3 Core Principles of Management
So many of us, when we started our career, aspired to become a manager. Why did we do that? Channeling my 22 year old, freshly-graduated self, I think my first answer was because I thought managers made more money. I think my second answer would have probably been something along the lines of liking more responsibility.
You know what wasn’t on my radar? People development.
In my first few years of management, I did not put two and two together that the primary function of a manager is to develop their people.
If I were to go back in time and give my 22 year old self advice on how to be the best manager and the leader people would want to work for, I would tell her these 3 things:
Care Deeply
Hold a High Bar
Focus on Strengths
These are my core principles and have enabled me to become a high performing manager. And when I say high performing manager, I mean we get results, my team is incredibly high in their engagement scores, and they all care incredibly for each and every team member.
Let me break down the look and feel of each of these core principles.
Care Deeply
In my days at Yelp, I had one leader for 7 of my 10 years. She taught me about caring deeply.
It’s easy to say, and it’s incredibly hard to do in the moment and in a hyper growth atmosphere where work, deadlines, and business priorities run your day.
Caring deeply is treating your team members like VIP customers. It’s knowing the names of the important people in their life. It’s following up and asking about events you know are important to them. It’s encouraging them to take the afternoon off when they’ve been cranking away and stress is at a boiling point.
It’s making a safe space for them to be honest and vulnerable with you. It’s also being vulnerable and human in return.
People want to follow people with whom they connect. By keeping “caring deeply” as your core principle, you’re establishing a foundation for people to WANT to work with you.
Hold a High Bar
I’ll put this bluntly: mediocrity is not on the menu. Every single person who has ever reported to me has heard the following sentence: “I hold an incredibly high bar, and I never hold it higher than what I can coach you to.”
I demand the best of people AND I give them the space, the coaching, and the feedback to enable their achievements.
Holding a high bar means that if someone is currently a B+ with their work, and I see a way to help them get to an A, you better believe I’m giving that feedback to help them get to the level they want to be.
And that’s the kicker - people WANT to be their best. They WANT to succeed. So as a manager, I commit to helping my people become the best versions of themselves. I’ve yet to manage someone who was ok with being mediocre.
When you pair caring deeply with holding a high bar, you’d be surprised how easily you can give feedback. They know it’s coming from a good place, they know it is to help them be their best, and dang if it doesn’t make a difference.
Focus on Strengths
And finally we get to Focus on Strengths. Would Tom Brady make for an awesome defensive lineman? No, he’s not nearly strong or bulky enough. Would you put your best throwing arm at 1st base where they rarely have to throw very far? No, that doesn’t make any sense.
We seem to understand how to focus on strengths in the sports world. Yet when it comes to business, all we seem to do is focus on weaknesses.
I’m a proponent of focusing on strengths and managing around weaknesses.
Have someone who is an amazing strategic thinker? Give them more opportunities to help you with planning and problem solving. Have someone who loves data? How can you find more work for them crunching numbers?
If someone doesn’t gravitate towards metrics, for example, perhaps they aren’t the one you have building out your monthly reporting.
Of course there comes a time in the careers of many that their weaknesses could potentially hold them back from further advancement or other roles. Polishing and making incremental gains within skill gap areas is great, making them your focus as their manager is not going to yield the results you want.
People management is hard. It’s draining, exhilarating, exhausting, and rewarding all in the same day - shoot, sometimes the same hour.
These core principles have guided me nicely and hope they spark food for thought on your own management journey.
Photo by Maksym Kaharlytskyi on Unsplash
