- You're Not Listening!
Speaking at your people instead of listening to them results in a
decrease of engagement, loyalty, and ownership, and increases staff
resentment and negative morale.
- Indulging in Overcommitment
Producing a staff that can't say "no" results in overworked and
underachieving individuals (dead heroes) who then produce dissatisfied
customers-never a winning strategy.
- Blinded by the Numbers
Numbers
are only a by-product; taking actions to change the numbers without
managing what generates the numbers; valuable offers, excellent
execution, customer satisfaction, and employee passion, is ultimately
destructive.
- Fuzzy around Commitments
Fuzzy agreements and lack of standards for generating and managing commitments (the "C" word) produces waste and resignation.
- The Customer Comes Last
Allowing your organizations to work on "tasks" without remembering,
being aware of, or caring about the internal or external customers will
kill customer satisfaction.
- Fear and Loathing of Performance Evaluation
Speaking
honestly and directly is a skill and requires some courage. Senior
managers must learn to provide direct and timely feedback on
performance.
- Teams in Name Only
Regarding groups of people working together as teams is a mistake-it
takes more than that to make a team. Building teams that have trust and
effective performance seems to be rare-it must be learned.
- The Management Toolbox is Empty
Most managers do not have the complete set of skills needed for
effective management; team building, ability to evoke commitment,
listening, managing morale, coping with breakdowns, managing customer
satisfaction, effective planning of projects, clear and shared
standards, clear ethics, presence, and being proactive are key.
- "Giving Orders" instead of "Requesting Commitment"
Ownership
and excellence do not come from order takers. Ordering individuals
produces resentful avoidance instead of what we really want; ownership,
pride, and passion which comes from committed individuals.
- Inability to Build Trust /Cope with Distrust
Trust is not some vague background feeling. Building trust, repairing
trust, and sustaining trust are skills that too few have-it must be
learned.
- No Clear Game Plan
Quantitative
objective or vision statements are only pieces of a game plan. A game
plan requires a clear strategy, roles and responsibilities, explicit
value for customers, and a team able to execute.
- Because I Said So
Arrogance
of office leads to giving orders and not gaining the respect and
commitment of others, erodes the strength and vitality of the
organization, and leaves only the weak and beaten.
- Lack of Commitment to Learning
We
must learn or be left behind-learning from our mistakes, successes,
experiences, and others in the world. It is particularly useful to
learn from those who have risked and experienced success as well as
failure.
- Allowing Cynicism about Management
Management
as a profession often viewed as a mystery that cannot be taught or
learned. An organization's successes and failures are rooted in
management leadership. There must be a commitment to clear standards
for management skills and effective programs to produce them.
