John Coxon & Associates: Newsletters


			Management Tips

			Each week we send our "Management Tips' email to subscribers. In each email we identify an undesirable management behaviour, highlight the impact that behavior may have on others and identify ways to help you avoid falling into the trap of doing so. Management is about behaviour. How you act is how you are perceived by others. Leadership is living the behaviours you expect of others. To subscribe to this weekly email click here. See below for the past three weeks management tips: This weekly management tip analyses some of the more common leadership faults, the impact upon others and how to change this behaviour. The quickest way to change behaviour is to simply stop doing the thing that you are doing wrong. You don't have to change to be anyone different - just stop doing it. Instantly, overnight you will be perceived as a different person. Should you no longer wish to receive this management advice unsubscribe here (please use the same email address this message was sent to) Bad Behaviour #9 – Withholding Information Here is a scenario. At an executive meeting it is agreed certain information will be released for general use. In contrast to other executives, one member of the executive team takes it upon themselves to withhold, or filter, a part of that information. What is the impact of this behaviour? Firstly, direct reports of the manager withholding information will feel they have been neglected, even distrusted. They will soon learn their counterparts are better informed. Cross functional information sharing and decision making will suffer. Worse still, those staff of the manager withholding information will learn from the role model provided and, in turn, cease to fully inform their own manager(s). This will lead to faulty decision making and poor performance in that department. All this due one executive manager failing to understand a key role and responsibility – that being to facilitate conversation in ALL directions, without filtering. Creating silo’s or playing politics will always reflect back upon the executive manager at the end of the day. As a frontline manager the impact of withholding information can be equally as disastrous. Executive managers do not know everything. They rely upon feedback from frontline managers to enable them to make effective decisions. When frontline managers fail to pass information back up the line to an executive manager they directly impact upon judgment and decision making. Poor feedback leads to poor decisions. Do you want to be part of an effective management team? Share all the information you can with all the people possible all of the time. When people have a high level of awareness and understanding they are less likely to make assumptions, become part of the rumour machine, engage in conflicts and more likely to view issues from multiple perspectives. Bad Behaviour #8 Negativity Some people appear to be naturally negative. Others become negative as a result of an event that triggers off a response. Negativity created by a one off event is much easier to resolve. Working with a perpetually negative person requires patience and effective communication by the manager. When working with the person that is occasionally negative, create time to listen to their concerns. Determine if the concern is legitimate. Ask how you might help. Provide them with the resources to move forward. These people normally have a healthy, positive approach and will appreciate your positive response to their concern. Persistent negative behaviour can be contagious. Your first strategy is to ensure you, as the manager, are modelling a positive approach to issues. Be aware of your own actions and language. Provide a balanced perspective to all issues. Focus on demonstrable evidence and facts. Don't ignore negative behaviour. The world isn't perfect. It isn't always rosy for everyone. Acknowledge to that person the negative aspects and then move onto positive explanations. If you ignore the existence of someone’s negative perspective you are on a collision course. Philosophically you will both be approaching the issue from opposing ends of the continuum. Bad Behaviour #7 - Speaking When Angry Coach your staff, provide continuous positive feedback for achievements. Do not mix positive feedback with suggestions for improvement. It creates confusion and devalues the feedback. Talk through issues and concerns early and often. Help your positive employees develop skills in working with negative co-workers. Try bringing your team together for a group discussion of issues. Facilitate the discussion to enable both positive and negative perspectives to surface. Allow those in the group with a negative perspective to see that others do not share their viewpoint, while also providing them with positive role models and raising awareness amongst the entire team. When we are angry we are out of control. We are being reactive. We are being ruled by our emotions. Your anger causes pain to yourself and to others. When speaking in anger we may lose sight of reason. When speaking in anger others may perceive they are being attacked and respond with anger. A solution. Create some space for yourself. Take yourself out of the conversation. Return when your anger has subsided. When someone speaks in anger to you, do not respond in kind. Instead, ask them a question. In doing so you momentarily deflect their anger and allow them an opportunity to regain control. We acknowledge the work of Marshall Goldsmith, author of What Got You Here Won't Get You There in identifying the 20 major management behaviours that hold people back. top of page

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