We have not turned to advising the political hopefuls on the campaign trail. This pertains to you and how you run your business. 

I recently read a survey done by a colleague, Nicki Weiss, that captured the mood that exists in many organizations today. She queried staff about the management of their organization.  “While many said they like their immediate manager, and other managers in the firm, they reported that, in general, all managers are too busy doing other things (selling, administrating, reading reports), and do not take the act of managing (developing people) seriously.   The surprising and encouraging note in the survey was that  the survey respondents craved a culture of accountability, in which managers who proclaim their commitments to standards of excellence and vision statements follow through on their pledges. ”

This survey was interesting because it mirrors what I have seen in countless organizations. The staff is craving a management process that they perceive is fair, committed, organized and demanding.  This is opposite to the perception that the owners and managers have of their own people.  They want their managers and leaders to spend more time coaching, teaching and nurturing their performance rather than rushing in to do the job for them.

 

I have broken down the success of business people into three broad needs:

            Make the right decisions- Leadership

            Get the decisions implemented- Management

            Implement the decisions- Work

Of course there are many pieces and parts to implementing a good leadership, management and work program in a company but most people in independent business have a vast amount of area where improvements at all levels  will yield great results.  

 

Often owners view themselves as the sole leaders and only one capable to make the decisions in the business. 

Are you nurturing and teaching others to make the right decisions?

Too often the managers feel that they must do too much themselves and step all over the people that should be getting the work done.

Are you empowering others to do more and even make some mistakes?  

In a simplified view, when owners are the leaders, managers manage and let the workers do their job; motivation, commitment, innovation, fun and results improve!