In the Internet age, every knowledge worker is a manager. Leadership is no longer the exclusive ability of some people, but has become a hard skill that everyone needs to survive and develop. Leadership is not an ability brought by innate genes, but a series of operational, imitable, and practical tools: communication windows, management by objectives, and listening to feedback.
Book excerpts
Management is getting things done through others
When it comes to the definition of management, everyone has their own understanding. The real definition is actually quite simple, and you might get booed if you say it: Get things done through others. There are two points here: one is to complete the task, and the other is to pass others. As long as a person meets these two points, his role is a manager. Even an ordinary shepherd, as long as there is a way to get others to help him herd his sheep, he is a manager. Of these two points, which is more difficult to do?
through others. Many people do not "pass others", but in fact they are not at ease with "passing others", and some people place too much importance on "passing others". Letting others do things for you is considered a "promotion" in the eyes of many people. So the bureaucracy is possessed and bosses the employees. Such managers are not rare. In the new era, employees do not necessarily rely on going to work to earn money. It is strange to encounter such a manager who barely works, and does not leave immediately.
Times have changed, and managers of modern enterprises are fundamentally different from bureaucrats and cadres in traditional concepts. Everyone works together, in addition to the relationship between subordinates and subordinates, there is also the relationship between colleagues; in addition to management functions, there is a friendship of mutual help and common progress.
There are also managers who are loved by their employees, but they feel very tired. why? They try to complete all tasks by themselves, without the help of team members, they are always busy, and the employees are very leisurely.
In real life, we have seen many managers who have a good reputation among their employees. In fact, they are like this: they started from scratch and are known for their dedication and diligence. The company has been operating for many years and has begun to get on the right track. Come on, hire staff and let them share their work. But what about the employees? You have to keep an eye on them and watch out for their mistakes, so you have to take care of things big and small. All day long, employees feel stressed.
There are certain advantages for the boss to do this, such as fewer employees, cost savings, and assurance of the quality of work. The disadvantages are also obvious. If employees are not given enough trust, they will not be tempered and cannot undertake important tasks independently, and have been waiting for the boss. Orders, while the boss is exhausted, in the end, neither side can grow.
Use the team as an analogy: it’s like if you are a forward, if you feel that the defense is weak, you will always help the defender to defend; if you feel that the organization in the midfield is poor, you will always help the midfielder organize the ball. When the team needs to score goals and pass the ball forward, but can't find the shadow of your positive striker, can the team still win the ball?
After I left CCTV, I started a magazine called "Management Scientist". Once, I took the magazine's marketing director to discuss cooperation with other units. After the talk, as soon as I walked out of the door of the other unit, the marketing director said to me very angrily: "I'm quitting."
I was surprised and asked him why. The marketing director replied, "You don't need me at all. The whole negotiation process is done by yourself, and I can't even talk." At that time, I felt a little wronged, thinking that the marketing director was too hypocritical. Only later did I realize how uncomfortable it feels to be standing next to you, only to find yourself unneeded. Since then, I have realized that a good manager should restrain himself from being "worried" about things, give employees more opportunities to perform, and try to delegate authority to employees so that they can complete their work independently.
Managing a team is not an easy task. A question that many managers have been thinking about is: How can you make your subordinates "convince" you? Once I went to Haier to give a lecture, a student in the audience asked me like this: "How can you get your subordinates to obey you?" powerful."
This answer is estimated to represent the voice of most managers. "Whatever you do is better than your subordinates" is a very common managerial thinking, but think about it, this kind of thinking is only possible when the position is relatively low, such as the team leader of the workshop, the branch manager, They start from the grassroots level, are familiar with each type of work, and have excellent abilities, so they are good at work. But when the team you lead is getting bigger and bigger, "doing everything better than the people under you" is just an ideal. Think about the boss of Haier Group, who has tens of thousands of people under his command, and has countless types of work and teams. If the boss has such a mindset, he is either exhausting himself or playing Haier to death! Managers are very important to their own positioning, the understanding of "through others" is even more important.
The work content of managers and ordinary employees is very different, and the requirements for every word and deed are higher than that of ordinary employees. Some things cannot be said, some things must be said. In a word, the mission of a manager is to train employees and build a capable team, not to add all the work of employees to themselves.
Westerners often use a ship as a metaphor for a team. The process of growing a team gradually is like the process of a person from driving a small boat to commanding a large ship. When a manager drives a small boat, he has to know all kinds of skills. He can steer the whole boat slowly, and he can make the boat go fast and stable with passion. At this point, the market may reward you with a big ship. Large ships and small ships not only differ in size, but large ships often require more manpower, because the captain alone cannot do all the work of the first mate, second mate, and others at the same time. Passion alone is far from enough at this time. In order for a big ship to move forward quickly and smoothly, it must rely on the division of labor and organizational system.
At this point, the captain's main task is no longer to drive, but to grasp the direction, speed and safety of the big ship. Small boats have a shallow draft and have no chance to encounter underwater reefs; but large ships have a deep draft and may encounter reefs, such as process problems and performance appraisal problems. At this time, what managers have to do is actually to formulate navigation strategies and avoid reefs and other important things, rather than rowing.
The boating can be entrusted to the employees who have grown up. The captain can completely get rid of the state of doing the same work as the employees and do some layout work related to the development trend of the team to provide more possibilities for future development. If the captain keeps sailing in the wheelhouse and does not cultivate relevant talents, the crew will pay attention to one thing and another, and the entire fleet will be a mess, which is undoubtedly a major failure in team management.
Learn to empower, don't be afraid of employees making mistakes
Generals should be standing at headquarters, not rushing to the front. The reason is very simple, and I believe most managers understand it, but why are there still many people who are "happy with it"? I think the main reason is that managers don't allow things to go wrong. As a team manager, you need to have a strong sense of control over the development of things, and you need to keep everything under your control. Managers clearly have more experience than employees, and they believe they can do things better. Therefore, they doubt the ability of employees, and think that employees are procrastinating in doing things and do not suit their own wishes.
When employees encounter such managers, they will feel that they have not received enough trust and their work enthusiasm will be frustrated. If things go on like this, the enthusiasm of employees to take the initiative to work will disappear, and they will take a passive attitude towards work. On the contrary, managers are dominated by trivial tasks every day, and they have no time to make some strategic overall plans. This situation is very unfavorable for the long-term development of the enterprise. Unfortunately, managers of this type abound throughout Chinese history, often with decent reputations. The most famous example is Zhuge Liang.
Compared with Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang has too much halo. When they were still young, they had the reputation of "crying dragons and phoenixes, both of which can be peaceful in the world". After leaving the mountain, Zhuge Liang assisted Liu Bei, who was originally unknown, to establish the Shuhan regime, and formed a three-legged situation with the powerful Cao Cao and Sun Quan. In this process, Zhuge Kongming's unparalleled wisdom has become the consensus of the world. According to the current saying, Zhuge Liang is the spokesperson of wisdom during the Three Kingdoms period. In contrast, Liu Bei is much inferior. Except for the halo of royal blood of "Uncle Liu", he has almost nothing to praise. But when it comes to management skills, there is a world of difference between the two.
During Liu Bei's reign, there were five generals in the state of Shu -- Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and Ma Chao. After Liu Bei's death, the kingdom of Shu was basically managed by Zhuge Liang. It is said that Zhuge Liang's work attitude is impeccable, conscientious and conscientious, like walking on thin ice, doing his best, and dying. But after the death of Zhuge Liang, the state of Shu has reached the point where "there are no generals in Shu, and Liao Hua is the vanguard". Although the second generation of the Five Tiger Generals are all there, none of them have grown up to be heroes like their fathers. What is the reason?
The most important reason is that Zhuge Liang was too cautious in his life. He was responsible for the lonely and did not want Shu to make mistakes, so he personally participated in everything. For example, the generals of the state of Shu would carry the kits given by the prime minister with them when they went on expedition, and opened the kits when they encountered difficulties. In this way, Zhuge Liang decides the direction of the battle on behalf of the generals, and he can command thousands of troops even when he is not on the scene. If the battle is won, it is "thanks to a clever trick", and if it is defeated, it is "God's will". In other words, regardless of victory or defeat, it is Zhuge Liang's responsibility, and has nothing to do with this group of generals who lead troops to fight.
In this case, the generals under Zhuge Liang's command just need to be obedient, there will be no pressure to take responsibility, and of course there will be no desire to grow up. In their opinion, the prime minister's strategy is unparalleled in the world, as long as you follow it. The only exception, Ma Su, was beheaded by Zhuge Liang with tears after his defeat.
Under Zhuge Liang's rule, the generals of Shu were the machines that carried out orders. They have no way to grow, no way to learn, everything just follows the Prime Minister. When the prime minister was alive, everything was fine. After the prime minister died, none of these generals were trained to be able to govern the country, and the decline of the state of Shu was a foregone conclusion.
Zhuge Liang is praised for his professionalism of "working hard and dying", but his management style has major flaws. The reason, in his own words, is that he "is only cautious in his life", he dare not let his subordinates make mistakes, dare not take risks with the future of the kingdom of Shu, and hope that the kingdom of Shu is safe and sound. But things backfired, and the Shu Kingdom, which had never experienced any risk, slowly weakened in this peaceful environment until it was powerless to recover.
Managers of any team must understand that in order for the team to achieve sustainable and healthy development, the potential of each team member must be stimulated. In this process, mistakes will inevitably be made. It should be noted that the growth of any team or individual can only be achieved through continuous trial and error. If you can't get the space and opportunities for growth, you will not have the will to take your own responsibilities and be on your own. In the process of cultivating talents, the biggest challenge for team managers is to watch employees make mistakes, and it can’t be said that they should give employees room for trial and error, cultivate a sense of responsibility belonging to employees, and make him feel that this matter is related to him. He is related, and he needs to find a solution by himself.
Fan Deng Reading Club has also encountered similar problems in some activities, and my way of dealing with it is "don't talk".
For example, once, a group of the Book Club did a customer activity in Shaanxi, and the feedback was not very good at that time, and many customers had very good opinions on us. The president of the Shaanxi branch also suggested that I and the members of the group analyze the problem and find a solution to avoid customer dissatisfaction.
I said to him: "I know that there are problems with their activities, but I can't say it. Why? What we should see is the enthusiasm of their groups in organizing activities. The lack of experience can be accumulated gradually in the future, but the enthusiasm for work is A very precious thing, once it is hit, it will be difficult to make up for a long time. If there are some small problems in the group, I will hold a meeting to tell them, then they will not let go when they organize activities in the future, and they may feel that they The organization ability is not good, and I will not dare to do it if I encounter similar activities in the future.”
Actually, I do that too. Later, when I met the group in Shanghai, I praised one of the group members: "Your activities are well done, timely, and your ability is getting stronger and stronger." He replied, "Actually, I know that the customer feedback is not very good. Well, I will definitely prepare better next time and make the event better."
His answer also showed that this customer activity was not done well, and the team members had feelings and ideas. They don't need someone to tell them that the campaign isn't working well. This in turn increases their work stress. I encourage them because I believe they are excellent and can take responsibility for their work to the end. Excellent talents have their own ideas for work, and they will also link the effect of activities with their responsibilities. This sense of responsibility motivates them to go the extra mile to do their best the next time they organize a similar event.
When the boss asks questions or even questions when the employees are not performing well, it will also create a feeling for the employees that even if I try hard, the boss will pick out the fault. Save your time. It is conceivable that if they hold such a mentality, their enthusiasm for work and their enthusiasm for thinking about problems in the face of difficulties will decline, which will ultimately affect the overall performance of the team.
I made a similar mistake when I first started my business. At that time, like other bosses, I was not at ease with the employees doing anything, and I had to give thousands of instructions on everything, for fear of accidents. Later, I slowly discovered that the employees just had different ideas from mine, and because they lived on the front line for a long time, some ideas were even better than mine. This made me realize that in order to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of employees to solve specific problems, we should let employees build their own work system. Even if there are occasional inconsistencies due to inexperience, I don't take all the blame. The premise is that he must always maintain a serious and responsible attitude, so that I can trust him to do things, so that he can quickly grow into a talent who can take care of himself.
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