So many of you heard this week about Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon. The Chicago Cubs manager said Tuesday at the winter meetings that he’s reading the book “Managing Millennials for Dummies” to help him be a better manager.
“It’s
a great read, ‘Managing Millennials for Dummies.’ I’m in the middle of that
right now,” Maddon said. “And you always think this for dummy’s thing is really
rudimentary written, it’s really well written and researched. I’m learning
about traditionalists, Baby Boomers, the X’ers, the Millennials. And I’m really
starting to understand this a little bit better.”
He
then said, “I think it’s important for me as a manager obviously, whether
anybody here agrees or disagrees with the generation and how they process
things, it doesn’t matter, because that’s the way it is. And if that’s the way
it is, just like my dad, that generation, thought we were a bunch of babies,
the Boomers, the traditionalist thought, they’re all soft. It doesn’t matter.
You have to figure out how to communicate and extract the best out of this
group and make sure that you’re always on the same page.”
“You have to make your adjustments, and that’s what I’m
working on right now, is to understand better how I could better serve these
guys,” Maddon said.
Many of the news
outlets have picked up on Coach Maddon’s age (mid 60’s) and the Millennial generation.
What I picked up was a people-focused manager trying to better understand his
team. Better understand how they think, how to communicate, how to
connect? Who would not want to work for a leader who is continuously
trying to better understand what makes the team “go”?
Think about when
you travel abroad. Many countries have differing cultures than we do.
Knowing this, many of us might spend significant time learning how to better
communicate with the residents. We might look up the meanings of common
terms, understand local issues, and access key attractions. We
would do research to make the experience better. Why not do this as a
leader?
Similarly, when you first become a leader
or inherit a new team, it’s helpful to spend time up front connecting and
creating a common language with our teams. When your team knows how you like to
work and how you plan to manage them, they’re able to produce results faster.
When you know how each of your direct reports likes to work and
communicate, you’re able to save time when setting direction and
following-up. It improves the team dynamics. It is a “two-way”
street of learning.
Some questions to
ask as you learn more about your team:
Who are “morning” people and who are “afternoon” people?
Who needs their coffee first?
Who likes data verses who is an emotional decision maker?
Who makes quick decisions and who processes?
Who is introverted, who is extroverted?
Who is direct and frank vs. who is sensitive and needs time?
Who is a “fixer” and who is a “identifier”?
Who are optimists and who are pessimists?
Who is serious and who likes humor?
What are their respective communications styles?
What are they passionate about?
What are their “hot buttons”?
What are their quirks?
You get the
idea. There are probably a hundred more questions you can ask – the point
is to ask or observe. Can you answer most of those questions about your
team? Each and every one of these are important to the success of the
team. Even the pessimist – they are good at playing devil’s
advocate. They are good at finding the problems or potential downfalls with
your ideas. Having a diverse mix is important, but understanding who has
what characteristics and how to manage to those is more important.
Maybe you think
about running your team through the DISC assessment tool. Half my team
just completed this exercise and they still are talking about it a few weeks
later. The DISC breaks down personality into four categories. They are:
Decisiveness - For these steamrollers, getting the job done is the most important
thing. Never mind minor details or possible hurt feelings. As long as the end
goal is achieved, they're good. They're our problem solvers and
will keep the company moving along.
Interactive - The people's people, they are outgoing and the life of the party.
They're also expressive, impulsive and persuasive and can lose focus
easily. They're creative and fun to be around.
Stabilizing - The ultimate team player, they're unbelievably loyal, steady and
concerned about how everyone feels. They'll run from conflict and can sometimes
be slow to make a decision. They're patient, make great teachers or
coaches and are devoted to the team and the company.
Cautious - The perfect job for a C? Anything with more rules than you can
shake a bureaucrat at. They love them, as well as details and
procedures. They have some of the highest quality-control interests of any
of the styles.
Remember,
your teams can become unbalanced if all team members have similar styles of
behavior or team roles. If your team members have similar weakness, the team as
a whole may tend to have that weakness. If your team members have similar
team-work strengths, they may tend to compete (rather than co-operate) for the
team tasks and responsibilities that best suit their natural styles.
One last
recommendation is to think about how you can better connect with your team
(from a Forbes article I read by Martin Zwilling). Building engaged
team members is a key step in becoming an effective team leader, even if your
team is spread all over the country:
Be genuine and transparent. If you are not,
your team will see right through it. Treat each person as THEY want to be
treated. Be genuinely interested in learning something new every day from
your team, and they will follow you.
Make time for
your team. We need to schedule regular and predictable times to only be
working and interacting with your team. Sometime in the morning and
sometime in the afternoon may be enough, if you make it happen consistently.
Maintain regular “town halls” with the entire team. This can
even be done remotely via Skype, but it’s important that every team member
attends. Actively listen as they summarize their
accomplishments, and their plan for the weeks ahead. Leadership is making sure
they have resources and understand the strategy.
Walk Around. This
is one of the most effective ways to find out what is going on, as well as an
opportunity to provide feedback. Hit the floor and stop at people’s
desks. Ask them what is going on, both in the team and outside of work.
Really listen.
Recognize individual
efforts. Pay attention to great work. Most leaders don’t say “thank you”
enough. Recognition in front of peers is often more motivating than monetary
awards.
Reduce your
outside engagements. You won’t be viewed as the team leader if you spend
most of your time on activities that are not relevant to your team. Be visible
and engaged on a full-time basis.
This is where
your personal leadership becomes business leadership, which can actually change
the world with your team. Challenge yourself to make some changes and see
if the team responds. Also, ask for feedback along the way.
Together.
We. Win.
Dave Harmon
People Division
“Kindness is Currency”
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr
Look for us on: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, The Muse, Glassdoor and USA TODAY NETWORK Careers
People Division
“Kindness is Currency”
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr
Look for us on: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, The Muse, Glassdoor and USA TODAY NETWORK Careers
