HRviews

Good reads are meant to be shared. Here is one of them: The Rules of Management by Richard Templar. When I go to people’s offices I like to quickly browse through their books on display. This particular book caught my attention right away, although the title is not quite a catcher. After the first few sentences I realized it is a must read. Richard Templar is a brilliant writer, direct, realistic and above all an experienced manager. Instead of rewording his thoughts, I have decided to list some of his rules.

Excerpts from The Rules of Management (Richard Templar)

As a manager you are expected to be a lot of things. A tower of strength, a leader, a innovator, a magician (conjuring up pay raises, resources, and extra staff at the drop of a hat), a kindly uncle/aunt, a shoulder to cry on, a dynamic motivator, a stern but fair judge, a diplomat, a politician, a financial wizard (no, this is quite different from being a magician), a protector, a savior and a saint.

The mistake a lot of managers make is to think they are managing people… Make the people successful and you have the successful manager… But unfortunately this is a myth and we need to see that the real role of the manager is to manage processes rather than people.

People can manage themselves if you let them. What you need to be concentrating on is the real job of management — the strategy. The team is merely a means to fulfilling that end.

The good manager is managing change, the process, strategy, progress and balance. In all of this we might well need our ‘people’, but we also may not. We can’t ignore the people of course, but we should be handing over as much self-management to them as we possibly can.

#1: Get them emotionally involved

“Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.”- Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic

You manage people. People who are paid to do a job. But if it is ‘just a job’ to them, you’ll never get their best… It isyou that has to inspire them, lead them, motivate them, challenge them, get them emotionally involved.You have to get them to see the relevance of what they are doing, how it makes an impact on people’s lives, how they provide for the needs of other human beings, how they can reach out and touch people by what they do at work. Get them convinced — because it is true of course — that what they do makes a difference.

#2: Know what a team is and how it works

“Gettin’ good players is easy. Gettin’ ‘em to play together is the hard part.” – Casey Stengel, former manager, New York Yankees

A team isn’t a collection of people. It is an organization with its own dynamics, qualities and conventions. Without knowing these things you will flounder. Knowing them, you can work your team to achieve greatness…a team is a group where all the members focus on a collective target.A team doesn’t pull together well when each individual member focuses on their own target.

#3: Set realistic targets — no, really realistic

“Let’s make a dent in the universe.” — Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple

When I say realistic, I don’t say lower or easy-to-achieve targets. I say realistic. That might mean taxing. It might mean a struggle. It might mean your team has to redouble its efforts, work harder, longer, brighter. But Rule 3 says realistic and that means achievable, within your grasp. And yes, you might have to stretch a bit. Realistic means you know what your team is capable of and what is expected of it by your bosses.

#4: Hold effective meetings — no, really effective

“The ideas that come out of most brainstorming sessions are usually superficial, trivial, and not very original. They are rarely useful. The process, however, seems to make uncreative people feel that they are making innovative contributions and that others are

#13: Be very, very good at finding the right people

“The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from medddling with them while they do it.” – Theodore Roosevelt, US President (1901-9)

#18: Keep track of everything you do and say

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

#33: Be ready to say yes

“Silicon Valley has developed a ‘genius’ business model. You find a genius. You build a business around them.” — Gordon Bell and Heidi Mason, ‘The Care and Feeding of ”Intrapreneurs”‘

#34: Train them to bring you solutions, not problems

“Bring me solutions, not problems.” — Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister (1979-90)

#62: Adopt minimalism as a management style

Minimalism means not issuing lengthy reports. It means not issuing memos every 20 minutes. It means keeping rules to the minimum and letting people get on with their jobs.

It means mission statements that make sense, are clear and easy to understand and are simple. It means management where managers use professionals and let them get on with their tasks in peace and quiet. It means managers who are secure in themselves and don’t need to score points, bully or interfere. Minimalist management is all about getting more by doing less. Yes, sure you have to be the boss, but it’s more like steering a big ship — the tiniest touch of the wheel is enough.

There is an old Chinese saying: ‘Govern a country the same way you cook small fish,’ ie. don’t keep fiddling with them or they fall apart. Manage a department, team or company in pretty much the same way — gently, discreetly, unobtrusively. Better to be understated than too obvious.

#66: Be creative

The good manager keeps a store cupboard full of creative techniques so that when they get stuck, when the team gets stuck — and you and they will from time to time — you have something to fall back on.

#71: Go home

“Many managers follow the notion of busy fools and confuse hard work with long hours. They think they work 15-hour days and forget their children’s names, they must be bloody good managers. The best sales managers I worked with never once worked beyond 5.30pm.” — Caspian Woods,From Acorns — How to build your brilliant business from scratch.