Dear Dr. Blanchard:
I am a research assistant for a medical foundation and new to my job. I was given several of your books to read and found them to be powerful and eye opening. I find, however, one question unanswered: How do I turn my boss into a One Minute Manager? My manager tends to have a very controlling style that stifles personal creativity and limits productivity.
The power this organization would have if only a One Minute Management style of management were used throughout! The employees of the organization would greatly appreciate the answer to this question.
Desperate, Yet Hopeful
Dear Hopeful:
I’m empathic but not sympathetic about your situation. It’s a rare week when I don’t have someone in one of my presentations say, “If only my manager were here! He (or she) is who really needs to hear this.” Although I used to agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly, now I feel it is more of a cop-out to blame one’s problems on others. It’s a safe way of permanently letting you not have to take responsibility for your own circumstances and initiative to make things better.
The fact of the matter is, two out of every three managers you are likely to have in your career will not be very good at the job of managing. Are you going to let that keep you from getting what you want and need in your job?
If you are going to succeed, you need to train your manager to give you what you need. Fortunately, this is easier than it may sound — perhaps as easy as one, two, three:
1. Give your manager what he needs to be successful.
It’s going to be difficult to get your manager to make special efforts to help you if you don’t first show through your actions that you are worthy of such special effort. Be responsive both in promptly doing what is asked of you as well as volunteering to help on special projects and responsibilities. Be proactive and try to anticipate your manager’s needs and help to meet those needs. Take a moment on occasion to ask what else you could be doing to help out. Your attitude and behavior on this first step paves the way for step two:
2. Tell your manager what you need from him to be successful in your job.
After you have confirmed with your manager what is expected of you in your job, state what you’ll need from him for you to succeed. This is where your knowledge of One Minute Management can be used to get the results you want. Identify simple, clear and specific One Minute Goals for each item you will be counting on for your manager to deliver and set realistic time frames for when those items can be done.
3. Follow up on One and Two.
By doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it, you will build a reputation for being dependable and responsible. By tactfully following up on items your manager agreed to do, you will build the expectation of reciprocity.
When your manager follows through on a commitment to you, use One Minute Praising to positively reinforce the behavior. I am constantly amazed at how many employees feel that managers don’t need praising! After all — so goes the logic — that’s why managers are paid more. It’s as if by making more money managers graduate to being appreciated less!
Let me let you in on a secret: people are never too old or too high up an organization to not want praising — it’s only human nature. EVERYONE likes others to notice things they worked hard to achieve. (Give your manager a praising today and see for yourself!) And remember: praise progress — don’t wait until something is done perfectly before you say anything.
If your manager does not follow through on a commitment to do something for you, you need some subtle form of a One Minute Reprimand. Either re-establish the goal, checking as to what items you could do to move things along, or else redirect your manager’s efforts toward a more feasible and realistic task. Of course, you won’t have the position power to reprimand your manager, but the more you have built your personal power with him, the more likely a subtle reminder will work to get him back on track.
So, don’t lament that your manager hasn’t created the perfect working environment for you. Learn how to get what you want from your manager in order to make things happen for you and the company. People who learn the skills of managing up will soon be the ones who move up in today’s organizations.