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Required Learning path for managers

5 min read

Model

  • set the tone for culture and leadership
  • act with integrity — act ethically, always. Communicate with candor and honesty (TODO: Read Radical Candor book). Be courageous and Do The Right Thing.
  • Be accountable — take responsiblity.

Live the culture we want to create.

Self-reflection is an excellent method for identifying areas where we would like to change or reprioritize.

  • what impact am i having?
  • what impact do i want to have?
  • what habits can i develop to model the culture for my team.
  • do I take recognize team behaviours that exemplify the values?
  • am i building up other role models with/in the org?
  • how do I share the succeseses and learnings?
  • clarity should transfer
  • create energy and passion for th ework
  • deliberate in demonstrating how to deliver success
  • does everyone understand their leadership responsibilities?

Coach

  • define team objectives and objectives — connect work of team to mission of company.

  • enable success across boundaries

  • help them adapt and learn. coach team through CHANGES in org, co and industry. Create learning opportunities. PROTECT team’s time and space to leran.

  • innovation through experimentation and team learning

  • demonstrate openness to fail fast

  • Teams should know what they are supposed to do and what they need to accomplish.. as a manager help them connect this to the company mission.

  • Learn one new thing every week and share it with the team.

Self evaluation:

  1. team understands their objectives and outcomes (ask the team how we can better understand what the company expects of us)
  2. help team collaborate across boundaries. (stronger relationships with other managers in the co)
  3. create the time and space for the team to learn.

Care

  • attract and retain great people (create a environment where they feel valued)
  • know each individuals’s capabilities and aspiration (connect and listen; value them for who they are; help connect their purpose to company mission)
  • invest in growth through high-quality connections and performance discussions. advocate for growht opportunities aligned with individual and business needs. Mentor invidually.

Self evaluation:

  1. promote co as a great place to work for both current and future employees (how much of is that my contribution?)
  2. am i and why am i fan of this place?
  3. advocate for the growth of others. (make yourself available to mentor; regular career conversations; scan for opp. for others’ growth)

Connecting with the team

  • strike the balance between tasks and keeping focus on people
  • build meaningful relationships with team; be accountable to my team; motivate team members
  • take time to check how team members are doing
  • value what each team members have to say
  • make effort to know team members
  • be attentive to team members’ needs
  • words and actins should be consistent
  • follow through on commitment
  • establish mutual trust with the team
  • address issues as they arise
  • motivate team members to do their best
  • recgonize good performance
  • align work with their motiviations
  • find out what matters to individuals

“Rule of three” — after three mails on the same topic, interact with the person you’re messaging.

Set aside dedicated time to do email.

Being Curious:

  • what’s on your mind at the moment?
  • what’s been the highlight of your week so far?
  • what’s your biggest challenge this week?
  • How can I support you?

Seek Input:

  • I noticed X. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this.
  • I’m curious.. can you tell me more about that
  • I’d curious to hear more about X
  • What do you think about X
  • I’m hearing is that you think X. Did I understand that correctly?

Demonstrate openness:

  • reciprocal activity
  • share an aspiration
  • a challenge you overcome
  • a capability you are currently trying to develop
  • my own purpose and goals.

Be Accountable

  • stay true to your word

    • keep team informed before they need to ask for information
    • deliver difficult messages with integrity and care
    • underpromise and overdeliver

  • be consistent

    • be aware of you’re saying .. justfy any reasons for change in messaging
    • consider verbal and non-verbal cues, and keep them consistent
    • being predictable in your approach.

  • Be fair

    • remember that individuals might have different interpretation of fairness of your actions.

What matters to each individual

four types of intrinsic motivation:

  1. Achievement motivation — “need to make progress, win and accomplish great things”. Achieve and excel in a results focussed environment.
  • define clear success criteria
  • give them complex challeges
  • recognize their accomplishments and goals.
  1. Status motification — need for control, authority and influence. need to improve their reputation and have their ideas and solutions accepted and implemented over those of others. prefer to work in competitive environment.
  • publicly acknowledge one of their ideas the best solution to a problem.
  • give them opportunities to lead or influence others
  • praise regularly
  1. Affiliation motivations --- “relationships and liked by others”. meaningful, lasting relationships. prefer to work in groups, where collab is valued and encouraged.
  • align to proejcts where they get to work with others
  • connect them to team goals and success
  • recognize their contribution to team success.
  1. Societal motivation — “make a difference in the world”.
  • help them see how their efforts impact greater good
  • give them tiem and space to work on projects with community and social impact
  • appreciate the impact they have beyond the Co.

Questions to talk about motivation:

  • What gives you most satisfaction about your job

  • what you find most meaningful about your work

  • what do you care about the most

  • why do you get out of bed everyday

  • why did you choose microsoft

  • why is the work you do important to you?

  • When do you feel at your best?

  • When do you feel most motivated?

  • When do you enjoy your work the most?

SCARF model

  1. Status – our relative importance to others.
  2. Certainty – our ability to predict the future.
  3. Autonomy – our sense of control over events.
  4. Relatedness – how safe we feel with others.
  5. Fairness – how fair we perceive the exchanges between people to be.

See: https://www.mindtools.com/akswgc0/david-rocks-scarf-model

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