First Break All The Rules

First, Break All The Rules claims that everything you think you know about managing people is wrong, revealing how you can challenge the status quo so that both you and those you lead will achieve their full potential.

How many different ways have you tried to improve the profits of your company? Perhaps you’ve cut costs, restructured, or emphasized innovation. These might work for a time, but they will never bring consistent success.

To have that, you must make sure that your employees are satisfied and engaged at work. And this responsibility rests on the shoulders of managers at every level.

Running a successful company requires sustainable revenue, which means you have to have loyal customers that love your products and services. The key to this is getting employees to put their heart into your offerings by making them happy.

How does this work?

When a team member is satisfied, they become more engaged. Their commitment makes them more productive. They’re also more likely to negotiate prices, save energy, and stay longer.

Engaged employees even treat customers better because they actually care about the company’s image.

Managers determine whether this happens or not because they control the culture that team members work in. Even though company-wide policies and procedures may affect individuals, it’s up to leaders to see how to implement these. This means that getting it right is crucial for creating an environment of trust.

You have to invest in your employees. You must care about their progress and happiness if you want any chance of improving it. Intentionally design the atmosphere to encourage self-expression, trust, enjoyment, and productivity.

To be a great manager, you have to accept the truth that you can only be as successful as your team members. The key to this is understanding that processes don’t matter as much as outcomes. Do identify the basic rules that everyone must follow, though. These include safety, accuracy, and industry standards. When I was an engineer, for example, I had to adhere to the code standards, so it made sense that my bosses held me to that. Once you hit these baselines, the way your employees get results is really out of your control. But you do decide how much you emphasize the process or the results. If you micromanage by telling people how to reach the company goals, they’ll resent you and become less engaged. Instead, define, as clearly as possible, what outcomes your team needs to reach. Then, leave it up to individuals to figure out how they’ll get there. If you’re a sales manager, you might choose how many sales employees need to get and let people decide how to get there. This is much…