They are: focus, clear direction and effective communication. Yes, there are other areas you need to pay close attention to, but my guess is that most of them will fall directly or indirectly under these three.
Let's look at each of them briefly:
Focus: There is a psychological concept that basically says: what you tend to focus on in your life, business, career or relationships tends to increase. In other words if your concentration and awareness are always on what is wrong or negative, guess what? It will continue to be wrong and negative. As a manager, if your focus is on what is not working somewhere in your organization then it will be difficult to change it for the better. This does not mean that you should stick your head in the sand and ignore it or act like it doesn't exist. What this implies is that it is difficult to create positive outcomes while focused on the negative.
There is a great old saying attributed to Yogi Berra, "expecting different results from repeated behavior is a mild form of insanity." O.K. so business is coming back slowly for some of you. For others it may still be in the tank. Whatever. I ask you, where is your focus and the focus of your employees? On what you do well, right and your successes or on everything that is wrong?
Clear direction: One of the great challenges today for many managers is to see the future clearly. In many cases it is downright impossible. Problem is, you have to still grow your business in order to make money, by taking risks that can't guarantee pay off. From your perspective as a manager this poses a problem that can cause stress, frustration, fear and insecurity. Imagine what it is doing to your employees who do not have the vantage point or ability to see past their next assignment.
A few of the common statements/questions I hear from employees during my interviews in preparation for a custom in-house training assignment is: who are we, where are we going, how are we going to get there, how do I fit or do I fit into the future of this organization? Imagine for a minute if you will, that you are an employee of your organization and are not privy to some senior level information, goals or strategies. What can you do? You can do your job . . . that's it - with no creativity, no imagination, no innovation or no ownership in the ultimate outcome. Now what if every employee had this attitude? You guessed it, you get the labor of their hands but not their hearts. It's tough to grow and compete with this culture or corporate mindset.
Communication: The movement of information in any organization is top-down, bottom-up or department to department. You would be amazed at how much redundancy takes place in many organizations because the primary method of communication is: 1) You have to be in the right place at the right time. 2) You have to be high enough on the food chain. 3) You have to be in the "in group" or you have to fight for every scrap of information that you need to do your job right or better.
Again I ask you, how well can an employee do their job if they do not have the information they need to be effective?
I don't care what else you accomplish this year. If you can effectively address these three issues you will be amazed at how much more profitable and competitive you can be in the market place.
Remember, "Expecting different results from repeated behavior is a mild form of insanity."
