Success Secrets and Stories
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Success Secrets and Stories
Philosophy of Management style (cont.): From Achievement to Responsible Leadership
Are high-pressure, achievement-oriented management styles the key to success, or do they conceal pitfalls that could undermine a team's innovative spirit? Join us on a fascinating journey as we scrutinize the impact of such approaches, particularly on trust, innovation, and whether they inadvertently sacrifice long-term vision for short-term gains. We untangle the complexities of management philosophies and their effects on the workplace environment, exploring the delicate balance between driving productivity and fostering a space where creativity and collaboration thrive. Hear our critical analysis on whether this intensely competitive atmosphere really benefits the customers, or simply cuts down errors and waste as a secondary advantage.
Moving beyond the traditional task-focused leadership training, we lay out a blueprint for a holistic people development strategy that dovetails individual aspirations with organizational needs. Uncover the transformative power of structured training programs, mentorship, and the often-underestimated value of recognition in elevating team morale. We dissect the various components that cultivate a robust framework for personal and professional growth, including wellness, work-life harmony, and the essential principles of diversity, inclusion, and equity. Your active participation is what shapes our discussions, and we cherish your insights—so grab your headphones, and let's navigate the multifaceted landscape of effective leadership together.
Presented by John Wandolowski and Greg Powell
Yeah, hello everyone, and welcome to Success Secrets and Stories. I'm your host, john Wieloska, and I'm here with my friend and co-host, greg Powell.
Speaker 1:Greg hey everybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we're going to be talking about the types of managers. In our previous podcast we had talked about the three first levels. Today we're going to be concentrating on the achievement level and the responsible level and it's kind of interesting in terms of how the achievement level in my mind and my training that I had prior to going for Dr Durst's program at MBR, how it kind of fits in and how it changed. So we're going to talk a little bit about that and I think the one key for me is starting off with Dr Durst's description of the achievement level, because it is different than what a lot of people think it is. The achievement level in a MBR mentality is management by crisis and the view of staff is moderately productive, yet need to be manipulated. Productivity concerns are emphasized and the method of operation is that management is by crisis in an inadequate planning and delegation. And the part that I thought was kind of interesting for me, the achievement-oriented leadership is trying to engage people and sometimes they have higher standards than what the organization is actually accomplishing and your team needs to be motivated or challenged and the truth is sometimes the staff is bored or they're just not engaged for reasons of training or culture. It has different reasons. So I was looking on the internet and I found a wonderful example again from the Indeed editorial team. There's an updated article from June 24, 2002. And the article is called what is the Achievement-Oriented Leadership the Places and Benefits, and I think this is a great description of what it is to be an achievement level.
Speaker 2:They used to call it an A type personality manager. There was an A, a B and a C. So you know the old description of an A type manager and achievement manager was always considered the top of that description. The part that isn't in the achievement mentality, to be honest, is the part about developing a department or developing a staff or developing yourself. It is really the achievement of management and sometimes it's more empowering micromanagement than it is management. And don't get me wrong, I was taught this approach and I really thought that I was successful and I had some very good production numbers, very good production support, especially since I was working for a production company. At the time when I went for the MBR, I thought I was pretty prepared for the training class because a lot of my nature was in this description of what an achievement manager would have conducted themselves and the orientation towards finding advantages and increasing productivity and finding cooperation with others, really with the goal of how many widgets can you make? How fast can you go? What did the other department shift make prior to your shift? That deming approach of terms of challenging your ability to keep up or exceed what is perceived as a good shift and it's just numbers.
Speaker 2:At some level and the achievement really is working on trying to obtain results. You are looking for people who are working and support that kind of group goal. It is more generic. It is more part of the nature of the organization looking for that goal mentality, but it also fosters the sense of being at crisis. They're not really strategic. They are tactical is the term that I thought is the best term. They're close to the problem and they want to make sure it's being done and there isn't that forethought of what's going to be in five or 10 years. What's it going to be this week In the achievement level?
Speaker 2:Increasing productivity is really the magic dust of whether you're doing your job or not, and if you found a new way to focus or improve productivity, sometimes you would hide it from others because it gave you a competitive advantage. That's crisis mode, by the way Because you want to keep your job. That whole thing about holding on to lessons learned or history and not sharing with the other shifts because you have the advantage, Increase motivation, increase creativity those things are more the side effect of the environment that you're in. There are brainstorming and creative ideas, but it isn't that kind of approach that you would assume in some of the more research and development kind of environments. In a achievement oriented approach they're trying to hit those strategic targets, the outcomes, and when you talk about cooperation and working with other departments, it's mostly competitive. When you're dealing with other departments there isn't really that part about encouraging the other groups. You have to develop an element of trust. After a certain point that achievement mentality can grow. If you're in that environment for a long enough period of time, kindred souls will find a way to make that cooperation work. But there's a development of trust that has to happen. That's usually harder to do in a highly competitive environment is trust. Those are some of the harder things to try to develop.
Speaker 2:There is an element within the achievement side for innovation. The humor that I got is one of the research managers that I was working with made a great quote for me in terms of innovation. He said that he can come up with new ideas, but he's never been able to think of a new idea with a deadline. There's nothing truer than that. Innovation and the ability to come up with new concepts is a tremendous pressure on a lot of organizations. Pharmaceutical is constantly looking at what's new and what's in the pipeline and how are we going to be able to get into the market. All those things, I think, add to what it is in terms of management.
Speaker 2:The part about morale in this environment I'm not buying it that it's better. It's mostly survival in some of the harder applications In a good environment. It's still not a priority. We're trying to find cooperation, but morale is a little bit of a stretch. Better time management I think I've talked about that already, Not really. The part that I thought was always interesting is is it better for the customer? Well, yeah, it can be better for the customer, but it's more of a side effect of having less errors and the more profitability because there's less waste. All of a sudden, you have a better end result in terms of the product, but it's not really the customer. That's the most critical element of achievement management. It's the dollars and cents. That's associated with profitability. The customer is part of that process, but it isn't the earmark component of that process.
Speaker 2:A lot of what they talk about is how to structure your team to make sure that they're productive and how to communicate those goals. It becomes a little bit more along the lines of the deming approach of making sure that you're advertising your goals so that other teams feel the pressure to meet those requirements. That whole crisis mentality is kicking in, where you have to do better. If you're not first, you're last. That all goes in the same conversation. You respect your employees, but they're part of the process. They aren't people, they're a process. Either they're capable and you either have to train them or remove them. It becomes more third-party kind of approach when you've taken that achievement mentality too far.
Speaker 2:There is the personal exchange of information and interaction that you can see people that are doing that in terms of the achievement level, but it's not really their strengths. When they start to get a little bit more mature in terms of this kind of approach, they'll take time for follow-up and they'll reward people for good performance. They'll give them feedback. Those are kind of like a minimum requirement of a management team. You'll find things like the annual conversation once a year. I'm going to take an hour, maybe an hour and a half, and I'm going to really make you feel good because I'm going to buy you a cup of coffee during that same meeting. That's my personal touch, because I'm going to buy the cup of coffee for you while we talk. It's not the right way to do it. It is the minimalist approach. That's one of the biggest challenges whenever you're dealing with people that are dealing with manufacturing and trying to hit targets that are very clear in terms of whether you are successful or not. It breeds that achievement-oriented kind of approach.
Speaker 2:I have found that I was very successful in this environment. I did a very good job of handling the pressure and the crisis kind of approach. I think it also comes from my training and from my background. I have an engineering background. I have a mechanic background. The problems change all the time. The ability to adapt is one of the things that I find interesting. That's all well and good. I have tendencies that help me in this kind of environment, this kind of production environment, but I have the ability to change how I conduct myself. That's what I consider as a priority within a business environment that until I took NBR I didn't understand. Now, Greg, you've gone through the NBR program and I think from your perspective, what is a responsible manager?
Speaker 1:So thanks, John. So let's talk about a responsible manager. That individual's view of staff is that they are productive and creative. Productivity and people concerns are integrated, woven together, and the method of operation is involvement with staff through delegation and participation. I got an article from LinkedIn, from a culture monkey, by Kailash Ganesh, and it was November 28, 2023. That study found that 94% of employees would stay longer at a company that invested in their career development, and I know we've mentioned that. John has talked about that in previous episodes.
Speaker 1:With workforce expectations shifting and skill requirements evolving, the importance of people development just can't be overstated, and it's not just a buzzword. It encompasses a strategic approach aimed at enhancing employee skills, knowledge and competencies, and it really equips those individuals to excel in the roles, but also is in line with the organizational goals and trajectory From fostering and learning culture to implementing personalized development plans. Let's unveil the intricacies of crafting a robust people development plan and framework that not only ensures individual growth but propels organizations towards sustained success. So bear with me as I walk through some of these and see if I can paint a picture that you can see. These elements of people development Start off with training and learning programs.
Speaker 1:Organizations provide structured training and learning opportunities, both formal and informal, to enhance employee skills, knowledge and expertise. Mentoring and coaching and sometimes mentoring works and sometimes it doesn't work, but it generally works when it's applied appropriately. Pairing individuals with experienced mentors. So they have to be trained, they have to commit to being a mentor and the employee has to commit to being a mentee so they get that personalized guidance. They can accelerate skill development and get a platform for career advancement. Recognition never goes out of style, Providing constructive feedback and recognizing achievement, whether it's public or private. It takes a culture of continuous improvement and it really does boost morale, Job rotation and cross training. It's just as it sounds moving folks around in opportunities and organization, learning some skills, not just for backup purposes as a manager, but to help the enhanced person's own skills, broaden their skills, enriching their experience. Development assignments, Purposeful, planful assignments for folks that actually are trying to help them develop in a particular skill that they're trying to get better. Maybe they're trying to demonstrate their innovation skills and sometimes it just helps build their confidence.
Speaker 2:Remember the development skill that you helped me with. I gave a presentation and it was to exercise my public speaking skills. There was that magic time where you looked me and I went dude a little bit more public speaking skills, I would know. Remember it was a development opportunity. They were trying to get me out there. The humor that I got is my boss didn't say anything. He was a co-worker that helped me.
Speaker 1:John, did you do Toastmasters?
Speaker 2:I did. I also did the Dale Carnegie thing.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Both of them really helped. Obviously now I can't shut up, but yeah, it's helped.
Speaker 1:That's good. It really speaks to learning culture and that you've got some benefit out of Personalized development plans, and this is really, really important. They're just not boilerplate the same plan for everyone. They should take a look at individual strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for development, the career direction they'd like to go, but they should really be personalized Feedback mechanism. I've said this before. John has shared it with me Feedback is a gift. Having feedback mechanisms with training programs, development opportunities, et cetera, they really do help overall in growth strategies, leadership development.
Speaker 1:So that's different than learning how to do a task or do a function better. This is grooming potential leaders within the organization through targeted programs and mentorships. It's a combination of things to help those folks develop. It's not one quick class, it's not 10 hours of service. It's a multi-pronged approach to developing leaders.
Speaker 2:Like I'm sorry, like speaking engagement.
Speaker 1:Like speaking engagement, john. Yeah, yeah, like speaking engagements. We've learned a lot about the when the pandemic, about wellness and work-life balance, folks trying to unbundle their days because of kids being home and the spouse no longer being able to work outside the home or having to stay home. Recognizing the importance of mental and physical wellbeing we talked about that in previous episodes as well. That really does coincide with personal development and impacts professional growth in a question Diversity, inclusion and equity huge this day and age, and really what it's about is encouraging inclusiveness. At the end of the day, making sure that everybody can contribute to 110% of their capability and that gives them broader perspectives. That provides personal growth for everyone.
Speaker 1:Career path planning Now the old days career path planning might be. I'm an engineer one and I want to become an engineer four. So I'm going to go up that little rungs of that ladder. Two, three, four, I'm going to get all my hours in, I'll do a test to show I've learned some things and if I get two years of experience and boom. We're talking about something much more dynamic than that Guiding employees and mapping out clear career paths, aligning their individual aspirations with the organizational goals and needs, making sure there's a sense of purpose and direction to those individual career path plans. Continuous performance assessments, no matter what it looks like as far as a pencil and paper or a computer version, it's just a chance for employees to have the performance assessed. But it's a two-way dialogue and it could be about a project. It could be about how the first six months I'm doing something new as a new leader, but continuous performance assessments, working in tandem with the employee to give rich feedback and guidance to help them be the best they can be.
Speaker 1:Also, things like networking opportunities they don't. We learned that also through the pandemic. They became even more important. But facilitating those networking events and platforms enables employees to connect with industry professionals. So they're inside the company, they're outside the company, they're within their discipline. They could be outside of their discipline, but fostering professional relationships. We have to take advantage of technology because my guys, I can barely keep up. I know John's way ahead of me on the technology, but it's a gift, it's a tool. Those e-learning platforms ensure the development opportunities are easily accessible and aligned with the evolving needs of the digital workplace, cause this is not going away. This is not your mother's computer, right, what we're getting involved in now from a technology standpoint, right, john, it is incredible. So you've got to be on top of that, got to engage that, incorporate that. Collaborative projects, projects that promote teamwork, so not just projects for the one individual, but it's being specific and cross, putting a person on the cross functional team. They get a chance to demonstrate their communication skills. There's a sense of accomplishment, john.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and also you get the exposure to executive management. So you know that was the other part that you're giving people the opportunity to speak, you're giving them the opportunity to meet other departments and sometimes these projects get them in front of executives, and that exposure is also one of the responsibilities from you as a leader on whether you're giving people the opportunity to be seen by others and have that opportunity for advancement.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. And again, that feedback culture we want to instill, a culture where feedback is both given and received constructively, creates an environment conducive to ongoing improvement and individual development, and if you're incorporating these elements into people's development strategies, it creates a comprehensive framework that nurtures employees potential. You think about the article. You think about some of these things we're talking about. These are folks that maybe didn't have Dr Durst's coursework in front of them or one of his books, but it lines up very, very well with the NDR process. So, Greg, what's in our next?
Speaker 2:podcast.
Speaker 1:So, John, the next episode of Success Seekers Stories. We're gonna talk about the use of power in terms of management style Nice.
Speaker 2:So, if you like what you've heard, I have a book called Building your Leadership Toolbox. It's available on amazoncom and lulucom. My ebook is available at Barnes Noble. If you're listening to this podcast on Success Secrets and Stories or is that music? It's on Apple and Google and Spotify and a whole bunch of other folks. Dr Durst's books and his NDR program is available at successgrilledacademycom.
Speaker 2:The music is brought to you by my grandson and we've done something a little bit different. We have a way of talking to us and maybe helping us out a little bit with the cost. We have a binding a cup of coffee. I love that as a concept and we are also encouraging you to try to get ahold of us. My email address my grandson's a bass guitar player, by the way my email address is Wando75periodjw at gmailcom and Greg's email address is gpow374 at gmailcom. And probably the most important part is, we want to hear from you. So when you get an opportunity, just send us an email, leave us a message on buying us a cup of coffee. But most of all, we want to try to make sure that this is something in terms of the podcast that helps you in terms of leadership. So thanks, Greg.
Speaker 1:Thanks, john, as always, next time, next time.
Speaker 2:Yeah.