Leading People. Peter Mills

with their work while, at the same time, developing their full potential. The beliefs are:

      1 People are naturally motivated to work; they are not intrinsically lazy.

      2 People are social beings and work is an environment where social interaction is required to achieve business outcomes.

      3 Organizations and their employees share a common goal in the need for productive work.

      4 The work environment critically influences an individual’s ability to do their best work.

      5 Productive work is enabled by systemic trust and fairness, and is reduced by fear.

      6 People seek to work at a level in which they can use their capabilities to the fullest.

      7 People seek fair differential pay for that work.

      What do these beliefs about people at work mean for managers?

      

People come to work to do the best job they can, but their natural motivation to work and their performance effectiveness is affected by workplace conditions. It is a requirement of managers to set the right workplace conditions or environment to enable people to be productive. Managers do not need to motivate people; a manager’s role is to set the right conditions for productive work.

      

If the conditions in the workplace are such that they induce fear, people cannot be expected to contribute fully. Therefore, all organizational systems of work must be designed and deployed to induce mutual trust, such as the systemic trust engendered by the employees’ ability to follow established rules, procedures, and custom and practice, and to rely upon others to be truthful and to do as they say. For example, if the performance appraisal system is poorly designed and produces inconsistent outcomes for staff performing at the same level, this can create the perception that the organization does not treat people fairly. This can be expected to diminish feelings of mutual trust.

      

People want to work at a level where they can use their capabilities to the full. Therefore managers must understand what individual capability is and how it is assessed, and roles must be designed so people are able to use their mental capability to the full.

      

As work is a social environment where social interaction is required to achieve business outcomes, a clear understanding of the ”social norms” and the ”rules of engagement” is essential.

      

People effectively contributing in their role expect fair payment for the work they do. This payment is based on a differential pay structure, where progression is possible and determined by individual effectiveness as assessed by the manager. People paid at equitable levels feel satisfied, and pay tends not to be raised as a focusing issue in the workplace.

      The concepts of the Leadership Framework are not fuzzy or soft; they provide clear definitions with principles and practices to guide every manager in their day-to-day work, balancing the mind and the heart. At the core of these concepts is a strong manager-employee relationship based on working together to achieve business goals.

      The focus of this book is on the 10 things successful managers know and do. These principles comprise some of the key components of leading people and leading yourself. Following these principles and practices ensures that the right people are put in the right roles so that they can realize their full potential, both for their own satisfaction and to contribute fully to the success of the organization.

      For employees, this means quality working relationships, high levels of engagement, and meaningful work aligned to their own personal career goals.

      For managers, it means strong working relationships, and the achievement of business goals. Unlike other frameworks, as all the principles and concepts are fully integrated and learned, they can be used for role creation, recruitment, talent development, building a team, and much more.

      For shareholders, this quality of working relationship will mean higher levels of productivity and business performance. It will enable the organization to build a culture based on trust and fairness. It will provide a common language to solve people management issues and enable cross-organizational alignment. It will provide managers with skills and tools to execute organizational strategy with consistency in leadership practices throughout the organization.

       Tips for Getting Started

      1 Create a Managerial Leadership Action Planning Log. At the end of each principle, jot down the issues, desired outcomes, next actions, by who, and by when. Update and review the log at the end of each chapter. A Managerial Action Plan template is provided at the back of this book or can be downloaded free from the website below.

      2 Read the Introduction to the Leadership Framework. Download it free from the website below.

       Additional information available at:www.theleadershipframework.com.au

      Principle 1

       Understand Your Role

       To be successful, managers must understand their role. The role of the manager is to achieve the business goals set for them, and at the same time provide an environment that allows their team to be effective and satisfied with their work while developing their full potential.

      ORGANIZATIONS EXIST TO coordinate the work of many people toward a common business purpose of producing the organization’s products and/or services. To deliver its purpose, each organization has a strategy, decided by the owner or the board as representatives of the owners, with business objectives, decided by the chief executive officer (CEO). The work is then organized by managers and delegated to the right people, at the right level and in the right roles.

      Critical to the organization of work is every employee being clear on what work he/she must do to play his/her part. Therefore, to be successful, managers must understand their role in the organization and the role of their direct reports. They must have a clear understanding of what each role is accountable to do and what authorities they have to do it. This understanding goes beyond the technical and programming aspects of a role and extends to the requirements of managing people.

       The Role and Accountabilities of Managers

      The role of the manager is to achieve the business goals set for them, while providing an environment that allows their team to be effective and satisfied with their work while developing their full potential.

      To do this, managers are specifically accountable for:

      

Their own personal effectiveness

      

The output and behavior of their team

      

Building and leading an effective team, so that each member is fully committed to, and capable of, moving in the established direction

      

Continuous improvement of work processes and methods

      This brings together a number of concepts with which organizations (and managers) often struggle. The first is that managers are accountable for their own personal effectiveness. Everyone in an organization is an employee of the organization and reports to a manager. This is how organizations ensure strategy is executed in a planned and orderly way.