A VARIETY OF TOPICS HAVE BEEN COVERED in this book on how to lead people, but certainly not every situation you’ll confront in your career as a manager—or even within the first few weeks in your new role—has been reviewed.
There is no way that a book of this sort can be all inclusive. We hope that you have gained some insight into the techniques of managing people that will make the job more meaningful, enjoyable, and understandable. You may think we’ve spent an inordinate amount of time on attitudes, on how you view yourself and the problems you face, but that is exactly where your success or failure in working with people will be determined—in your head.
If you’re the type of person who believes you’re primarily controlled by events, then what’s the use? In that case you’re merely a puppet, with some giant puppet master pulling the strings. But in actuality, it’s not that way. Although events beyond your control do have an impact on your life, you can control how and what you think. That in turn controls your reaction to these events.
We have been straightforward in this book. You haven’t been told that if you work hard and keep your nose clean you’ll rise to the top. However, you’ll have a better chance if you follow some of these concepts than if you ignore what are basic truths. You didn’t come into this world with any guarantee that everything would be fair and that the deserving would always get what they deserve. They don’t! But you obviously have no chance of achieving your goals if you just sit there and wait for lightning to strike.
We must grow. This book is devoted to exploring how you manage your people, but equally important is seeing you grow as a total person. Your career can add to your total growth, since it’s such a large part of your life. We shouldn’t work at jobs we don’t like, but on the other hand, we must be realistic in recognizing that all careers include aspects we don’t like. It’s the balance that is important. If most of the job is enjoyable, satisfying, and challenging, then you can put up with the parts you don’t care for. If it’s the other way around and you dislike most of what you have to do, you’re obviously in the wrong career and you ought to change it. Life is too short to spend time and energy in a career that depletes and destroys you.
You have known people who stick with a job they don’t like because someday it will provide a great retirement benefits. What good does that prospective retirement benefit do if people ruin their health before they get to retirement? What’s worse, they might not live that long or the retirement plan may not turn out to be as desirable as they thought.
There are also people who complain about a job constantly but never seek a better job because their fear of change or of the unknown is more powerful than their dislike of the job. Some people prefer the predictable (even if it’s bad) over something new or unknown.
Perhaps Abraham Lincoln was right when he said, “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” That summarizes what this book has addressed about the primacy of attitudes.
Many people, as they approach their middle years, start thinking in terms of the kind of contribution they’re making to the world. They often become discouraged because they believe what they’re doing is not very important. They ask themselves, “How significant is it that I’m a manager in a company making bolts?” Put in that context, it may not seem terribly significant. But the question they should ask is, “What kind of impact am I having on the people I come in contact with, both in my work and in my personal life?”
If you can answer that question in a positive way, it doesn’t matter whether the company you’re associated with is making bolts or lifesaving medicines. The system isn’t the payoff; the product isn’t the payoff; your impact on the people whose lives you touch is what is important. Also, holding a position that is a little higher on the organization chart does not make you more important than others. An executive or a manager is a combination of leader and servant. Some executives are not willing to accept the servant aspect of their responsibilities, because it interferes with their elevated opinion of their rank.
In developing systems for your people to use, you’re in fact serving them. In maintaining an effective salary administration and performance appraisal system, you’re serving them. In thoughtfully finding ways to merge the needs of your organization with the professional aspirations of your people, you’re serving them. In working out vacation schedules that allow your people to maximize the benefits of their relaxation time, you’re serving them. In hiring and training quality people for your department, you’re serving the people who are already there.
Most people have no difficulty understanding the proposition that the president or prime minister of a country has immense power but should also be a servant—in fact, the number one public servant in that country. The same concept applies to managerial jobs. This is a combination of what appears to be contradictory concepts: authority and a responsibility to serve. If you can keep these in some semblance of balance, you’ll avoid getting an inflated view of your own importance. You’ll also do a better job.
As you progress as a manager you don’t necessarily get smarter. You gain more experience, which has the potential to become wisdom. It doesn’t matter what you call it as long as you continually become more effective. You can become more effective as you develop a greater variety of experiences in working with people. As you repeat the same experiences you have the opportunity to develop a smoothness you might not otherwise develop.
And this point, although elementary, bears repetition: There is a great deal to be gained from developing empathy for your employees’ attitudes and feelings. Can you really sense how you’d want to be treated if you were in their position?
We wish you the best of success as you direct people in what amounts to about half of their waking hours. Your success as a manager starts with you and your attitude toward that responsibility. We hope this book has been of help to you at the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in your life. Good luck to you, and enjoy the ride.