David C. James – a participant, like myself, in the upcoming Bootstrap Bootcamp. His email introduction caught my attention because of his reference to creating a business that will “bring profit to its owners, benefit society, and behave ethically and responsibly.” Whoa, that is what I’m all about. Here is some more of our conversation:
David:
I believe that there is lots of room for corporate responsibility these days. I believe that business people should stand up for their values — and realize that not all “profit opportunities” are really unlocking value for customers.
The argument “the customer bought it, so it must be valuable to them” doesn’t do much for me. Companies that want to succeed should be ahead of the curve when it comes to understanding what people truly want — and what they will truly value.
One good example would be the automotive industry. Which ones are innovating, so that when gas hits $5/gallon, we have alternatives to gas guzzlers? Which ones aren’t? I think ethics and long-term profitability go hand in hand.
John:
Indeed, providing measurable value from your product/service is something all companies should strive to do. If you have the resources and power to, for instance, create a more efficient vehicle… that really is the Tell of a great business. Not to mention that the production of such a vehicle would be mutually beneficial to both consumers and the company’s pocketbook. To me it runs the same lines of creating a life of value.
I feel the most value when I can be the puzzle piece to help someone succeed or reach their goal, therefore creating value in their life. Take me for example, I hope to succeed in my life and I will always work my hardest, but I know I cannot do it alone. I believe in coexistence and interdependence.
I just noticed this in David’s initial email, don’t remember reading it the first time:
For me, at least, nothing is as exciting as building something innovative. Of course, nothing really happens by yourself — you need a community and support. That’s why I’m excited about meeting other people here at Bootstrap.
My Creative Advertising group and I made this website for a project on documenting creativity; I see more potential for the domain. I would like to make it a blog that tracks guerrilla marketing campaigns, similar to the way ubergizmo and others work.
Here is my plan: contact as many advertising agencies as possible, especially ones that specialize in guerrilla, viral, grassroots, etc. Talk to their PR peeps and tell ‘em to send me a little blurb every time they start a new related campaign. I post it to my site, they get press and I get site visitors, hopefully. I can also set up a Google alerts to scan for a bunch of keywords, watch the newswire, yadda, yadda… the main goal is getting to know people at different agencies.
I might as well let the agencies know, “btw I also do marketing in Austin and X other cities, contract my services.”
…an idea among many.
I really want this book, just read the description:”Sick of creating web sites that reload every time a user moves the mouse? Tired of servers that wait around to respond to users’ requests for movie tickets? It sounds like you need a little (or maybe a lot of) Ajax in your life. Asynchronous programming lets you turn your own websites into smooth, slick, responsive applications that make your users feel like they’re back on the information superhighway, not stuck on a dial-up backroad.”
