Holding your breath as a manager?

I once heard Mark Horstman of Manager Tools say:

Most Managers Treat Feedback Like Holding Their Breath.  Effective Managers Treat It Like BREATHING.

So as a manager which camp are you in and why does it really matter? If you are the manager in the minority and give feedback to your team members like you take your next breath, then more likely than not your organization is achieving or exceeding its goals. If you are a manager in the majority, then your organization may be skating by, but your team is nowhere near operating at its full potential.

Sure even the most effective managers hold their breath on occasions when it comes to delivering difficult news or feedback. As a HR Guy, I certainly recall more than one occasion when I held my breath and rather than delivering distinct and clear communication I danced, hoping the employee could read between the lines. The most vivid memories of this dance on my part had to deal with something like body odor or professional appearance. [By the way, the delivery of this type of feedback is more often than not delegated rightfully so to HR, further illustrating why still so few understand why anyone would want to be in the field of human resources.]

Why you shouldn't hold your breath

Over the last ten plus years in several companies I have had the opportunity to develop and deliver manager training to both new and seasoned managers alike. The training I have described or titled in many ways, but in most instances it has either been People Management 101 or Achieving Excellence Managing Others. Regardless of title or description, the training has always included this fundamental question and point: The common thread in all of your jobs [as managers] is the expectation for you [manager] to achieve results. What are results really and how are they ultimately achieved?

As you might expect most managers, newbies and seasoned alike, often struggle with the real answer to this question. They often lead with answers like

ROI, EBITDA, MRR, etc. and become frustrated when I acclaim that those are not results but rather measures of results. So take a minute and think about the question in the context of the role of a manager and what the manager is ultimately held accountable for ~ go ahead peel the onion all the way back for the answer!

Can we agree that a manager's role ultimately is to influence the behaviors of the members of their team or organization? I grant you this may only be one of their many responsibilities, but I would argue that it is ultimately how well managers influence their team member's behaviors that is most important. A manager's responsibility is to influence the behaviors of their team by either awarding effective behaviors or adjusting ineffective behaviors. This really goes back to what Dominique Wilkin's said: "You are as only as good as your team".

So do you have your answer yet?

The answer I advocate is  results are nothing more than aggregated behaviors. 

The job of a manager at any level is to encourage effective behavior and adjust or change ineffective behavior. Period. The positive or negative outcome the result measurement reveals is dependent ultimately on the behaviors of the individuals who make up the organization. If you want to dive deeper into this notion and understand the behavioral science behind it, check out this excellent Bain Brief by Patrick Lite, Partner at Bain & Company.  

OK, so again how does a manager achieve the measurements (or results) they are responsible for? The simple but often complex answer is by being "good managers" and influencing the behaviors of their teams effectively. Most often this influencing comes in the form of continuous feedback. The problem is although any manager can deliver feedback most do not. 

The bottom line after peeling the onion all the way back is if you or your organization want better "results", then look first and foremost at improving feedback delivery skills* and stop holding your breath.

*more on this in a future post