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I agree with the quote, yet I also agree with the idea that influence can be
positive or negative. Another quote that always made sense to me is:
"We tolerate that
which we allow."
Unknown
Nixon, Clinton, and Condit can all be considered leaders (I know, opinions
vary), but they all also "managed" themselves into untenable situations by
exerting negative influence over others. I still believe power corrupts.
I have worked for and with all kinds of managers. I've also worked with the
cream of the crop of employees, and with the dregs of society. Generally,
it does not take long for employees to see the kind of manager they are
working for. They may see, after a reasonable period of time, that the
manager exerts no influence over the employees. Instead what they see is
simply a degree of authority afforded by a title.
I believe the maturation process plays an important role in the life of a
manager.
When I was awarded my first supervisory position, some 25 + years ago, my
ego was my biggest enemy. Few of the employees that I supervised viewed me
as an influential member of the staff. It was a union shop and seniority
was the biggest determining factor in the promotion. I was a big proponent
of "if it won't fit, force it!"
My learning curve was steep and treacherous. There were coup attempts and
sabotage abounded. In my feeble attempt to rationalize the situation, I
believed others were simply jealous of my promotion. The stark reality was
that many under my supervision wanted to kill me because of my incompetence,
egocentrism, and iron-fisted rule.
Over the years my managerial skills have improved and my level of influence
has increased. This is due, in no small measure, to the training courses I
have completed. But I also believe the improvements have been due to the
maturation process aided by on-the-job-training.
I have also learned to develop loyalty within people. I worked as a
department manager at a company in 1996 and inherited a rag-tag bunch of
employees who had learned to fend for themselves. Those who had the
"survival" skills kept their noses above water, and those who did not have
the necessary "survival" skills either latched onto someone who did, or
produced sub-par work.
The manager I replaced had allowed the department and the people to languish
into oblivion. The "old guard" management staff were complacent and lazy.
Only the new General Manager and Human Resources Director had the mettle to
confront the situation and get the dead weight out.
In my two years on that job, I had employees go from excessive absenteeism,
to volunteering for overtime. I had employees go from being rude to clients,
to begging for customer service/satisfaction training. I had employees go
from cut-throat behavior, to helping one another during "crunch time." I
had employees go from total non-communication, to using peer-pressure to
confront underachieving co-workers into above average performance. I could
go on, but brevity dictates.
Many of those "undesirable" employees followed me to subsequent jobs simply
because they wanted to work for me. They knew I was fair, yet firm and
would keep their best interests in mind. They worked hard for me and knew
that I expected nothing less than their best. And if their best was not
good enough, they knew I would train them to make sure they had the skills
to do the job.
One of my biggest assets is being able to lead by example. I have learned
never to ask someone to do something I have never actually done myself.
When someone is having a bad day (as we all occasionally do) I make the
effort to be the first to pitch in and help.
One day per week I purposefully allowed administrative duties to rest by the
wayside so I could get "in the trenches" with my employees and rub elbows
with them. That allowed me to keep in touch with my employees and stay
connected to what was happening in their lives. It is amazing what you can
learn about what is happening in employees lives by working side-by-side
with them for a day!
I always praise in public and reprimand in private. When someone makes a
mistake, I always attempt to train and teach, rather than unload a
self-righteous diatribe. I never socialize with employees, whether they be
peers or underlings. I have seen (and experienced) catastrophic results
from making workplace "friends."
That tenet also formulated rule number one in the workplace...never have
your honey where you make your money! Workplace romances have forced many
valuable, talented workers to move on, simply because the grieving process
is so difficult.
I agree Andrew. I appreciate being motivated and inspired. I loath being
prodded into "busy work" for the sake of appearing occupied. And I
appreciate being in the midst of others who are brighter and more skilled
than me. That gives me something to shoot for daily. It also provides me
with an atmosphere of learning, which helps me become more a skilled and a
better employee.
A famous athlete (Charles Barkley, I think...don't quote me) said, "If you
play with chumps, you play like a chump."
Managers are a dime a dozen. Leaders are one in a million.
Leaders get more from people than people think they have inside of
themselves. Managers simply get enough to get by.
Leaders strive for perfection and settle for excellence. Managers strive
for quotas and settle for explanations which promote built in obsolescence.
Take care and be good to yourselves!
T
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Plato" <intrepid_es -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Cc: <rjacobse -at- microsoft -dot- com>
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2001 3:39 PM
Subject: Re: Senior Technical Writer
"Roy Jacobsen" wrote...
> "The true measure of leadership is influence -- nothing more, nothing
> less." -- John Maxwell
> In the long run, what kind of influence do sycophants have?
That's a good quote.
And its the core of why being a butt-kissing, non-technical lame-ass will
get you nowhere in the long run. Yeah, you may charm your way into some
pathetic middle-management job. But eventually, stupidity catches up with
you.
It may be a cliche, but I like to think that there are two kinds of people
with authority: managers and leaders.
Managers manage things. They move papers, attend meetings, dream up
pointless assignments, and pretend to actually work. Managers use a
hierarchy to impose authority.
Leaders drive people. They use their talent and skills to motivate people
to do good work. They aren't much concerned with meetings and task plans.
They are far more interested in results and action. Leaders use their
personality and talents to impose authority.
Now, that is a rather broad oversimplification. However, it explains why
so many companies have so many bad people. They focus on managing things
vs. motivating people. Personally, I don't mind being motivated, its being
managed that ruffles my feathers.
If I am working with somebody who is exceptionally skilled and inspires me
to work harder - I don't mind doing the job. Its fun and exciting to work
among bright, driven people. Its when I have to meet a bunch of pointless
requirements just to satisfy the weasel-like monotony of some pathetic
middle management loser that I think seriously about purchasing a machine
gun or a few atomic bombs.
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A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
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