The 3 Things That Differentiate Good and Bad Managers
The 3 Things That Differentiate Good and Bad Managers
And how first time managers can implement them immediately
And how first time managers can implement them immediately
Management theory has known that the “Carrot or Stick” method isn’t effective for optimizing teams for a while now.
So why do people still default to it?
Why isn’t it as effective as it seems?
Employees work just hard enough to get the carrot, or just enough to avoid the stick.
This means that after a certain point money isn’t a motivator anymore, it’s a de-motivator.
When your team is incentivized to be mediocre, they’ll perform perfectly every time.
Perfectly mediocre.
So how do you get them to hustle for you and the company’s mission?
Here are 3 straightforward, no B.S. ways to motivate your team without being a tyrant
1. Give them more ownership and responsibility.
If you give them clear expectations about what’s required in the deliverable, and a clear mission statement for the project, do you really need to hold their hands?
As long as it’s ethical and is done by your deadline, does it matter how the work gets done? How might the pressure of breathing over their shoulder impact their performance?
Stop putting your hands in everything, even if you COULD do it better.
You will hold your team back from growth if you always have the final say in everything.
2. Give them positive feedback when they do something well.
If they never know when they’re doing something well, they will have no reason to continue doing it. You’ve told them what they’re doing isn’t valuable.
I once had a manager tell me that he really appreciated my honesty and opinions. He then went on to tell me that he was really happy I was on the team.
I was so charged up, I absolutely crushed the rest of that work day.
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
William Arthur Ward
Pro-tip: The power of this is multiplied when coupled with constructive feedback.
3. Be prepared to let projects fail.
This doesn’t mean you should let doomed projects out the door to be shipped. It just means that employees shouldn’t feel like they’re going to be fired if they mess up.
Just because you’re a great manager doesn’t mean your team will always perform their best. It takes patience and emotional labor to ask reflective questions, provide tools for hard workers, and to identify who has the fire inside them.
Pro-tip: If you’re seeing the same mistakes happen, be forgiving the first time, and ask what they need or how you can help. The second time, express your disappointment but assert that you’re there to help. The third time, well, now it’s more in-character than out-of-character, isn’t it?
You’re not responsible for their output:
If you’ve asked how you can help, provided resources or tools, and output is still low, you either have a dud or someone who is experiencing a temporary life event.
Your job is to build trust:
Build enough trust with your team so that they feel comfortable telling you about what’s going on in their lives. This is the only way to get to the truth. The truth is the only way to live a life embedded in reality instead of delusion.
Give yourself a break. You’re not a miracle-worker:
If they don’t hit their performance criteria (that you both agreed on when you hired them), or if they’re slowly saturating the team’s energy with negativity: you need to let them go. The saying goes “hire slow, fire fast.” And you’re doing everyone (including them) a disservice by letting them stay.
The term for this is “Bad Apple Syndrome” and it will literally kill teams.
There are TONS of tactics to motivate teams intrinsically
What’s worked for you?
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