Here is an email I sent internally to the senior managers at my firm to capture my (current) thoughts on how to manage people. Captures my view on what is required from a Company’s managers when a Company gets past the start-up stage and needs to start focusing on how to build systems, processes and really starting to focus on building lasting value.

Caveat: the points captured I am sure are not original (even though I can’t recall where precisely each came from, either real experiences or imbibed knowledge) but they do reflect what I consider useful management traits, attributes and techniques:

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Hi,

As we have discussed this topic at various points and have discussed ways to supplement and enhance the managerial skillsets at the firm, I thought I would pen down some of my thoughts based on what I have learnt over the years and also based on things I have read in various books and consider useful and practical. So, here are a few key management tips that are worth considering as you choose to define your own unique managerial style:

Management is not a popularity contest

In order to do your job, you need to inspire the respect of your team members. People need to look up to you, otherwise it will be hard to get anything done. You have to get along with your team. But have to tread a thin line. You should be personable and friendly but if you get too friendly it becomes hard to have the tough conversations and drive the team when needed. A lot of people I have seen in my career, have struggled with this and tend to have 2 types of manager-employee relationships – some are too firm and standoff-ish and often don’t manage to connect with their team members and earn their respect. Others, are too relaxed. They want to be every employee’s best buddy. Makes it very hard to execute, and usually ends badly as they struggle to make things work when people get busy.

People work for people, not companies

A lot of research into company behavior indicates that a person’s longevity and happiness at a place of work is most heavily influenced by his relationship with his/her boss. This ranks higher than a host of other factors that include compensation, company stature, policies, etc. The evidence is clear – if you have a good relationship and respect your boss, you want to stay in the Company. If not, you don’t.

Communicate bad news early and good news late

If there is a problem, communicate quickly. Get support to resolve quickly. Risks need to be addressed as quickly as possible. They can have dire consequences. Good news deserves praise, but there is normally no urgency to address this kind of news. It deserves its place but doesn’t require speed. Our natural inclination is to showcase and highlight good news and bury bad news. What separates great companies from moderate companies is how they handle both types of news. What is the speed with which they communicate and address the news?

Praise in public. Admonish in private

This is a standard piece of advice for all managers as taught in business school. Publicly humiliating someone doesn’t solve anything. It just results in people feeling slighted and ashamed. On the other hand, praise is often best handed out in public so that everyone can appreciate the positive behavior. All of us are guilty of losing our cool and saying things we probably shouldn’t have in a public setting, but we should strive to control this to the extent possible.

 Make your boss’ job easier

Everybody in an organization has a role dictated by their position and responsibilities. A defined hierarchy and reporting lines, allow everyone to leverage their skills and time, and defines clear accountability. Making your boss’ job easier means potentially doing some of his work. This demonstrates that you CAN do more of his work, and also frees up more of the boss’ time. If everyone in a Company does this well, the Company is highly productive and can execute well. Execution is the key to success of every organization.

Hire for attributes, not for skills

In most professions, you can train a person to pick up skills. You can teach them how to do a comp, a PPT deck, a model. But attributes are very hard to change. If a person is lazy or stubborn, for example, it is very hard to change that. When interviewing, one should always try and gauge that.

Play the hand you are dealt

While you should always strive to hire the best, you will usually have to deal with a mixed bag of employees — some A Players, some B Players, some C Players. This could be because you inherit some employees who you haven’t hired yourself, or could be because your hiring isn’t foolproof. The job of a manager is to bring out the best in the team that they have. That means making every employee perform at the best of his/her abilities. Your job as a manager is to turn C Players into B Players, and B Players into A Players, while creating an environment that retains and motivates A Players. You often don’t choose your cards. But you have to learn to play the hand you are dealt

The client is not always right. But he (or she) is always the client

In a service business, you are constantly engaging with multiple clients. Clients can be relaxed and friendly, or tough-as-nails. You won’t always agree with the client’s point of view. The client may sometimes not be polite when providing feedback or demanding work. On top of that, sometimes you will know the client is wrong. You have to suck it up and deal with it. The client is the client.

Every employee thinks he (or she) is under-paid

In my 18 years of working in companies, I have come across only 3 people who thought they were over-paid. Generally, everyone wants more. Its human nature. As a manager, you have to learn to live with it. Compensation must be commensurate with the value each person delivers. That should be the goal post you use in calibrating compensation. Otherwise, you will end up just paying people based on how vocal they are about their compensation.

Execution is key

A manager has to have the ability to “get it done”. Execution is a mind-set and like a muscle if you stretch and exercise the muscle, it gets stronger. So too with the ability to execute. Your teams efforts, ideas and feedback should always be solution-oriented.

Actions have consequences. Think through both short-term and long-term implications of your actions

As Type-A individuals, we all have a habit of focusing on solving the problem, at hand. We want to fix bad quality work, we want to spend extra time to do something right, etc. While these are an integral part of our functioning and is absolutely required, we should always also be aware of longer-term implications of what we do. So, for example – we can have people work 120 hours to get something out the door quickly and well this week. But, that stretch will have longer-term effects if not addressed or curtailed. Stretching the team to get something solved in the near-term obviously needs to be also balanced against the longer-term good. This potential dichotomy between short-term and long-term good has to continually be balanced, in order for us to stay stable and be a successful employer.

Judge others on their intentions, and yourself on your outcomes

It’s a human tendency to judge others more harshly than ourselves. We need to fight that urge. We should give our employees the benefit of doubt – if they have the right intentions. Sometimes, people cannot live up to their expectations because of items outside their control. We should try to judge them on their intentions, in those cases (as long it is not a recurring phenomenon)

Take inputs. Then decide. Live with your decisions

As a manager, you cannot run away from making decisions. You, more than anyone else, has to live with those decisions. As a part of your decision-making process, you can and should take inputs from your team. The best ideas often come bottom-up so this is very important. Once you have received feedback, the final decision is always yours. The buck stops there

Respect is not conferred by titles. You have to earn it

People assume that fancy titles automatically command respect. That’s true in the very short term. People will respect their boss in the short-term because they have no choice. But, I think the correct representation of that is that they obey (not respect) their boss, in the short-term. Eventually, if your team doesn’t believe you are capable and worthy of respect, they will show it. And, most likely, leave

You always pay for pain

There is no free lunch in management as in life. The more pain your employees bear, the more you will have to pay (in compensation, attrition rates, morale and quality). There are firms (and industries) that work people 100+ hours a week, or keep their employees on the road 4-5 days a week. Not surprisingly, they pay people more. Balance has to be restored. The best you can usually do as a manager is not to contribute to the pain that arises from poor management, lack of direction, lack of respect for each person as an individual, and lack of alignment of personal and company goals.

Am sure you have read about, heard of, or experienced some of these pointers during your careers. Hopefully, it can serve as a refresher and can help you with refining your own management style.

Thanks,

Aman