The Front Line Guide to Creating a Winning Management Style

Creating a Winning Management Style

84

ingful use of their intelligence and experience. That means

including them in the quest for excellence and for better,

faster, cheaper ways to work, for improved ROI, and for ways

for all to obtain greater satisfaction from the work they do and

the relationships involved.

This is where the hot-cold dichotomy fits in: How

involved and invested are people in ongoing searching or

development processes? Are there systematic efforts being

made to address continuing problems/glitches in the work

flow? Are individuals being rewarded for their contributions?

This is another source of motive power.

These kinds of questions can help you clarify some of the

neglected dimensions of the manager’s job. A winning man-

agement style is the result of a lot of thinking and experi-

menting, and a lot of personal growth.

Advising Others

Advising is a function with many faces. In Theory X man-

agement, the “wise parent” is counseling the “inexperienced”

child. But there are many other ways that advising can be

used to build relationships and to communicate encourage-

ment and support.

Most managers have access to information that employ-

ees don’t have access to, and most possess more experience in

the organization and knowledge of opportunities within it.

The manager can choose to use that information to benefit

employees, or assume that no one will be interested in it. If no

one expresses a desire to achieve or advance, the manager

might stop looking for opportunities to pass along.