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Several things come to mind as I thought about this, but here is the statement that crystallized it for me:

[b][color=darkred]Manager Tools provides a competitive advantage to professionals with character. [/color][/b]

Mark and Mike have provided dozens of actionable ideas that will make you more effective in today’s corporate world. However, I think most of the strategies would be virtually impossible for someone to execute if they were just looking to advance themselves at the cost of others.

Sure the snakes and fools out there can figure out how to BLUF their e-mails and create a good resume, but can you really see them building effective relationships with their directs? How about adjusting their communication based on DISC or taking the time to really listen to someone? They would be swimming against the tide. Doing the right things for the wrong reasons is so much harder than doing them for the right reasons.

MT strategies work and companies will get more for their salary dollars because of it. Therefore it is just a matter of time before companies begin to demand the MT style of leadership from their employees. When this occurs, the scales in the executive ranks will tip drastically towards those who are capable of performing to the new standards. Executives with strong character will be the norm.

It may take 10 years, but there will come a time when nice guys get to consistently finish first. And we get to be in on the ground floor of the revolution.

Enjoy the ride.

-Mike

WillDuke's picture
Training Badge

Sounds like another disciple just got on the bus. :)

iann22's picture

[quote]Mark and Mike have provided dozens of actionable ideas that will make you more effective in today’s corporate world. However, I think most of the strategies would be virtually impossible for someone to execute if they were just looking to advance themselves at the cost of others.[/quote]

This thread has reminded me of a question that I have been carrying around with me: Is it enough to learn behaviour guidance (outer game) without working on underpinning this with confidence & self-belief (inner game)?

To put this in another context; Does this podcast provide the chat-up lines without providing all the self-belief, charisma and body language skills that are required for the lines to work?

Or: Can the behaviour advice be executed without a strong inner game?

[quote]Executives with strong character will be the norm.[/quote]

I would suggest that MT should not be relied on as a holistic answer. By entering this community we are demonstrating that we are open to self-improvement, and I would suggest this shouldn't stop here.

I agree that a manager should have a 'strong character' and status (not just in job title); with skills such as charisma, rapport building and a goal of continually improving their human interactions. Some of this is in the podcasts, although specific actions are the core.

Outside of MT I could recommend starting with looking at NLP for example.

To coin a phrase: "its all about communication".

[quote]The winners in the game will be MT-style managers, with character. It may take 10 years, but there will come a time when nice guys get to consistently finish first.[/quote]

Its nice to be smart, but its smart to be nice! :wink:

HMac's picture

mikehansen: great summary. I was especially hooked by your strap line ending with "professionals [u]with character[/u]."

In the years I've been listening to MT, there have been countless times that Mike or Mark have talked about the importance of the manger's intention underlying the technique.

Look: any technique - [u]ANY[/u] technique can be manipulated by the hypocritical for short-term gains.

I'd just suggest one additional thought. It won't take 10 years to "win." It's possible to win with a shot of fulfillment every day!

In my experience, the real win comes immediately: it's in the eyes of team members who understand at a gut level that somebody really cares about them, or it's the fulflillment that comes from knowing you're doing the right thing - sending love out into the world (Mark - there's that word again: love).

tlhausmann's picture
Licensee BadgeTraining Badge

[quote="HMacNiven"]
In the years I've been listening to MT, there have been countless times that Mike or Mark have talked about the importance of the manger's intention underlying the technique.[/quote]

Yep. In the book _Crucial Conversations_ the phrase "know where your heart is" was used.

Communicate with positive intent.

mikehansen's picture

Iann - Thanks for the pointer towards NLP. I had not heard of that before, but it is interesting stuff. Here is a link for others who might not know what it is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming

Hugh - Thanks for the kudos. On the 10 year comment, I was suggesting that it might take 10 years before the majority of corporate leaders are people with exceptional character.

Individually, I think folks who learn from MT (as well as other sources) AND approach management from a position of service are building a significant edge over managers who do not.

stephenbooth_uk's picture

[quote="mikehansen"]On the 10 year comment, I was suggesting that it might take 10 years before the majority of corporate leaders are people with exceptional character.[/quote]

For that to happen having corporate leaders of exceptional character has to be seen as giving a commercial advantage whilst leaders who are whip wielding martinets are a commercial disadvantage. We might know, or at least believe, that MT style of management will lead to corporate sucess, but how do we prove it?

Whilst success is often attributed to internal features (usually incetives for sales staff or the wholesale butchery of internal support departments to achieve a quick drop in costs, neither of whioch I would associate with exception character) failure is usually attributed to external forces. Failure is layed at the door of a competitor with lower costs (frequently overseas), legislative regulation, failure of a key supplier or removal of a key customer (when the Rover works in Longbridge, Birmingham, was closed down and production moved to Nanjing, China, many local businesses folded because their success was dependant the continued existance of the plant, tool and parts makers were the most obvious casualties but the closure also wiped out a multitude of local shops and snack bars who lost all their passing trade). Where an internal factor is publically identified it's usually a specific manager who is blamed for failing to see some external threat and dealing with it.

I can't think of a single corporate failure that has been publically blamed on the management style and culture. Enron probably came closest, but even there it was the lack of controls on the way information was handled and reported that seems to have been the identified cause of failure.

So, what can we do to ensure that the success of the MT methods is identified as the cause of sucess and not obscured by blarney of the 'golfers with big expense accounts', the 'discipline' of the whip crackers who deliver feedback with a Tazer or the secretiveness of the cloak-and-dagger merchants who claim that it's only their clamping down on communication that prevent the company crown jewels disapearing over the horizon and us all being put out on the streets?

Stephen

mikehansen's picture

Good question. Here is how I think we can ensure MT gets the credit for having a significant business impact, we tell people!

The MT community has several high ups in the corporate world. Many of us will be high ups at some point in our future! I know that if I get interviewed on some topic in the IT or business community, I will look for ways to plug MT. If I ever get a chance to evangelize MT to someone at the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, CIO magazine, Fortune, Etc, you can bet I will sing the praises.

Honestly, I am little surprised MT has not hit the business periodicals heavier, but I am sure it will in time.

So lets all plan to kick but in the business world, and then we can make sure the message is told.

-Mike

JorrianGelink's picture

Fantastic thread, and that NLP article is massive haha but it looks awesome, bookmarked it to read after this.

I honestly believe to share the wealth of knowledge that MT brings, it starts at all of us. When we listen to the podcasts do we take action and follow it?

Yes - >Move to Step II
No - >If you don't follow something you believe in, you don't believe in it therefore others won't either, start showing the behaviors and actions that MT states

Step II

You begin to be more successful as a manager the more you implement MT Tools. Directs see this.

The direct says "Wow Jorrian! You look like you have so much fun being a manager and not only that but we're at our top of the game...I wish I could have a success story like that!" << I've had directs approach me about this and yeah it is the most awesome feeling in your career. Some people say promotion is, I say this is as it is a "you've made an impact on my life" comment.

We'll pretend the directs name is Quenton.

"You know what Quenton, you were a part of that success story as without you I wouldn't have reached that, one of the reasons I act and manage the way I do is outside of the box thinking. Our corporation offers a fantastic leadership program but a lot of what I follow is something called Manager Tools, as you can see it has been working fantastic!"

"I'd love to coach you to be in leadership and have some stories of your own, but I need two committments from you is that fair?"

Quenton: "Only two?? That's simple of course!"

"First thing, do you have the attitude to change and learn? If not I can't help you, if you do you can reach the stars. Second thing, here's some intro podcasts to listen to from Manager Tools, listen to them, come to me for questions and come up with an action plan for each of them. Then we'll follow up next week."

Keep that formula consist. You get promoted. Your direct gets promoted. Your direct shares the same thing with his associates.

Then you're CEO, who is under you? All the directs you worked with in the trenches that our now Regional and District Managers that ALL have MT under their belt.

It's go time :).

It's one thing to have your name in a newspaper, it's another to have a legacy.