Seven Red Flags In Management
Corporate management calls for the following from its managers:
Project Execution (Technical)
Strategic Planning (Vision)
Administration of Resources (Management)
Staff Morale and Development (Leadership)
Interdepartmental Cooperation (Teamwork)
Confidence in Risk Taking (Judgment)
Systems Creation and Implementation (Quality)
The following are what you want, and what you don’t want in each of these seven areas:
#1 Project Execution (Technical)
Want: Managers who can get the job done in their area of specialty (e.g. engineering, operations, sales, marketing, manufacturing, fundraising, regulatory, finance, research, etc.). They have to have the discipline-specific skills to lead their organizations and the ability to complete projects both individually and with their team. There is no substitute for success.
Red Flag: A propensity of not competing projects, tasks, assignments, initiatives (activity is not necessarily productivity). Busyness and long hours are not success metrics.
#2 Strategic Planning (Vision)
Want: Managers who see the big picture, can plan ahead, can formulate success strategies, and can sell them to other leaders and subordinates. Need to be able to see the immediate as well as what’s down the road.
Red Flag: Territorialism, wall-building, secretive actions. Not personally organized and not departmentally organized. Blinded by “my needs” rather than seeing company needs.
#3 Administration of Resources (Management)
Want: Managers who use the people, equipment, capital, and other property of the company to the greatest financial return practical. Managers who recognize the strengths of their people and slot those people where they can provide the most value to the organization.
Red Flag: Inefficiencies, waste, and lost opportunities within a department or within an organization. If they’re not being managed correctly, it’s the leader’s fault.
#4 Staff Morale and Development (Leadership)
Want: Managers who recognize and play to the strengths of their department. People want to “get into” this department. Staff is continuously learning, working OT as required, and actively contributing.
Red Flag: High turnover. Discontent. Discouragement. 40.00 hour mentality. Mass exodus from their department.
#5 Interdepartmental Cooperation (Teamwork)
Want: Managers who recognize that it takes the entire team to win, not just their department. Keeps other informed of project progress. Covers for the other guy when he stumbles. Able to endure under less-than-optimal circumstances without telling the world about it.
Red Flag: Chronic complainers, wall builders, isolators. Win-Lose attitude (the only way I can win is if you lose). Not asked to be on special teams. Troublemaker. Moody. The kind of guy no one wants to be around.
#6 Confidence in Risk Taking (Judgment)
Want: Managers who have the confidence, experience, education, instinct, and moxie to make bold moves – and they are successful (with a track record) most of the time. Some failure is OK – provided they bounce back. It takes backbone to excel in this area on top of all of the afore mentioned attributes.
Red Flag: Those who bide their time, like to fly below the radar screen, and like to play it safe. Persons who use “budget” and “conservatism” as an excuse to under-finance projects or test things into the ground. When low-return work is being performed, the organization suffers.
#7 Systems Creation and Implementation (Quality)
Want: Managers who have the ability to see a problem or issue and create a system that will mitigate, or even eliminate, that problem in the near term as well as the long term. Solving an immediate problem is good, solving it permanently is even better. Systems thinkers and implementers allow others to benefit from an individual's specific knowledge. A manager should consistently be putting systems and processes in place to strengthen the organization. When this is done, the quality of output increases.
Red Flag: The guy who always finds a problem and comes to you to solve it. Look around at your managers - do they develop and implement systems? Or do they only bring to you problems for you to solve so that their little world runs smooth. If it's not second-nature for the manager to create and implement systems, you don't have much of a manager.
Whether you are a vice president, director, manager, supervisor, or lead - you manage people and resources and you'd better have the skill to do it. Mr. President and Mr. Owner/Founder - If you can find a good manager - keep him/her! A president or owner may have vision, passion, drive, and business and industry smarts, but woe to him if he doesn't have strong managers who can translate that vision into reality - profitable reality! If you don't have good managers - get them! Use the Seven Red Flags as a litmus test and don't fool yourself into thinking those seven areas aren't important enough to put a good manager in. Everyone has their area of greatest contribution - if you have someone managing who's not measuring up, then reassign that person to a non-managerial role. They'll be happier, their staff will be happier, and you'll be happier.