Snarknado: Management development edition
Take a seat, we've got four management theories to waste your time.
Hi there! Welcome to your management training programme, courtesy of The L&D Dispatch.
While we appreciate that you could be doing your job, we also want to make sure we invest in you as a manager. That’s why we’re going to be focusing on the theory of management. In fact, multiple theories:
How only 7% of communication is verbal, so say what you like!
How feedback is best choked down between two pieces of bread
How motivation is best represented as a crudely scribbled pyramid
How authenticity is the key to leadership, no matter how unpleasant you are
These theories have been tested time and time again, and have consistently been shown to be… well, let’s not get into that.
💬 Theory #1: Nobody’s listening to your words
I want to begin with a shocking statistic: only 7% of communication is verbal. Not this communication. None of this is verbal. But when you talk to someone, face to face… it turns out that your words hardly matter.
I remember once, when discussing this fact with my boss Owen, he gave me a big smile and said: ‘F*** you, Ross. How much of that communication do you think was non-verbal?’
I said: ‘Thanks Owen, I’d love a pay increase and appreciate the gesture.’ Because the 93% of what he was saying with his body language was way more important than what he was saying with his mouth.
It’s why, when I travel, I don’t need to learn local languages. Animated pointing conveys the nuances of what I need, with the cultural sensitivity and linguistic prowess that we Brits are known for.
🥪 Theory #2: Cram your feedback between positive statements
Owen followed up this question with some feedback. He said: ‘Ross, you’re a nice guy, but genuinely offensive to our customers, and I like that you’re punctual.’
I remember I felt great.
‘Owen thinks I’m a nice guy and that I’m super punctual!’ I thought.
Owen was using a technique known as the ‘feedback sandwich’. It’s a well-known method to help managers not feel like a jerk, while dodging important issues.
😇 Theory #3: You must help your people self-actualize
Owen’s feedback is one of the ways he helps me ascend Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
If you’re not familiar with the hierarchy of needs, the original version looked something like this:
You may have seen slightly better defined versions online. They look more credible because they use different colors, but the basic concept is the same: Maslow looked at the biographies of 18 famous people, and made it up.
What this model proves is that you cannot love others if you are hungry, or have self-esteem without employment.
Managers have a responsibility for helping their direct reports climb this pyramid.
How? Start each meeting by making sure that everyone is breathing, then work your way up the slope.
😈 Theory #4: Be yourself, no matter the context
If this all feels a little concerning, I’m afraid you’re going to have to get over it. What I’m doing, you see, is being authentic.
My raw, honest, unvarnished self.
Authenticity is key to leadership. I keep telling everyone this, even as they flee for the door.
Before I attended my own management development programme, I thought it was important to modulate my behavior at work. Or, at the very least, that convincing others to follow me was an important part of leadership.
But in fact, it’s not. The most important thing is to be authentic.
Right?
… hello?
🤓 At Mind Tools, we want to take a more evidence-based approach to management development
Our ‘Building Better Managers’ report outlines the 12 skills that all managers need to improve individual, team and organizational performance. Check it out now, and get in touch if you’d like to discuss how we can help you build better managers.
Reply to this newsletter from your inbox or email custom@mindtools.com to schedule a chat.
🎧 On the podcast
In Power to the Middle, McKinsey consultants Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock and Emily Field argue that the ‘middle manager’ is key to organizational success.
Long maligned (often by McKinsey), the manager is in fact responsible for delivering objectives, addressing underperformance, building trusting relationships, and resolving team conflicts.
This episode marks the return of our ever-popular ‘book club’ editions and, on a sadder note, is the last podcast from our pal Nahdia Khan before she spreads her brilliance elsewhere. Thanks for all the lolz, Nadz!
Check out the episode below. 👇
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify or the podcast page of our website. Want to share your thoughts? Get in touch @RossDickieMT, @RossGarnerMT or #MindToolsPodcast
📖 Deep dive
Since this newsletter’s ‘leader’ article was brimming with snark, I thought I’d recommend some alternative strategies for delivering on the often well-intentioned goals that those theories purport to achieve.
💁🏼 Goal: To better communicate with team members
Of course you should worry about what you’re saying but, better yet, managers should develop their active listening skills.
Active listening is about really understanding what your people are trying to say. It reduces job insecurity (Kriz et al., 2021), improves the dedication of employees (Jonsdottir & Kristinsson, 2020), and predicts both the quality and strength of working relationships - a more powerful predictor of success than giving feedback! (Kluger et al., 2023)
✅ Goal: To provide difficult feedback
Giving feedback is hard. According to the Chartered Management Institute, 57% of managers would do almost anything to avoid a difficult conversation.
In our own 'Giving Feedback’ resource, we talk about the importance of feedback being timely, regular, specific and private.
And it works. In one study, when managers were trained to deliver performance feedback and social recognition, their teams were 36% more profitable, customers were 25% more satisfied and employees were 10% less likely to leave. These benefits were sustained over time (Peterson & Luthans, 2006).
💪 Goal: To motivate team members
Motivation theory is complex. When I was studying for my Masters in Digital Education, the most difficult assignment I had involved a definition of ‘motivation’ (really, motivation is a lot of overlapping things).
However, some of the key factors in motivating employees include building trust (which, according to Brown et al., 2015, correlates with financial performance, employee productivity and product/service quality) and being inclusive (which, according to Carmeli et al., 2010, promotes psychological safety, employee creativity and innovation).
🏆 Goal: To build better teams
Finally, I’ve recently become interested in the ‘identity’ theory of leadership: that leadership is less about ‘me’ and what ‘I’ do, and more about ‘us’ and what ‘we’ do (as a group).
If you’re a leader thinking mostly about yourself, you’re going to be a lot less effective than if you’re thinking about group needs.
Check out the 5R approach to leadership development for more on this (Haslam et al., 2023)
👹 Missing links
Last week, we had a fun chat with Chief Learning Officer Marc Steven Ramos. Marc’s a big fan of AI, but also wary of the proliferation of nonsense it can produce. In his article for Venture Beat, he outlines some of the tools the AI skeptic can use to assess AI content. That includes hallucination detection, combining results from multiple models, cross validation, and checking for bias.
🔀 Coming soon: Build better managers with adaptive learning
We’ve got something fun cooking at Mind Tools Towers, and we’ll be talking about it a lot in coming weeks. But, in the meantime, get used to the words ‘adaptive learning’ (in our case, for managers). This report from Insights Media highlights the key benefits of adaptive learning, including: tailored content, increased engagement, efficient use of time, continuous assessment, scalability, improved ROI, spaced learning and data-driven insights. Yeah, we’re super excited!
🤖 Love AI? Hate it? That’s absolutely fine
AI is great for crafting emails, summarizing documents and getting quick answers to questions. Don’t need any of those things? Maybe it’s not for you. That’s the position taken by our friend Ross Stevenson on LinkedIn last week. We tend to agree.
👋 And finally…
Here’s an AI use case you’re bound to love.
Ever write a super snarky email (or newsletter), then think it would be better softened, professionalized, or made more technical?
Our colleague Becky Haasbroek introduced us to Formalizer, which turns our spicy thoughts into classy ones, or vice versa.
For example, my original message to my co-author Ross Dickie:
‘Ross Dickie, I listened to your advice on toxic productivity and decided not to write a newsletter last week! But now I'm sitting in Gatwick airport, drinking red wine, and cursing your name that I have to do it just hours before I go on holiday!’
Pop that through Formalizer and I get:
‘Dear Ross Dickie,
I would like to express my gratitude for your guidance regarding toxic productivity. Subsequently, I made the decision to forgo writing a newsletter last week. However, as I find myself at Gatwick Airport enjoying a glass of red wine, I find it necessary to complete the newsletter just hours before my holiday begins.
Best regards,
Ross Garner’
By the time you read this, I’ll be in Majorca. Pointing at things I want, and not speaking any Spanish at all.
👍 Thanks!
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