Linking In with Matt

Matthew Richter posts daily comments in LinkedIn—well, almost daily. You can follow him and join the conversation by going to http://linkedin.com/in/matthew-richter-0738b84.
For the benefit of our readers, we decide to compile and reprint some of his provocative pieces from the past. Let us know what you think.

Why Do I Do It?

As an employee, why am I willing to do what my manager asks of me? Well, simply for three reasons:

First, I see value in what he asks. In other words, I get the purpose, the meaning, the reason for the task. It makes sense to me and increases likelihood that I will volitionally do it.

Second, I can do it. In other words, I have both the capability (knowledge and skill) and the capacity (the resources and time) to complete the task. Without this sense of competence, I am in no way going to willingly do the task.

Third, as long as I trust my manager, like my manager, and feel a sense of community with my colleagues, I will more likely be willing to do my assigned part.

In the short run, I may do what I am asked because I take the money and should do what I am told. In the long run, the three reasons stated above must be present and if so, longer term, sustained performance will prevail.

What Should a Manager Do?

As a first-time manager, what’s the most important thing you should remember? It is your job to enable your team members to succeed. Whatever it takes (within ethical boundaries, of course). Every decision, every word out of your mouth, every action should be done through this filter. Is the feedback you are about to give actually going to support the employee performing better? Or, is it just because the last management workshop you took said to give frequent feedback? Is the task you are assigning going to actually get the team toward the goal? Or, is it just busy work? In summary, make decisions and take action always through the lens of what will directly help the team.

Training is Different from Education

Is there a difference between education (à la university courses) and corporate training? Of course, there is. Corporate training has a purpose separate from individual learning. The goal of corporate training is to provide the participants with activities and content that close a performance gap, which in turn, enable learners to do their jobs more effectively. In other words, the objective is better performance for the organization. Training should be strategic, integrated into a corporate vision. Education is for the individual. It involves learning to grow, to develop transferable skills in multiple contexts, to prepare for life, and to self-actualize. It is a bit fuzzier when it comes to stated objectives. And, it is certainly more difficult to evaluate. A liberal arts education is a wonderful thing and I will certainly manipulate my daughter toward that path. But if I assign corporate participants to read War and Peace, or study the international implications of The Battle of Waterloo, or validate mathematical proofs, I should be fired. Because the purposes are different. This means, we should always measure our training by a simple mantra: What is it we want people to do differently as a result of the program? In other words, what performance gap are we closing?