Succeeding against the odds...

My father told me early in my career that if I could manage people I would succeed at whatever I did. His words didn't resonate with me then, but like other words of wisdom, his words suck with me.

Managing people has without a doubt proven to be one of the most challenging aspects of my career. If you've read some of my earlier posts, than you know there were times that I struggled to do my job and train those reporting to me. At the time it felt like my "team" was against me because they just kept creating more and more for me to do (problems to fix). Like others in that position (see my question to Joel this week on the Get Career Advice forum), I worked really long hours to get ahead of everyone else but it was next to impossible to stay ahead and succeed.

There were two lessons that I learned early in life that have made me more successful managing people. The first was something from a Franklin time management course that I took 15 years ago. You have to hold people accountable for completing their assigned tasks well or they will be out waterskiing and you'll be stuck in the office working. At the time I worked in an office that overlooked a man-made lake so it seemed to be a good metaphor for me to use. On my way out of the office one night, I remember reiterating the phrase to my boss who was in his office looking at a report that I had turned in earlier that day. To him the report was the most important part of the job because if we didn't communicate our findings and recommendations well, the whole process was a waste of time. I can't remember if I knew how important the report was to him at that point or if I was just telling him that I wanted to learn to do it right. I remember studying his changes and eventually, became a really good report writer. Unfortunately, not everyone has this type of motivation and/or discipline.

So if you have a large team or manage someone that is not motivated to get up to speed, you have to give them tools. I followed the same boss to another company to help start a new department. It was a much bigger company and a much bigger team. He must have realized that there were just too many people to stay ahead of so he created a cheat sheet with typical findings and recommendations written the way he wanted to see them. Auditors just had to find the ones that applied to their job, copy them into their report and edit as needed. It made everyone's life easier and the final report was always consistently written and done on time. Proving staff with tools work in any environment when there is repetitive work that requires a consistent outcome. I think there is more application than most want to believe for these types of tools, especially in healthcare.

There is one more thing that I've learned from managing surgery centers, try reorganizing to take advantage of everone's strengths. I call it shuffling the deck. Books like Discover your Strengths Now that have personality assessments are a good way to engage your team in the process. Unless someone is feeling really insecure or has their heart on doing something that they aren't suited to do, most will enjoy learning how they can best utilize their strengths in different roles and will go along with the changes.

For more information about helping your stars succeed, check the Get Career Advice forum next week for Joel's (Joel is our Executive Coach and regular contributor) thoughts. If you run a surgical facility, you might want to check out some of the tools and solutions offered on www.therushgroup.com

Post a comment with your tips for succeeding against the odds.