Time Management is a Waste of Time
There are important things and then there are really important things.
Know the difference.
Stop getting caught up in trying to schedule every thirty minutes of your day. You know what needs to get done. The other stuff can wait.
Amazing results will not happen because you have an amazingly organized schedule. Amazing results are what happens when you focus on doing the really important stuff.
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Active Managers Win the Race
You’re leisurely jogging toward the finish line in your khakis and button down shirt when you look back and all the other managers from your various competitors are on your heels. You thought you were leading the pack by a good distance, but they caught up. You look forward again and the finish line got pushed so far away that you can’t even see it. 12 swear words pop into your head, you ease up and everyone passes you by.
This attitude has struck down the greatest companies because they stop pushing for innovative ways to separate themselves from the pack. The best way managers can help a company flourish is by dedicating themselves to professional growth. We all need to keep moving or we become a bucket infested with mosquitoes, attacking others to stay alive. The only way to avoid the blood suckers is to keep moving.
Complacency will wreck any company, especially one that relies on the same tactics that they used last year and the year before that. If marketing companies kept putting out the same ads then the audience would learn to tune them out. If managers keep using the same techniques their voices will fall on deaf ears. That’s where continual learning fits in. Whether it be classes, conferences, meetings, or consulting companies, there are ways for a manager and his employees to learn new tactics that rock the world of their customers. It’s the only way to stay alive in this hyper competitive working world.
Chris Bailey wrote Four Professional Growth Issues For Managers (And How To Address Them). My favorite line was:
If you are a leader, know that a key responsibility of leaders is to produce more leaders.
Managers should be creating people that can help a company grow. They should never fear that they are producing someone more capable than them. If that does happen then the manager should be happy. The company will only prosper if it beats out the competition. The only way to do that is to have great people around you. Every master should be ready for the day that his pupil surpasses his abilities. If you taught them right, they will respect this relationship and treat the company and the manager with respect.
Chris wrote four reasons why managers don’t further their professional development as well at their staff’s. It’s a good read for any manager wanting to overcome obstacles that might be preventing them from growing.
My biggest obstacle to continual learning was convincing upper management to buy into the idea. They don’t want to spend money when they think they are doing fine without it. If they were having a bad quarter they sure as hell didn’t want to spend money on professional development. They wanted to cut back on every extra expense. The only thing I can say to this is to keep trying. Most sales people get rejected between 8 and 16 times before a client agrees to do business. Consider yourself a salesman and keep after your bosses. If you keep trying, they will start believing.
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Working Unhappy in Retail
A great question from a reader arrived in my inbox last week and I wanted to share it with all of you. Many of you probably like your job to some extent, but maybe a manager or co-worker is difficult for you to deal with. We all have our problems, but dealing with a difficult manager is tricky.
Her summarized question went like this:
I just started working at my current job in March. This is my first job period, other than two jobs I’ve gotten by being default (’student helper’ for both jobs).
The problem is, I’m only in this job because it’s a job, and one of the managers is in this job as a lifestyle. He consistently harasses us to sell more (or so it feels like to me). We’re either behind and have to sell more, or are ahead and have to sell more. Within the past week, I can count three separate times that he’s harassed me about asking each and every customer to buy a certain product from the registers.
It’s gotten to the point that I don’t even bother asking the customers if they want the certain product. I figure I’ll get reamed about not selling enough later anyways, so why bother?
I love my job (it’s rewarding), I love my coworkers, I get on well with the other two managers and the two supervisors, it’s just him that I don’t get along with.
How can I manage to work happy? He often excuses himself saying it comes from corporate, but the other two managers don’t harass us like he does. Is it maybe because he’s not that good of a leader, or is it just our differing personalities?
On the training front, should I ask to shadow one of my coworkers (there are two that are really good at selling stuff)? I figure I can’t flat out say, “The training I’m being given is bogus, I know it and you know it, are you able to give me any actual *realistic* training?” And I’m not very good with people to begin with (to the point that I honestly can’t think of a way to rephrase that last question in a people-friendly way).
My response was:
The first thing to do is get your thoughts in order. You are a good writer. Your question was well constructed and I think you should use this talent to write a mock letter on how he could be a better manager. It will help you see his perspective. You should not give him this letter, but it will help you prepare for a talk.
I believe you should talk to this manager. It doesn’t sound like you want to confront him, but I think it’s your best bet at improving your situation. Don’t make a big deal of it, but just ask him if he has a minute to talk. I would ask him how you can improve. If he is human he should be willing to help you become a better employee. If he is stumbling around or doesn’t suggest anything helpful then tell him that you have something that might help. I think you had a great idea. See if the two of you can create a schedule, during slower times, to shadow some of the top sellers for a few weeks.
If this manager is still busting your chops after a few months and you are selling better, I would try confronting him on his managing tactics. Sometimes managers need to be shown how to improve. Try to be tactful and constructive, so he knows that you appreciate his style, but it could use a little work. Hopefully he will put his ego aside and listen. If this makes your relationship worse then look for another job. You should never be afraid to chalk up a job to a good learning experience and move on to something better.
Everyone is different and some people can tolerate a bad manager if everything else is good, but I can’t. I need a manager to be supportive and understanding. Believe me there are plenty of them out there.
If you have a question that you would like for me to answer on this blog you can contact me on my question page or at Karl (at) workhappynow.com. Believe me, there is probably someone else going through the same thing right now, so if you ask a question it will probably help other people.
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8 Great Leadership Tips from the Dallas Cowboys Assistant Head Coach
Jason Garrett spoke to a group of 200 at a formal dinner and his soft demeanor caught me off guard. I was expecting a tough football voice. It was a welcomed difference. It came across as humbling, not weak. He spoke well, with a slight tinge of enthusiasm.
The new guard, as I like to call it, seems to be popular throughout the football league. These forward thinking coaches use many techniques to will their players to their best. Tony Dungy is at the forefront of this movement. He believes that you don’t need to yell and scream to get your point across. Football players are people who want to be treated with respect and kindness.
Jason Garrett’s 8 lessons of leadership:
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He talked about coaching Terrell Owens, a future Hall of Fame receiver, who is known to be a difficult player. He said that he told him (a Hall of Fame receiver) and the rest of the team that no matter who was on the field they would be coached.
Lesson – Learn from everyone around you because there is always something to improve.
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Give people purpose. Tell people their role and recognize them for their work.
Lesson – We all need to feel appreciated.
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When I’m on the field and my team is exhausted I go out there and become a cheerleader. I let them know whether they have cool shoes or if they are doing a good job working their butt off.
Lesson – Create a positive atmosphere by being a cheerleader when someone is having a bad day.
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Success is 54% body language, 40% tone of voice, and 6% words. I don’t know how Jimmy Johnson got those numbers, but it explains why he was able to create such a passionate team. When he spoke to us he got us excited and ready to win.
Lesson – Use your body and voice to convey confidence.
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Even if you think they are dragging their feet and breathing hard, you can always tell them that oxygen is good for the soul, so keep up the good work.
Lesson – Someone is always doing something right. Recognize that and give them positive feedback.
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When looking to bring someone new on to your team make sure you look at his character. You can’t teach character, but you can teach competency
Lesson – Hire motivated people.
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Nick Saban the great college coach always told us, “Tell me when we are making a mistake, so we can fix it.” Every time I or one of the other coaches told him something that we were doing wrong, he would bite our heads off. (laughing) It was always one of the most uncomfortable moments to be in.
Lesson – Make sure you follow your own advice otherwise no one will be willing to help you.
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Tony Romo (Quarterback for Dallas) told me that he wanted to run a “Three wide split.” I thought to myself that is the stupidest play. Their defense is perfectly designed to stop that. I wasn’t sure what to call because it was something like 3rd and 20, so I called it. Tony looked back at me and I could tell he was smiling. The throw went to Owens and he scored a touchdown.
Lesson – Let people do what they think is right because they’ll make it happen.
My co-worker wasn’t as enthused by the football references, but as Jason continued to speak he won her over. She was impressed by his talk. We can learn about working happy from anyone if we just take a moment to listen and put their words into action.
Does anyone have any good sports references that can be applied to working happier?
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All Employees Deserve Respect
Employees get in sticky situations with customers because of various reasons. When the customer complains the manager brings the employees into their office to reprimand them. This has happened to me and millions of other employees. This happens because of two reasons:
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Manager fails to listen to the employee’s explanation
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The employee fails to speak up
We need to improve this communication gap in the workplace by not jumping to conclusions. Alex Kjerulf of Chief Happiness Officer wrote an article, Top 5 Reasons Why the “Customer is Always Right” is Wrong.
The fact is that some customers are just plain wrong, that businesses are better off without them, and that managers siding with unreasonable customers over employees is a very bad idea, that results in worse customer service.
You don’t have to put up with a customer that’s out of control. You have a right to tell them to stop. If they don’t stop then find a way to make them stop. Maybe you have a great manager who is willing to take the bullet or perhaps you just walk away, but either way you deserve to be treated with respect.
Alex also posted some great responses from of his readers. My favorite was:
Marie wrote:
We recently had a customer who bounced a check, and had the audacity to call my customer service manager with a tirade of yelling & profanity (before she could explain what had happened). She was calm and waited for him to settle down and tried to explain… He continued to use profanity, only to stop when my CS Manager politely told him that if he didn’t quit, she would hang up… Later, he emailed a complaint to the corporate office stating how rude and unprofessional she had been…
The customer DOES NOT have the right to harass my employees. I just happened to be in the office that day and could hear him screaming at her over the phone. I think she handled it WONDERFULLY; I took her out to lunch!
I don’t believe that a customer has the right to verbally assault my employees and I have trained them not to take that type of abuse from anyone.
When a manager and company cultivate trust with their employees, workers can be happier and more productive. Next time the customer is being a jerk and they ask to speak to a manager, try to convey the message to your boss or manager that the customer is being unreasonable. If the manager fails to listen and gives you the old line, “The customer is Always Right,” then maybe it’s time to find a more forward thinking company that supports its employees.
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