When the best leader’s work is done, the people say, “We did it ourselves!”~One Minute Manager

While it seems so basic, it is vitally important when leading a group of people for various reasons:

1. People work harder on projects when it is their “own idea.” Just imagine if you are at work and were working on a project that you thought of– you are going to work harder than regularly to make it work.
2. Now imagine if an idea was shoved upon you, you are likely to work less on the project, and pay less attention to detail.
3. If part way through a project, they end up not liking the ideas, they have nobody else to blame but themselves. This will encourage them to perform better the next time around, since it was their idea

People take pride in their work. They will go the extra mile to make sure the project is completed to the max.


Great leaders are often “behind the scenes” type of leaders. They are not telling everyone what to do, but are encouraging people. They foster ideas, and don’t force ideas upon everyone. Another great quote I like is the following:

The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.~ John Buchan

To think that one person has all the answers is foolish.  Harnessing the brain power of the many is wise. LifeDev has 15 Tips for Generating Ideas When You’re Drawing a Blank. Encouraging this type of thinking in the workplace can be valuable.  A simple tool that is highlighted in 6 Tips to Generate Outstanding Ideas and in the book, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In is to have a couple brainstorming sessions. In the first, welcome all ideas, no matter how ridiculous they may sound. These off the wall ideas may inspire others to think of similar ideas that may be more realistic. In the following session, a group can narrow this list down. The value of the first session lies in the fact that it is open to any and all ideas. Sometimes people are afraid to say what they really are thinking in fear of being made fun of.

The more someone knows about a subject, the more they realize how little they actually know! Just think about it in terms of learning how to use a computer for the first time. My mom, for instance, did not know that copy and paste existed as of 2007. As she is learning more and more about computers, she is finding out how much information there is to be learned. Subjects from programming and coding, to spyware and viruses. Every step you take, you can see ten more steps.

In relation to managing employees, people can become overwhelmed in projects and in common work tasks. They realize how much work and education it takes to complete a specific project. They may have the skills to learn new techniques, but lack motivation. The key is to give positive praise for concrete results. Each time they learn a new skill or complete a phase of a project, you should let them know if they did a good job. HRN Management provides some great examples of how to implement this technique. One of my favorites is on how to complement an employee. Instead of saying the obligatory, “Great work Bob”, trying saying something specific, “You’ve increased production by 15% while maintaining your error-free record for over 3 weeks. Great job!” This way, Bob knows you are actually noticing his hard work.

Let’s say there is a guy, Scott, who runs a small business. Times are a little tough right now, and he is feeling stressed out about finishing a project before the deadline. If he doesn’t get this project successfully completed on time, then his business could take a large hit. Here are two different scenarios which could happen if he uses the wrong leadership style on the wrong people.

1. Scott has a 4-5 “experts” in his business. It is obvious that without these few individuals, his business would go belly up. He is feeling so stressed out about this deadline that he keeps bossing around the most committed employees, because without them on board, he won’t have a business. These employees become angered because they are being treated like newbies, yet they are the most experienced. They already know what to do!
2. Scott has 2-3 newer employees that are not yet trained for this project. Instead of directing them, he simply leaves them alone, he doesn’t want to “waste” time on them. Because Scott practically ignores these employees, they have no productivity and are just messing up labor costs. They don’t know what to do, and no one is telling them what to do.

Considering these two points, Scott’s office is not near peak productivity. He should have just delegated projects to those that were competent, and trained those that were not competent, yet were committed to the business. Now the experienced employees are not feeling very committed, yet are very competent. His newer employees may be committed, but that doesn’t matter since they don’t know how to do the projects yet.

• Level of enthusiasm
• Experience
• Self-starter or not
• Potential skills
• Self-Esteem

This list could go on and on, but I think I have made my point. Everyone knows that guy who can be given a project, and the next time you hear from him it will be done. Then there are those people that will only work if provoked by a cattle prod. Others are enthusiastic, but have little experience so they will ask a lot of questions. Additionally, there are many types of different situations as well. Meetings, group projects, individual reports, etc.  Trying to throw a “leadership” blanket over all of these people and situations is not going to be very effective. Being able to identify which people in which situations will respond best to a certain leadership style distinguishes a ordinary manager from a great manager.

I am going to illustrate some a couple scenarios, and then I will show you which style will be most effective and why.

1. I have just hired a new low level employee. I want him/her to run gather information and compile them into a report. Most likely, I am going to use the Directing style of leadership. I am going to tell him how to do it and  when to do it.  There is little to gain by asking his/her opinion, since they will have had little to no experience in this office. After time passes by, and they gain experience, I may choose to assign him/her another report, and I might ask him/her if they would do things different so I can get a more well rounded idea of what is going on.  Listening to their ideas and praising what they did well is what transforms Directing into Coaching.
2. Another example is this: Say I have an employee that has been in the company for twenty years. He won’t need much Directing, and often times he won’t need praise from me. If I give him a project, he will be able to motivate himself, plan it himself, and complete it with himself. Other times, he may need to use the resources of those under him, but as far as me interacting with him, it is minimal. This is delegation.

These are just a couple crude examples, but they drive home a point. If I had told my new employee to bring the report to me by tomorrow without teaching them company policies, procedures, etc, I could end up with a useless, incomplete report. On the other hand, if I kept directing my tenured employee, I may actually be decreasing his productivity.

Book Currently Reviewing: Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership

Different Strokes for Different Folks:

1. Directing- This is exactly as it sounds. The manager or leader gives subordinates specific directions to carry out a certain task. There is close supervision. “It’s really one-way communication. You tell the person what,when,where,and how to do something.” Structure, Control, Supervise.
   
2. Coaching- There is still close supervision, but their is more communication between the two. The manager may ask the subordinate for suggestions, the manager may tell the subordinate why or how something is to be done. Support for progress is also more prominent. It is one step past directing.
3. Supporting- This method is low on directive actions, high on supportive actions. A manager will “listen to their suggestions and facilitate their interaction with others.” The key that separates this method from others is that managers will ask questions that “expand their thinking and encourage risk-taking.” Praise, Listen, Facilitate.
4. Delegating- This method is the most basic. “The leader turns over responsibility for decision making and problem solving to subordinates.” While this method may be easiest for managers in terms of workload, there must be a high level of trust between a worker and his manager. Top 10 Tips on How to Delegate over at Get Everything Done.

Identifying which method is best matched with each employee can be difficult, but the rewards for doing so will be far greater than the time it takes to just figure it out. For a cool vizual aid, check out these figures here.

The first tip I would like to go over is simply this:

Work Smarter, not harder.

An illustration the book uses is related to orginization within a company. Most people assume a pyramid, with the CEO on top with hourly workers on the bottom, often leaving the top managers and CEO to do a large portion of the work. This is especially true for smaller companies. When someone generally thinks of a CEO, one of two things pops into your head. There is the “never does anything” CEO that sits back and waits for someone to slip up, or often times in smaller businesses, there are the CEO’s that think that it is their job to do all the work. A good CEO or boss should be neither. The One Minute Manager (OMM) encourages CEO’s and bosses to instead “roll up their sleeves” and provide their employees with the proper tools and training they need to succeed. They win, you win.

If you have ever worked somewhere, it becomes obvious that there are employees that don’t really need much help to be productive, while others seem to need a cattle prod. Identifying and helping  those that need your help, and not interfering with those that don’t, can be beneficial in many scenarios.

• Blue Angel Air Show
• Hydroplane Races (and flips)
• Seafair Fun Run
• Parade
• An entire park filled with vendors, free give away’s, food, etc

It is a tradition that I like to go to these events every year, but I was unable to see them this year. Fortunately, the Blue Angels fly directly over our house during the show, and I was able to snap a pretty cool picture.

I don’t have the best camera in the world, but I took a decently cool picture. I just wanted to show some readers how cool they are. Just imagine them in person, engines roaring so loud that you can’t hear anything at all. It’s just epic!  During some of these formations, the planes are with 18” of each other. That is so close, that if their cockpits were open, the could scootch up and touch the adjacent plane’s wing. Just imagine how much team work this takes to pull off!
If even one of them tried to show off, do something a little fancy, they could all die. This is truly a unit. Sometimes when I am in group, I try to out shine the others, but often times, all I end up doing is making us look bad. Recognizing situations in which you need to genuinely act as a unit is very important in life. I hope your weekend was awesome!

working along side of that. Today, while I have a few minutes between assignments, I wanted to give something to my readers (I think I have a couple…) to ponder. I especially like the last quote in this little compilation. When I began blogging, I began to discover many inspiring quotes, and a majority were by Emerson. He is one of my favorites! Enjoy.

♣ To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

♣ Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely.

♣ We are always getting ready to live, but never living.

1. Access it through their website
2. Gmail add-on **My Favorite**
3. iGoogle
4. AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype and Yahoo! are all supported

To the left if an example of what is on my “To Do List.” I have tests, errands, events, etc. They are nicely organized by dates, and can be “completed” fast, which is essentially crossing them off the list. Here you can see how it will look in your regular Gmail inbox. I find it very convenient to see my list next to my email, so I am frequently reminded.

I know that most people wouldn’t be as excited as I would to get a 10-15 year old Civic, so I will spare you the lengthy comparisons. This is what I know about them: They have never given me any problems running, the ‘94 easily gets 35-37, the ‘00 easily gets 35-36 combined, and they are neat little cars.  For the rest of you who want a newer, more hip car, I have compared 3 decent looking cars with the Prius to show you that good mileage can be obtained without spending a bundle.

To save addtional money, just buy an older mode, not new. All of these Volkswagon cars are turbo charged, and they still can attain very good mileage numbers! The 2003 Golf costs just over $9,000, depending on how many miles are on it. Knock almost $3,000 off the price, and go with the 2001 model! I could go on and on about buying cars on the cheap, how never buying new cars is the smartest idea, etc. As you may have noticed, in the last post with Mr. Dan his Tacoma can sell for about $6,000, so essentially, he can just trade his truck for the Golf, double his mileage, and be on his marry way.  When buying cars, there are a few things to remember:

1. Unless there is a killer warranty, never ever buy new! According to Kelly Blue Book, “Most vehicles are worth close to 50% after three years.”
2. When buying used, have it inspected by a local mechanic for $50. It may seem like a waste, but when your car can’t pass emissions, hasn’t had an oil change in a decade, etc…
3. Do your homework. Sites like MPGbuddy and FuelEconomy are great for finding out the the cars with the best MPG. Browsing forums can net a lot of help. If you want advice on a specific car, a simple Google search will tell you how the average consumer’s experience was.