This guide is designed to help people become better managers. When a person is elevated to a management position, it is usually because he or she has done.
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Working in the service of a larger mission or goal completes the trifecta for a self-directed learner. Pink uses the example of programmers providing open source code for no pay because they were motivated by the idea of providing free software for the world. Autonomy, mastery, and purpose enable and empower the self-directed learner. They need to move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. They need to learn how to learn independently and get over years of learning in an educational system that spoon-fed them what they were supposed to learn.
They will need help identifying their learning needs, finding and using resources including computer technology , practicing and reinforcing learning, and evaluating results. What if the people working for you are not yet self-directed? In this case, your responsibility is to help them learn how to learn. Every manager has a key role to play in making it possible for their direct reports to develop the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in their work.
Managers need to set the expectation for self-directed learning and then create the conditions for people to learn independently. The complementary roles of managers and employees [are contrasted in the following table: The relationship between managers and their employees needs to start with a growth mindset.
This belief needs to be shared by managers and employees. You want people who make learning part of the way they work, who are constantly assessing their strengths and weaknesses and seeking out the knowledge and skills that will position them to be more successful. You want opportunities for people to learn, and apply newly acquired knowledge and skills to important work on the job. People can arrange some opportunities for themselves, but this requires managers to give permission, make time, and provide the resources to apply what they learn.
You want people to hear and understand that feedback and make use of it to learn and improve their performance. This must be more than an annual performance review. Performance feedback, positive and negative, should be given at every opportunity throughout the year. Managers should have high but realistic expectations for the people with whom they work. People should be clear about these expectations and how they are linked to performance.
Managers should recognize and reward the impact of what people learn on achieving the goals of the organization.
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The key is to publicly acknowledge the way learners individuals and teams have adopted and adapted knowledge to make the company smarter. In a letter that Howard Schultz, Executive Chairman of Starbucks , published in today's New York Times, he describes what his stores and offices will be doing this afternoon to address the problem of racial bias in the company: More than , Starbucks partners that's what we call our employees will be sharing life experiences, hearing from others, listening to experts, reflecting on the realities of bias in our society and talking about how all of us create public spaces where everyone feels like they belong - because they do.
This conversation will continue at our company and become part of how we train all of our partners. Again, I commend Starbucks for attacking the problem but I continue to have my doubts about the long term effects of their approach. On April 19, , I wrote about these concerns. That blog post is repeated here:. I understand, putting all of their employees through training is good optics for the company and might provide some protection from lawsuits. But change in the culture requires so much more.
Diversity and inclusion in companies is not achieved through a workshop. Only culture change can eliminate biases. Training might be a good first step in raising awareness for some, but attitudes and actions must be supported consistently by the entire organization over time. Diversity and inclusion must be rooted in the processes and life of the organization.
In addition to these elements of comprehensive planning, an organizataion has to make some fundamental changes in how it works. Employees need to hear their senior managers talking frequently about diversity and inclusion. This value must be visible in the day-to-day actions of the company. Employees must see diversity in hiring and promotions, as well as among Board members and executives.
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The ability to accept differences must be in the criteria for hiring. Employees must see evidence that their company partners only with other companies that make a sincere effort at improving diversity and inclusion and eliminating racism. Managers need to step up and take responsibility for creating a welcoming and supportive culture in every part of the organization. Managers must recognize that not everyone has the same receptivity to change and act accordingly.
She suggests that managers address each type differently. I recommend hiring "champions" and "newbies" and avoiding hiring "bigots" and "bystanders" as much as possible. Managing for Success in the Knowledge Economy , managers must help to develop the people around them. And this means eliminating the discrimination that contributes to a hostile work environment. Racism is bad enough, but if there is racism, then there is sexism and antisemitism and antimuslimism and every other kind of discrimination.
In fairness to Starbucks, a company that I admire, let me say that they are facing the same kind of racism that all companies face and is ingrained in our society. With over 27, locations worldwide, it's surprising more incidences of racial bias haven't been reported. But that's not an excuse and the company must do more to ensure that diversity and inclusion permeate its culture. However, training is not the answer. The future of how we learn in our organizations is a popular topic. But unless you are responsible for developing, delivering, managing, and measuring training and learning, keeping up with the latest learning technologies can be overwhelming.
The training and learning technology discussions miss the point. Our approach is to suggest new ways of facilitating learning that fit into managing minds. The three keys to successfully managing minds are essentially the competencies needed to move forward and succeed in the knowledge economy.
These three competencies are how people learn in a company that is successfully managing minds. They differ dramatically from the ways people learned when they were in organizations that managed hands. This last distinction is not unsupported. The eye-opening discovery in his book, The Stupidity Paradox: The Power and Pitfalls of Functional Stupidity, co-authored with Mats Alvesson, was that when people with impressive educational credentials go to work for the most well-known companies in the world, they are asked to turn off their brains.
Many of the companies surveyed in the book should be managing minds. Yet the predominant environment supports—promotes, even—the traits listed on the left side of the list. This is perhaps a result of short-term thinking, in which following the rules, adding regulations without reason, not asking for justification for decisions especially from self-appointed leaders , not asking questions, and essentially, not thinking for yourself. These managing hands traits can be found in an organization that is obedient, nice, agreeable, harmonious, and seemingly successful in the short term.
The problem is the long term. Asking people not to use their minds is simply asking them to ignore personal growth and satisfaction; not pay attention to long-term organizational competitiveness, innovation, and success; and not participate in the improvement and development of society. Most companies and governments today are managed in a command-and-control style of leadership that prevents them from becoming high performing, sustainable organizations. Although command-and-control is our natural tendency as leaders, we must resist this temptation for the sake of our companies and their employees.
The command-and-control style of leadership is defined as:. A command and control approach to leadership is authoritative in nature and uses a top-down approach, which fits well in bureaucratic organizations in which privilege and power are vested in senior management. It is founded on, and emphasizes a distinction between, executives on the one hand and workers on the other. As more empowered, flat organizations have come to the fore, command and control leaders have been increasingly criticized for stifling creativity and limiting flexibility.
Managers default to a command-and-control style of leadership because it gives them a sense of power and predictability in their organizations. Fearful managers believe that they have to tell employees both what to do and how to do their jobs. And they believe that if they create and codify policies and rules for every conceivable situation, they will prevent problems.
This is all an illusion. As we write in our new book, Minds at Work: Managing for Success in the Knowledge Economy:. Command and control starts with the decision-making process. When there are many decisions to be made and many hands to manage, command and control gives leaders a sense that they are in charge of decisions, which will not be made without their input and final say.
This approach allows them to justify their importance and remind others of their value to the corporation. But the truth is that the people at the top cannot control everything that goes on in a complex organization.
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Even though much evidence points to the need for a different kind of leadership, managers are reluctant to change. The freedom of the outside world is banging at the corporate door, demanding to come inside. Yet most leaders are still afraid to open it, because they continue to view freedom and frameworks as antagonists in an intense tug-of-war. And since a tug-of-war can have only one winner, they pour their resources into regulating employee behavior.
Companies need a different kind of leadership. People desire an inspiring workplace that brings them fulfillment beyond just a monthly salary. And in return they will reward organizations for it. When work is exciting and motivational, people will thrive and organizations will flourish. This is not just our belief, this is the new reality. Francesca Pick describes the qualities of a leader who can create a work culture in which people thrive:. Stewarding and coordinating rather than commanding, Holding space and supporting rather than controlling, Empowering team members to do their best work, and be their best selves.
Instead of directives, leaders should provide a framework that gives employees a structure that guides them without directives. According to Gulati, this is a framework consisting of purpose, priorities, and principles. As long as everyone in the organization shares the same purpose, priorities, and principles, there is no need for command-and-control leadership. This is their future. The days of instructor-centered employee learning are over. The rapid pace of change, technology automation, robots, AI, AR, etc.
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The common approach to involving managers in talent development has been to do one or more of the following: Each of these actions can be helpful in engaging managers in training but they do little to ensure that learning is applied and that learning leads to results. We argue in our new book, Minds at Work: Managing for Success in the Knowledge Economy , that the role of managers needs to change fundamentally. Managers need to change from managing hands i. The ability to learn is a talent, and like any talent, practice leads to improvement.
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In a business environment where disruption and surprises are the rule, and innovation and rapid decision making the norm, learning becomes an essential competency. This has been a rare role for managers and will require most to develop new competencies. In addition to having this mindset, managers must be able to implement five key elements of learning.
We call these elements the " 5As Framework ". All of these elements must be present to ensure that people learn and apply that learning to achieve positive results for the organization. Many organizations have made this shift in management already. Anyone who manages people in these enlightened organizations i. This is the managing-minds approach, essential to success in the Knowledge Economy.
The explosion in sexual harassment charges against company executives is a symptom of the dramatic change that is going on in the workplace. This is about much more than a few courageous women standing up to a few misogynist men. We are witnessing a sea change in the way employees relate to their leaders and to each other. Companies will never be the same. Rapid change due to technology, globalization, competition, and diversity is bringing to light the many failings of traditional workplaces.
Disrespecting women—or anyone--has never been right, but the demands of the modern organization are now making this behavior intolerable. In our forthcoming book, Minds at Work: They believe that sharing knowledge is power, and continuous learning is the key to successfully meeting the challenges of the knowledge economy. Failures are to be learned from and not hidden. Opposing viewpoints and ideas are valued and listened to by everyone in the company.
Conversations are open and honest. The hierarchy of roles, and the secrecy and compartmentalization that go with it, has been replaced by the hierarchy of ideas, in which openness is a prerequisite. You must insist that your employees live these values not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it creates a workplace that is happier, more collaborative, and more productive. Creating and maintaining a harassment-free work culture is not easy given that the default behavior in most organizations is to marginalize and exclude women from power and from the central decision-making processes of the business.
Requiring employees to complete a course in diversity does little to change that culture. Leaders men and women must model respectful behavior throughout each day, coach people in this behavior on a continuous basis, and discipline people who choose to be disrespectful.
Managing for success in the modern workplace means creating and maintaining an environment of inclusion, collaboration, cooperation, and, most of all, mutual respect. To succeed in the knowledge economy you need the intelligence, commitment, skills, and talents of every one of your employees.
You cannot attain that goal if you have female employees working in an environment where they may be intimidated, embarrassed, shamed, or made to believe that their employment is conditional on providing sexual favors. The ability to collaborate, communicate, and work effectively in teams are some of the competencies most in demand by employers today. However, companies are not preparing people adequately for these mutually cooperative functions. Susan Adams writes this in Forbes:. Can you work well on a team, make decisions and solve problems? Those are the skills employers most want when they are deciding which new college graduates to hire.
The report explains the critical importance of organizations having agility and that the key to agility is having common goals and working in teams to achieve those goals. An agile mindset embraced by management fosters adoption throughout an organization; once adopted, agility yields benefits both inside and outside.
To get there, businesses can set their sights on three principal characteristics: The Sodexo report points out that teamwork has been important for a long time but that now employees across organizations and across generations must be committed to collaborating for the purpose of flexibility, adaptability, and speed, characteristics of any successful, 21rst Century organization. In the Knowledge Economy , cross-functional teamwork is how work gets done.
It's no longer about managing hands, as was the case in the Industrial Economy ; today it's about managing minds. That means helping people become more competent, capable, and engaged in contributing to the success of the organization. Workplaces are being designed to facilitate collaboration and teamwork. Open spaces, flexible work areas, and smart offices are all contributing to a culture that supports work in teams as needed. This is quite a change from the Industrial Economy standard of private offices for executives and cubicles for everyone else.
Pulling people out of the workplace for training in teamwork, is not the best way to learn about collaboration and teamwork in our fast-paced world. It then puts it all together to expand the reader's core competency to win competitive advantage. Product details Format Paperback pages Dimensions People who bought this also bought. Bestsellers in Business Studies: Framework for Understanding Poverty: A Cognitive Approach Ruby Payne. Creative Confidence David Kelley. Leveraged Learning Danny Iny.
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