So, from the title, do you expect a kind of folksy tale of happy families and happy teams? Good, because that describes the book well. The books starts very un-managerially with the birth details of the children and then ties 'becoming a parent' in to 'becoming a manager'. I actually think I would enjoy working with more people who read this book since, I cannot imagine that some of the managers I work with treat their children like they treat their staff - at least I hope for the child's sake that they don't.So... what do we learn?
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Leadership. Motivation. Performance. Teams. Change. Manage Yourself.
The family stories come thick and fast and sometimes I just wanted the author to get to the point. But Since the author writes well they flow quickly. From the notes below you will see that, like many management books. you already know these things. But we read these books to have reminders and to get additional insight.
I enjoyed reading Ian Durston's book and the writing in the Assertion chapter seemed to have come from experience and I found it useful.
A quick gentle, recommended read. Don't expect it to change your world, but enjoy it.
Leadership
- You learn to manage, in the same way you learn to parent. By making mistakes, and paying attention to the signals you receive from the child/staff. A manager, unlike a parent, typically inherits a team - you do not groom them from scratch, they come with their own foibles and systems, so change management has a bigger focus for a manager than a parent, so the book does not focus on this particular scenario.
- Leadership - giving direction, setting the strategy and taking your team with you.
- Strategy - the big picture, and how your team fits into it. Stick to that strategy. Try something different if things don't work.
- Have clear values. Work with integrity. Teach your values so your team can share them.
- Set an example. Work as you want your staff to work. Behave as you want your staff to behave. Act consistently. What you do counts far more than what you say.
- Earn your team's trust. Admit to mistakes.
- Have courage to make hard decisions.
- Act like yourself and present your sense of humour.
- Assert the boundaries that you have set. Communicate what you want done unambiguously. Listen, but don't get dragged into lots of why's and wherefores. See "conflict as a perfectly acceptable process to go through to get to the right answer rather than something negative " that you avoid. "Everone has a right to their own opinion." You have this right so you can stand up for your case. "when conflict arises you have as much right as the other person not to give in and to be the one who comes out on top. As a result, assertiveness becomes easy."
- "A passion for what you do leads to great things"
Motivation
- Pay attention to your staff.
- Try to catch your staff doing something right and praise them for it.
- Tell your staff the 'news' and keep them involved. "If people don't know what's going on, they become suspicious."
- Bring some frivolity to your team and make work fun.
Performance
- Set goals and objectives.
- Encourage people to take risks and let them learn from their mistakes.
- Ask your team 'the right' questions.
- Address poor performance by tackling the behaviour and the expectations your have. Understand the reasons behind the poor performance.
- Own up to your mistakes and forgive other's theirs.
- You get what you expect.
Teams
- Create a shared purpose.
- Recognise the individuality of your team members.
Change
- Have a vision.
- Communicate the end point, the justification, and the process of change.
- Take your time.
Manage Yourself
- Maintain a strong self belief in your vision, and your team's ability to achieve it.
- Delegate complete jobs. You still retain accountability.
- Don't expect to perform the best at everything. Hire better people.
- Get Feedback.
- Never stop learning.
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