No matter how you cut it, every leader must manage people. Whether you are an employer, farmer, leader of a sporting club, or head a volunteer organisation, if you oversee just one person or thousands of people, you are in the people management game. Managing people effectively is a challenge at the best of times. You need to engage, motivate, coach, develop, discipline and empower them. This takes time, effort, persistence, and buckets of energy.
Leadership is about managing people. It is not about completing endless ‘to do’ lists. Let’s face it, some people are easier to manage than others, but that should not be an excuse for not trying to engage, inspire, and develop someone. I was having this very conversation recently with a president of a volunteer organisation who was expressing their exasperation at always being the one to motivate, remind, discipline, and follow people up to ensure things get done. Unfortunately, this is par for the course for anyone in a leadership role.
Six irrefutable truths come to mind for anyone who is in the business of managing people.
People are not machines: People have feelings, emotions and their own minds. It is what makes us humans! The number one role of a manager is to build trust and respect with the people in their charge. This is the basis of any human relationship. Treating people poorly (as a machine) is the surest way of killing commitment, and damaging relationships.
Symbolism is the secret sauce to shaping people: You shape a team culture by what you measure, reward, and recognise, and by what you ignore. What gets measured gets done. What you reward and recognise symbolises what you deem important. What you ignore or fail to act on symbolises what you deem unimportant.
Like it or not you also manage families: Everyone you manage has a front-yard and back-yard. They have a career and a personal life. People need to feed, support, educate, and grow their families. Every family has their issues, so at times a manager will need to be empathetic, and supportive of people as they juggle their work and family commitments. It goes with the turf of managing people!
A sense of belonging requires recognition: If people do not feel valued, they will not stay. A sense of belonging stems from being included in team activities, recognised for efforts, and being acknowledged as an important member of a team. Simple habits such saying thank you, or demonstrating appreciation for extra voluntary efforts goes a long way to building a sense of belonging in a team.
A sense of belonging takes away a sense of loneliness
– Anon
Loyalty starts with a leader: Trusting people, practising gratitude, demonstrating empathy, and supporting people doing it tough is what good managers do. It builds goodwill, which helps fuel a sense of belonging, loyalty, and commitment. Your biggest achievements will be with people. Your biggest disappointments will be with people! Welcome to managing people! You cannot have one without the other.
It takes 3 weeks to break a habit: There is always a learnt behaviour that either needs to be affirmed or myth-busted by a manager. It takes three weeks to break a habit, and it then takes six weeks to form a new habit. And here is the key. It then takes 30 weeks to ingrain and anchor a new habit. This requires a manager to endorse and enforce new habits over the 30 weeks, otherwise “snap back” will take place. This is the human dynamic of managing people. This cannot be an ad hoc or spasmodic effort by a manager.
Finally, there will be good and bad days. That is a fact of life. When things go wrong how a leader acts and behaves is crucial. It is when things go wrong that a person’s character is revealed, and the true team culture is displayed. How a leader acts and behaves sets the example for what is expected, and a lesson for how team members should respond. Setting the example and role modelling the desired behaviours and mindsets is a critical part of managing people.
Leadership Lesson
Diversity is a fact. Equity is a choice. Inclusion is an action.
Belonging is an outcome of good management.
People don’t leave bad organisations – They leave bad managers
Facta Non-Verba – Deeds Not Words