Virtually every great manager I’ve dealt with during my career is a terrific listener. This is so basic an idea that it’s hard to believe there are people who don’t place a high value on good listening skills. Who can’t point to countless problems—in their own lives and in the lives of others—that developed because someone didn’t listen? (For that matter, think of how many problems listening would solve.)

    I’ll never forget my first experience with a “listening manager.” At first I thought he was just being lazy. His office door was always open and whenever I passed by I could see him sitting at his desk doing—well, doing nothing. This was my first real job, so you can imagine I was pretty surprised and a little disappointed. It wasn’t until later that I learned this manager’s secret to success: listening. He would go around and talk to everyone—really talk. (The first time he came into my office we talked for more than two hours.) By talking to everyone—and by listening—he got a good picture of how things were going, who needed help, who was doing all right, and so on. And he made his decisions based on what he had heard.

    Listening seems to be some long lost art, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re a parent (or if you know small children), you know that children are happiest with their parents when the parents are taking the time to listen and pay attention to them. Why should it be any different for a business leader?

Is the manager you admire most a great listener?

Do you listen?

Can you listen?

Does the team think the manager is listening? And that management does?

Tags: business leader countless problems decisions desk ernest hemingway first experience good listening skills job lead listen listener lost art parents succeed taking the time
 

“Education is power,” Frederick Douglass said more than a century ago. But by “education” he didn’t mean just getting a degree and then coasting on that experience. I know of a chief technology officer who was extraordinarily proud of this Ph.D.—and he wasn’t shy about letting people know it. He made the mistake of thinking that he was so educated he didn’t need any additional training. Nor, he thought, did his team, since he’d picked each member individually. When a training company approached him, he was dismissive. “I hand-selected every one of my engineers,” he said. “They’re smart.” One of the trainers reminded him that being smart isn’t enough if people didn’t have the knowledge and training to use their intelligence to its fullest.

    The education community often acts as its own worst enemy in this regard. Many countries refuse to accept degrees or certificates awarded in a different country. It’s not uncommon for one university to reject the coursework and degrees of another university. At a time when we’re being told how education should be more global in scope, how is it global to dismiss the schools of another country? A more forward-thinking approach, I believe, would be if universities embraced more people from other countries or schools. That would give students experience in cultural as well as educational differences.

Personally what counts more for you: knowledge or the title?

And in your company?

Tags: additional training certificates chief technology officer coursework cto education community educational differences frederick douglass intelligence mistake own worst enemy regard scope shy smart one students experience universities
 

The Hardliner

Knows everything, and knows it better than anyone else. Some wonder if the hardliner is nothing more than a fake who’s too insecure to confront the reality that he can make mistakes like anyone else. The truth is, most people can spot those who do know and those who only think they know.

Do It by the Book

This very often is a product of a strongly regulated environment such as the military. “What you’re doing can’t be done!” they exclaim, “It’s not part of any standard operating procedure!” This sort of manager can have a particularly bad influence in a creative environment.

Predator / Hunter

Dangerous—and dangerous because their real goal at work is to “score”—to get another trophy (much the way a real hunter might). Sometimes predator/hunter types can perform perfectly well. But sometimes the obsession with doing best can paralyze an otherwise intelligent manager.

Tags: bad influence creative environment intelligent manager obsession predator standard operating procedure trophy truth
 

This person believes that everything must be a team effort. Everything. Don’t get me wrong—I think teams are great. But as with anything else, they’re great at the appropriate time. Not every activity or decision will be best handled by a team. Sometimes a simple decision can get hopelessly bogged down because the entire team had to examine it at length instead of just one or two knowledgeable people.

The Diplomat

Diplomacy is good, but not when it’s used as a thinly veiled way to get out of making decisions. The manager who insists on studying and investigating every project forgets that the competition may be moving faster and gaining speed (and customers).

The Nerd

They may be brilliant and knowledgeable—but often nobody understands what they’re talking about! We have all seem them. Everywhere. The problem with nerds is that people don’t bother trying to understand them, even when they should be trying to—which is a loss for everyone.

Tags: diplomacy diplomat entire team freak making decisions nerd nerds team effort
 

The Star		Wants to shine but not work.
The Lawyer		What’s in it for me?
The Politician		A flip-flopper.
The Cop		Everything needs a rule and rules must be followed.
The Chaos Manager		Only the genius knows how to rule the chaos.
Mr. Clean		Can only work in a sterile office.
The Discriminator		Takes priority based on gender, age and even race.
The Opinionated		Their way or the high way.

Tags: chaos cop discriminator flip flopper genius lawyer mr clean politician priority