Is Your Manager Bugging Out?
A sure sign that your manager is under excessive stress is when the words revenue, profit and productivity creep more frequently into his conversation.
In a perfect world you go out into the field, utilize the skills and knowledge that you are continuously learning, communicate what you are doing with your customer, either suggest ways in which your company can help them or communicate with your salespeople to do this and communicate with your operations department both your status and the customer’s. In a perfect world you take care of the resources that your company gives you to do your job. In a perfect world you take care of your health and your appearance.
In a perfect world, with as much as you have control over, when the above is happening, revenue, profit and productivity are happening.
Today’s economy is placing unwanted stress on everyone. There is more to a company being successful than the relationship between you, your customer and your operations department. But this is the part that involves you and it is a part of the equation that you have control over. Take aim on the perfect world scenario described above. Give your manager a reason not to drag you into a cause for his stress. At the least, if your manager and company owners are not taking care of business, you’ll be improving your marketability to other owners who are.
Does Your Manager Get You?
Why can’t I work for this company, wear jeans AND have long hair!?
I asked this question. I asked it in 1972. Okay, the main part of me who asked it was my tormented soul. Does my long hair interfere with my work ethic? Does it tell people I have a poor work ethic? Does it tell people I am lazy? Heck no! This was a great paying job and I didn’t want to follow the employer’s creed: if you don’t like our rules, leave!
Doesn’t my manager realize that I have a life?
This one is probably more 2009-ish. And if you’re under the age of thirty-five, you are probably asking it more often than your older coworkers. I had no options in 1972. I had to get a haircut – though I kept it as long as the company would allow. Today, you have options. Well, those of you who can demonstrate value to your company, have options.
When your manager recognizes your value, your options increase, as does your leverage. It’s probably obvious to you, you have a decent grasp on the technical knowledge required to do your job and your skills are as good as Bob’s, who has been at it since Britany Spears was in diapers. Some of this would be obvious to your manager too, except that he is too consumed with your inability to get paperwork in on time, take care of your truck and keep track of company tools used.
If you want your manager to get you, you need to try to get him.
Now here’s a hard, cold dose of reality that most managers and owners will attempt to minimize: You can follow every rule and policy to the tee, but they still will not get you.
Follow the rules and policies. Do the best that you can. Work on your skills, work on your game. Work to the point where you can say, “I do what I am supposed to, I am working on my education and skills. Now I need this, or I want this…”
Take note of your manager’s reaction. If you can see progress to your needs, give him some time and room. If doors continue to be slammed in your face, you’ll need to make preparations to find a new company. The importance of taking these type of actions with your present company is that they provide an education to what works and what doesn’t.
This isn’t 1972 and genetics have trumped my protest. You however, have the world in your hands. There are folks out there who will give you the room and freedom that you need along with the resources and help you need for your career. Cover the basics, educate yourself and practice your skills. You’ll do just fine.
Does Your Manager?
The following link will take you to a site authored by Neil Patel. Neil offers a list of 53 items that your manager should be doing. Or maybe it’s your manager’s manager or the owner.
Okay, managers in the trades are very busy people. Let’s cut them some slack. Let’s see if they are doing 10 items on this list.
I have a great deal of respect for folks who own their own businesses. I don’t wish to imply that if your manager is not doing items on this list, he is a bad manager or owner. But you are the owner of your career. And it’s up to you to choose managers and owners who recognize that by taking care of you, they are taking care of their business. And one way to do that is to run their operation in a sound, professional manner.
Your Manager and Your Strengths
We began this discussion at Are You a Martian – Like From Mars? For you to get the most out of work, you need to be plugged into what you’re best at. For your manager to be effective, he needs to plug you into what you’re best at. The problem, as stated in the referenced article, is managers seem to have a difficult time in trying to identify your strengths. Instead of your manager agonizing over this, attending seminars, reading books, taking surveys, performing Vulcan mind probes with management gurus and burning up the Internet, why not just tell him what your strengths are?
We think you should. But identifying your own strengths in an objective way and talking about them is not an easy thing to do. There are books, seminars, Web sites, life coaches and a pack of gurus out there who can help you discover your strengths. In the spirit of our small step philosophy however, we suggest you simply start with: what do you like to do at work? Your strengths are usually going to be closely related to what you like to do.
So that’s where you start. Sit down with your manager and tell him what work you enjoy doing. Ask him about the possibility of doing more work like that. Ask him how that might fit in with the company’s big picture and how it might fit in with your team. Ask him what type of training you’ll need. Ask him how he might be able to help with the training that you’ll require. And be sure to tell him how much you are doing on your own.
Your manager needs productive results and you need to be doing stuff that utilizes your strengths. A conversation with your manager is a great place to start.
Are You a Martian-Like From Mars?
If you flew in from Mars, hooked up with Earth’s leaders and were sitting across the table from them, most likely you wouldn’t be able to communicate. So Earth’s leaders would put together a task team to scour the planet looking for people who spoke Martian. They would attend seminars about Martians; they would search the Internet for sites on the Martian language; they would join a Martian association and attend its national seminar; they would read books about Martians; they would survey the public in search of Martian knowledge.
Whew! Did you ever think it would be so hard to figure someone out?
Apparently managers do, because they go through about as much trying to figure you out as Earth’s leaders do Martians.
The idea for today’s topic came from a HVACR Business tweet on Twitter about this article at Forbes. Here’s the skinny on this article: Strengths Finder is an online test that will help measure a person’s strengths. If a manager knows what your strengths are, he can get more out of you*.
There are universities, books, online classes, magazines, seminars, associations, focus groups, social networks – all out there trying to help your manager figure you out, figure out what your strengths are.
Earth to you Mr. or Ms. Technician, you are not a Martian. You speak the language. You can communicate. You can demystify you to your manager. Talk with him about your strengths.
In Part II of this post we’ll talk about talking about your strengths (for most it’s not an easy thing to do).
*Please don’t interpret this in a negative way. The premise is, if you are utilizing your strengths there is a good chance you really like what you do. Naturally if you like what you do you’ll be more productive.
