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 Diamonds to You  
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Vol 10, Issue #9, Sept. 2015
Publisher - Author
Funnel Style of Management!
ProMatch Workshops
University Courses Taught
Books Published
Management Amuck
Publisher, Editor, Author-
 ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D.
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ArLyne Diamond

 

 

 


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Hi:

 As trite as it may sound, I love September mornings - and evenings.  The cooler weather invites me to be outside - to walk - to enjoy my neighborhood.  I wilt in the heat and can't wait for summer to be over.  Here we are in mid-September and it is finally cooling down.

As a displaced New Yorker, I've never gotten over the need to switch wardrobes seasonally.  The nuisance of running upstairs and downstairs (other closet is in the garage) is by far outweighed by the fun of having a whole new wardrobe every season.  Plus, I love fall and winter clothing.

Also, trying to get some work accomplished - including a course called Ethics and Attitudes in the Workplace for Proformative.  Waiting for final approval before I launch in on-line.

You really ought to check them out, they have some great courses you can take on-line.  (www.proformative.com


Funnel Style of Management Re-visited

As those of you who have been reading my newsletter for years know, I believe in a funnel style of management and have written about it before - as well as talked about it in all of my management training workshops.

Let me remind you.

If you think about a funnel, the opening is very small at one end and gradually increases its openness to end at a very wide opening. 

So, when you are new to an organization - let's say as a C-level executive, you are tempted to assume that the people you manage are all competent and experienced and that you should manage them very lightly.  These directors/managers also believe they should be mostly let alone to do their jobs.

BUT - and this is a very big but - taking that tack has the potential to create enormous problems. 
In no order of importance - but just as I think about it:
  • Your style of management might be very different from that of your predecessor and so you might want others to be doing different things - or doing the things they do differently.
  • It might very well be that you have been hired because change is necessary - and that change will never come about if you continue "business as usual."
  • Understanding differs - and this intuitive understanding of each other develops over time - thus in the very beginning you need to learn about the meaning of each other's words, body language, etc.
  • You probably will want to stamp your culture on your organization and thus must have on-going dialogue and exposure to your team.
  • You can't learn where the problems lie (where the bodies are buried) unless and until you create a trusting relationship with your team - and that takes time.
Now, of course, if you come on too strong you will alienate your directors/managers each of whom thinks that he or she is a consummate professional doing an outstanding job.

There is a delicate balance you  - the new C-level executive must walk.  So, my recommendation is that you start with tight control - but like President Teddy Roosevelt, "walk softly with a big stick."  Explain that you are meeting with each of your team members to learn from them what they do, what they need, what they think could be improved, etc.  Create a partnership - an alliance with them so that they learn to trust you and to be free in their suggestions for improvement/change.

Change will be resisted - even if it is suggested by a member of the team.  So, in addition to everything else you have to do - you have to deal with the emotional fall-out of your presence, your style, your cultural expectations, and the improvements you wish to institute.  The emotional fall out takes many forms - from anger, to passive resistance, to increased anxiety and to the blame-game
Management's Blame Game

When I start consulting to a group of managers, I start out by meeting them in a group to be introduced and to have the process introduced - and from then, I meet with each of them individually.  How they talk about each other tells me a great deal about the organization itself.

Sometimes I experience everyone blaming everyone else for not doing their job, or for negativity demoralizing the organization.   Let me share two such examples:
  1. In a small satellite sales organization of a much larger company (Fortune 100) the inside sales women were fighting with each other and were unwilling to work together.   It was causing problems because among other things, the customers were not being served properly.  During my interview process I learned that the office manager was the person making sure everyone else learned to dislike each other.  She said things like, "Don't talk to Dora, but go through me since Dora said XYZ about you."  She managed to whisper negativity about everyone to everyone else, so that she was seen by each of them as Mrs. Wonderful.  The fact that everyone seemingly adored her - but hated each other - was my clue.
  2. A similar example occurred when a Senior Vice-President of a local semi-conductor company told everyone that the CEO was volatile and therefore, instead of having direct contact with him, they should always go through the VP who, he said, could "handle" the CEO better.
These two examples are blatant examples of people fearing their effectiveness and by any means possible acquiring power.

Another example is the manager who won't let any of his people make decisions, but insists that he or she make all the decisions and the staff is merely there to gather the necessary documents.  This leads to an interesting blame game, because having everything go through this manager frequently becomes a bottleneck because the manager can't do it all at the same time all the time and things wind up getting stuck in the "in-box.:"  The staff gets the blame, they blame others and the blame game goes around without any problems being solved.
 

ProMatch Workshops I've Offered.

 

  • Jump Start Your Job Search:       
  • Marketing (Branding) Yourself:   
  • Strategies and Tactics for your Job Hunt
  • Self-Assessment Seminar 
  • Who are You?  Part I & Part II  
  • Negotiation Skills for Women:     
  • Getting Your Mojo Back 
  • Enhancing Your Professional Image:  Your Unique Brand
  • Enhancing Your Professional Image:  Your Unique Brand - again
  • Business Planning Seminar
  • Negotiation Strategies and Tactics
  • Individual coaching interviewing, negotiating, resumes, cover letters, etc.

 

University Courses Taught


DeVry University, Keller Graduate School of Management
 
Career DecisionsConsumer Behavior

Leadership & Organizational Behavior

Quality and Performance Excellence  

International Business

Business Planning (Capstone MBA class) 

Psychology 110

Employment Law  (Compliance Issues )

The Legal, Political and Ethical Dimensions of Business

Change Management

Human Resource Planning (Capstone MBA class)

Negotiation Skills


 

Lincoln Law School:  The Psychology of Practicing Law
  

Stanford University, Continuing Education: Conflict in the Workplace

 Books - Published  

Leading and Managing in a Global Economy -                   Super Star Press 

Conflict in the Workplace:  Causes and Cures                  Robertson Publishing Co.

 

The following books can be ordered directly: www.ProductivePublications.com  


Training Your Board of Directors:  A Manual for the CEOs, Board Members, Administrators and Executives of Corporations, Associations, Non-Profit and Religious Organizations.  

 

The "Please" and "Thank You" of  Fundraising for Non-Profits:  Fifteen Essential Ingredients for Success.


 

Proformative Courses you can Upload and Purchase

 

Change:  The People Side

Effective Workplace Negotiation.

Ethics and Attitude in the Workplace.

 

Management Amuck


I've written about managers abrogating responsibility and others who micro-manage.  But, I now want to write about a manager who manages to do both simultaneously.  

This man, currently the CEO of an association has a background in working for the government in various management positions. 

As CEO he created "Directors" of certain programs and ostensibly left these people to do their jobs.  However, there has been a frequent breakdown in communication between him, other members of the organization and his Directors.  He doesn't receive the information he needs - and apparently 
doesn't share the information he receives.  Consequently his staff - all volunteers - doesn't know what they are allowed to do and some of the Directors don't know what volunteers have been authorized to do.  This leaves everyone confused - and has caused some bad feelings.   That's the abrogating responsibility part.

On the other hand, even though he has authorized someone to do something, he feels compelled to micro-manage it by going directly to the vendors they are using - rather than asking his question of the appropriate volunteers.  He goes so far as telling the vendor that he doesn't trust the members of his own team.
Parent as Manager

I recently had lunch with one of my favorite CEOs.  I don't recall how it came about, but we started talking about his 14 year old daughter and her allowance of a measly $5.00 a week.  I told him that was way too low and explained in part why I thought an allowance should be large enough to actually give the teen some freedom to make her own choices.  (I will share my e-mail explanation to him with you in a minute.)

The reason I am writing about it in my business newsletter about management is because parents are managers - and in this case - the parent was a micro-manager by not allowing his teen some freedom of how she spent her money.  (My CEO friend blamed it on his wife - which is another example of him abrogating responsibility.)

So here we have a couple - co-CEOs if you will - one abrogating responsibility and the other micro-managing.  Poor teen - she doesn't learn how to make her own decisions, and she has no economic freedom.

Here's what I sent him in an e-mail after our lunch:

What is the purpose of an allowance for kids?

I believe an allowance is a very important tool for teaching children a variety of things.

Making choices:   Rather than believing one can get whatever he wants if he asks in the right way, having a fixed income (an allowance) that is dedicated to allowing the child to buy whatever he or she wants within clear limits teaches that if you want one thing, it means you probably can't have something else.  
Consequently, the amount of the allowance must be carefully calculated - based on the current cost of goods and services, the child's age, and how much freedom you wish to give your child.  

When deciding, think about the things it is OK for your child, based on his or her age, to purchase.  Ice-cream from the truck?  Hot dog and coke at the mall?  A movie once a week?  Birthday, anniversary and special day gifts for parents and siblings?

Do you also want your child to learn the importance of savings?  If so, the allowance has to be large enough to accommodate the ability to spend as well as the necessity to save.

Freedom of choice:  Independence or dependency?  What are your teaching? 

 Which do you prefer?  

If a child has to ask the parent each and every time he or she wants something, the child is not making that decision, the parents are. 

Let me tell you a true story.  When my nieces were small (they are now very successful business women) they and my sister (their mother) came out to visit.  We were planning our visit to Disneyland when I asked my sister how much she was planning to give each child for spending money.  She said, "nothing, all they have to do is ask me."  I disagreed and explained my thinking and sweetened the pot saying I'd give them the exact same amount as she would.  So, each girl received $20.00 to spend exactly as she wished.  Of course, we the adults paid for entry, tickets and food.

Amelia, my eldest niece happily spent her money during the course of the day, on soda, snacks, arcade games, etc.  Gabrielle, the younger, saw a stuffed animal in the store as we were just starting our adventure.  It cost $20.00.  I suggested she have the saleswoman put it aside and if she still had her money at the end of the day, we'd go back and she could purchase it.  She held on to her money all day and at the end, happily purchased her stuffed animal (I secretly paid the tax.)
So, different choices - neither of which were better or worse than the other.  The girls decided, not the adults.

The value of money:  Only by having money and having to budget and make decisions do you ever learn the value of money - and from it the value of earning money.  If parents make all money decisions, it is as though money grows on trees - or gets printed in much the same way many people believe the government prints money whenever it needs it.

If the money is in MY pocket, I have to decide whether an item is worth its price - to me.  If I am earning money (which should be in addition to an allowance) I can equate the price with the amount of time it takes me to earn that sum of money.
I can remember the first time I bought an outfit that cost me more than a week's pay.  I never regretted spending that money - it was an outfit I wore to opening night of the Opera (The Met) one year - and wore it many times after that with oodles of compliments.  It was worth it - to me.

So, if I am a teenager and my allowance is large enough for me to occasionally decide to buy a cute top at the mall, I will learn the value of money.



 
Let me be your AUFIN - Adviser to Kings
ArLyne's instinctive ability to very quickly understand the crux of issues that management has either overlooked or not acknowledged, has set her apart from the majority of consultants which I have worked with over the last twenty years. Additionally her direct approach to both management and staff has been a refreshing change, which in my opinion has augmented her ability to resolve underlying issues or problems.  George Cameron, Chief, Samtrans

ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D                                               .[email protected]   
Diamond Associates   3567 Benton St., #315, Santa Clara, CA 95051    408-554-0110