_ I think it’s fair to say that most managers like to do good things for the people who work for them, to make them feel more appreciated, productive and fulfilled. Unfortunately, many of them don’t seem to know what their employees really want or need, and so they end up relying on the same traditional things: training classes, monetary bonuses, small office perks.

Now, employees aren’t going to turn down a bonus or a perk, and in many cases, they’ll be glad to attend a training class, but those things don’t have the transformational affect on people that managers would like. And because they cost real money, they’re not always available for managers to use, especially during difficult times.

I have an idea about how a manager can meaningfully impact an employee’s sense of esteem, enthusiasm and importance. It is completely free, and turns out to be almost as beneficial for managers as it is for the people who work for them. But it’s a little counter-intuitive. Let me explain.

Instead of doing something for the people who work for you, find a way to let them do something for you. I told you it was counter-intuitive. But it actually makes sense, and isn’t at all selfish.

The best way to endear yourself to someone is not to offer to do something for them, but rather to ask them to do something for you. The underlying logic is that people actually feel better about themselves and about someone else when they are in the position of being a helper, rather than a helpee.

That’s because helpers receive a sense of contribution and confidence, while helpees often feel dependent and in debt to someone. As a college wants said to me, if you want a girl to like you, don’t ask her if she wants help with her homework, ask her to help you with yours. Who would have thought?

I realize that this might sound manipulative, and indeed, if used insincerely, it can be. But with the right intentions, with a genuine interest in helping employees grow in confidence and self-esteem, it can be transformational.

Here’s how it might work. Sit down and think about each of the people who work for you. Identify something about them that you admire, that you genuinely believe they do better than you. That shouldn’t be hard, because every employee has skills or talents that exceed those of their bosses.

Once you’ve identified those skills or talents, take a moment to tell each employee why you admire them. If you mean it – and that is absolutely essential – it will blow them away. Be sure to be specific about what you admire about them and state the fact you would like to learn from them. It doesn’t have to be right then, and it doesn’t have to come in one fell swoop. Over time, you’d like them to coach you in that area.

This does not diminished your authority as their leader at work, but rather made it abundantly clear that they have as much to offer me as I do them, in spite of the hierarchy at work.

Now, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this is sometimes difficult for me, and probably for any manager, to do this. There are times when I don’t want to acknowledge another person’s superiority, and I know that, in my weaker moments, I’ve downplayed the talents of others out of pride. But overcoming that pride, and allowing my staff members to shine, is something that is good and right and liberating, and it will probably have a more lasting impact than any bonus, perk or training class ever could.

During this Christmas season, as you remember that “it is better to give than to receive,’ think about letting your people give you something. What you’ll be giving them is the gift of admiration and importance. Of course, you might want to buy them something too so they don’t just think you’re being cheap.

Have a Merry Christmas.

_When taking to with a new client, I make it my business to understand theirs. As part of the brief, I have always asked, “When you think about sales people that have come and gone within your organisation, what is the most common reason why a sales person fails to meet expectation?”

Surprisingly, the single most common reason has very little to do with a person’s inability to sell. A large majority of the time, it’s a lack of discipline that brings sales people undone. What do I mean by discipline? An ability to follow and stick to a process when it comes to building and maintaining a sufficient pipeline of opportunities. It’s a simple case of; it doesn’t matter how greater sales person you are if you’re not selling to enough prospects.

We’ve all heard this from our sales managers and mentors in the past, especially early in our careers when we started in a more ‘transactional’ sales environment. Now that we are working in a strategic sales setting, with drawn out sales cycles, large deal sizes in a complex decision making process where multiple stakeholders need to be won over in order to get the deal across the line, how do you ensure you’re building enough volume in your pipeline whilst managing quality relationships throughout? I believe the answer is in time management and goal setting.

A few tips I’ve learnt from quizzing many sales directors on what they’ve seen from successful people:

1. Crunch your numbers when planning your territory.

• Work out how many deals it’s going to take to get to budget for the quarter?
• What’s your hit-rate of quality presentations, to deals won?
• How many new and / or existing client presentations does that mean you need to make in the quarter? Break it down to weekly targets. How much activity do you need to do in order to gain those appointments? It’s back to the things we learned early in our career on this one, and it’s what many senior sales people lose sight of.

2. Plan your time.

Set aside what I’ve known some sales people to call ‘Sacred BD Hours’. This time is set aside in your diary and nothing else should impede on this time. You’ve planned that this many hours will get you the result; if you don’t spend the time, the outcome is almost inevitable.

3. Don’t make excuses for not having the time.

You’re only making excuses for what will be your failure.

4. Don’t procrastinate; just do it.

This is why the ‘Sacred BD Hours’ should not be moved, rescheduled or put aside. Most of the time, it’s simple procrastination that will hold you back.

Obviously you could write a book as many have on what makes a successful sales person. This is just one thing that when good sales people don’t keep an eye on it, failure can sneak up on them. I’ve found that it’s often not the best sales person that is the ‘top performer’ in a team. It’s often a ‘good’ sales person who is motivated and disciplined with their time that tops the team.

I’m keen to hear from sales directors, and sales people alike; what do you do to stay on top of this in your role?

Today, I would like to share the 8 Laws of Great Management defined by Mark Horstman. The laws are timeless and actionable, two characteristics that the Manager-Tools guys continually strive for in all their podcasts and other products.

HORTSMAN’S LAWS

1. IT’S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE- It’s actually a hard-nosed scientific and financial reality. Any hour you spend on people is a better investment than an hour spent on systems, processes or policies. Great people can overcome average systems; average people won’t live up to great systems. Action- Spend time with your folks every week. Learn their strengths and weaknesses. Learn their projects. Learn their children’s names.

2. MORE COMMUNICATION IS BETTER- No matter what the situation: work or home, professional or personal, boss or subordinate, it is always more communication that solves the problem or clinches the deal. And think about this: communication is what the listener does. Action- Pick up the phone. Provide an update. Admit your behind. Over communicate, and you’re halfway there.

3. YOU’RE NOT THAT SMART; THEY’RE NOT THAT DUMB- You can’t fool people. Ever. The fact is, people know when you mislead them. Yes, they might go along with you, but they know it doesn’t feel right. That you don’t feel right. After all, didn’t you used to be “them?” Action- Tell the whole truth. Don’t leave anything out. When in doubt tell everyone. Use candor as an advantage, rather than seeing it as a weakness.

4. CONTROL IS AN ILLUSION- There is no single person whom you think you “control” who would agree with you. If you really think you’re so good as to control another, then who in your organization thinks that way about you? Stop trying to control. You’re wasting your time. Build relationships that allow you to influence. Action- Build relationships based on trust. Say, “I trust you.” Let your team choose their path at times, even when you disagree.

5. THE RIVER IS WIDE, THE CURRENTS ARE MESSY, BUT ALL WATER ENDS UP IN THE OCEAN- Watch water flow down river sometimes. It doesn’t march in nice straight lines. It meanders. It’s messy. Scientists say 20% of it is actually going up river. Your organization is organic – it’s made up of people -just like a river. Your projects and timelines are going to be messy and defy control. Stop fighting it. Action- Don’t worry about or punish every missed deadline-wait for a pattern. Think about a Chinese finger puzzle. Sometimes a light touch is the way out. Let go – FLOW – to get ahead.

6. THERE ARE NO SECRETS- If you think you can keep something quiet in your organization, you’re kidding yourself. What everybody is talking about is what’s NOT being said. Everybody knows already. The one associate or friend you felt you could tell has already told someone else whom they trusted…and so on. If you try to keep secrets others lose respect for you, because you show you don’t trust them. Action- Tell everybody everything. Forward every e-mail you get to all of your team…automatically. Don’t go “off the record”.

7. HOW YOU FEEL IS YOUR FAULT- If you find yourself saying, “that guy / situation / boss makes me mad,” you’re wrong. They did something and then you decided how to respond. Think about the word responsibility (Response-Ability) You’re able to choose your response. Action- Choose the right response. Choose not to get angry. Choose to understand why they behave the way they do. Your response will be more powerful.

8. THE “OTHER” WAY OFTEN WORKS JUST FINE- There’s someone else out there who has succeeded to the same level as you have with the exact opposite intuitions you have. (They wonder how you got where you are, too) Your idea that your way is the right way is routinely controverted. You just think it’s right because it’s yours. Action- Try the opposite every once in a while. After your first thought, wait for a second – different – one.

At first glance the laws appear to be common sense, and in fact they are. Much like the law of gravity these concepts “just are”. It’s good, however, to remind ourselves of laws such as these from time to time to keep us from falling into the trap of believing that our current situation is somehow different and thus, immune to these facts.

"Management means helping people to get the best out of themselves, not organising things." (Lauren Appley)

Every manager - especially those who do a lot of troubleshooting and decision-making - should watch the TV show House. Sure, it’s entertaining, but I’m referring to the show’s extraordinary management lessons. I’ve been managing for decades and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such powerful management lessons demonstrated so effectively in a single forum, let alone a television show. It’s surprising. Really.

Yes, I know. Dr. House is dysfunctional; childish; addicted to Vicodin; and treats his employees, friends, even his boss and ex-girlfriend like pawns that exist solely for his amusement. But you have to look past all that and see the big picture. That’s not just a key point of the show, it’s also one of the …

5 Management Lessons From TV’s House

Focus on the big picture and a handful of top priorities. This is precisely why micromanagers fail. They’re not just annoying, irritating, and demotivating. There’s simply not enough time in the day to be a successful micromanaging control freak. Instead, good managers learn to see the big picture and focus on a handful of key priorities. Also, it’s important to remember that even the brightest stars have dark spots. Don’t dwell on them.

It’s all about trouble-shooting. So much of management is troubleshooting and that calls for differential diagnosis. It’s a process of elimination, starting with the most likely causes of the problem and then eliminating them one at a time while keeping everything else constant. Sometimes it means reproducing an intermittent problem in the same manner. I’ve used the technique in engineering, marketing, sales, all kinds of management and organizational systems. It’s a big part of management success.

Everybody lies. That’s right; it’s a major premise of the show. Don’t pretend to be surprised; we all do. We have our rationalizations and justifications but we all tell white lies, even if just to get out of doing something we don’t want to do. According to surveys, roughly half of managers and employees lie or misstate facts for various reasons. Why is that important? Savvy business people know to look beneath the surface and do their due diligence before making big decisions or commitments.

Sometimes, the ends do justify the means. Now, before I get dozens of nasty comments from all you “holier than thou” ethics experts out there, note that I said, “sometimes.” For example, in a life or death situation - human or corporate - it’s sometimes okay to break a few rules or sidestep a few niceties, as long as you’re not breaking the law or doing anything amoral or unethical. And yes, that dilemma does come up a lot in management, which brings us to our next lesson …

It’s often better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Rules and processes are there for a reason, to improve the overall effectiveness of an organization and create some semblance of order out of chaos. That said, successful managers and leaders are always willing to stick their necks out and take some risks when they feel it’s necessary to get things done and do the right thing. If they’re right, they rarely suffer for those indiscretions. Always question the status quo and people who say, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”