www.remodeling.hw.net: A leader/manager is faced with an overwhelming amount of choices during the average work day. It is common in a small business to feel pulled in many directions almost continuously. In fact, that sensation gets to be so familiar (even if it is not pleasant) that the absence of craziness can create a sense of anxiety!
This is obviously not the healthiest environment in which to work.
5 comments:
I think this article brings some great advice, however acting as a consultant when in a leadership position is definitely easier said than done. Especially in high pressure, fast paced environments, it can be incredibly difficult for a manager to slow down and take the time to ask questions instead of giving the answers. I wonder if this approach is as effective for a short term project as it is for a manager working in a year-round company. As a freelance manager, how to we know when to invest the time to teach someone rather than giving them the answers? For example, if I was stage or production managing a 2 day corporate event, I am not sure I would invest the time to ask the questions described in the article, especially if the event was extremely fast paced in a hire pressure environment. If the event was 1 week long, this might be a different story. However, I still don't know I would invest the time to take this approach nearly as much as if I were in a year long, permanent position at, say, Lincoln Center, where I have a permanent staff.
Basically, I agree with what the article is saying, but I do not think it necessarily works or is feasible in every work environment, especially in the theatre and live event industries. I would love to always be able to foster healthy and meaningful relationships with the people I work with. But sometimes you just have to get the job done, and investing your time and energy elsewhere becomes a necessity.
I try to read as many management articles as I can on this blog because every now and then I come across a great article like this one. My biggest problem as a leader is delegation. Often times if someone comes to me with a problem that I know how to fix I think it would be faster for me to fix the problem then walk someone else through it or have them figure it out. I can think back to last year when I led a group of 20 guys, most of whom didn’t know the difference between a nail and a screw, in a room remodel (it was an awesome project). My biggest problem was that if I was not at the site nothing would get done and that is because I made everything rely too heavily on me. I had a hard time communicating what needed to be done and I had such a firm vision that I did not really let people have freedom. I learned a lot from that project and I wish I had read this article before going into the project.
I think the main idea for this article was that just because you're the head of a team doesn't mean you have to do everything for everyone else, and trying to do so will only increase stress for everyone involved. The best strategy is to subtly encourage the other members to think about what they're trying to accomplish I guide them through it rather than just sitting down and taking over for everyone. I thought this article was very helpful, especially to those with type A personalities. Even though I'm a fairly laid-back person in general, when I'm leading a group I'm often tempted to micromanage to an extreme degree. This article gave good tips on how to not feel like the success of the group depends entirely on you, which is a concept that I think many people struggle with. Driven, hard-working people can sometimes forget that everyone in a group needs to work to their full potential in order for something to succeed.
I've been on both sides of this situation while working, and it's always incredibly frustrating when the person I ask for assistance just comes over and does the job for me without any explanation of how they're doing something. I've gotten into the habit now of asking them to stop and explain something or to walk me through it, and I try to keep those experiences in mind when helping other people. The other major point about not directly answering the question is also an important point that I had not previously thought of, because if I have an answer I tend to want to provide it immediately. Encouraging your team members to think of their own solutions to problems while still providing guidance means that the group as a collective can accomplish projects and tasks that they may not have been able to accomplish had the leader taken full control of the group.
I think one of the most important things that I have learned while both leading and participating in large scale projects is the importance of delegation. That being said sometimes it can be hard to trust someone else to do a project you know you could manage well. Coming to CMU has been a fantastic experience because it completely breaks up my circle of “trusted people” and forces me to not only be reliable for people who have never met me but also to be patient when helping to teach others. The fact is that coming in as DP’s none of us are ever going to be great at everything and everyone in the room can teach everyone else a little bit about their specialty. Sometimes it is just knowledge you are able to share in a project and sometimes it’s a question posed in class that opens up a new line of inquiry you can pursue later.
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