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.

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.

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.

Go here to see the list.

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.

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.

If you work for a smartly designed and well run company, you will be giving yourself an opportunity to provide the best care for your family and a means to take care of yourself as well.

For the sake of our discussion, if a company is operating with high profitability, yet the owner shows obvious disrespect towards coworkers and customers, it is not a well run company.

As at technician, just how in the world can you really tell if the company is smartly designed and run well? It starts with the owner and trickles down through management. At the core is what’s at the core of these people. Are they decent human beings working out honorable values in the workplace? You’ll notice that we attempt to explore this premise when we talk about the things quality managers do here at The Technician Shop. In subsequent posts we’ll attempt to reveal honorable values and talk about the humanistic things that quality managers are made out of. Today however, we are going to zero in on an invaluable resource that can show us what a smartly designed and well run company looks like.

I mentioned previously that if I recommend a book, it will be after I have given much care and consideration to its value to you, the technician. I so get that you do not want to get bogged down in books. I am thinking that your ability to provide for your family and the opportunity to take care of yourself are of great value to you. So, here’s a book that you need to get: HVAC Spells Wealth by Ron Smith.

Ron teaches contractors how to build a high quality and successful organization. Ron is from the HVAC business, so that’s what he writes about. But this book’s message applies to any type of residential and light commercial contractor.

Read HVAC Spells Wealth and learn how a well run company operates. Then compare it to yours. Ron’s book will also come in handy when choosing whether or not to accept employment from another contractor.

Today, Larry is trying to help managers figure out why you the technician, do what you do. This breaks down to expectations and rewards. Are you being positively rewarded for the type of behavior that your manager desires?

While we ponder that question, lets take a peek into the world of Bob, a highly successful technician. Bob understands what his manager needs and expects from him. Bob gathered this information by sitting down with his manager and asking him point blank. He then took notes. You know what makes Bob so special? The stuff Bob’s manager needs from him is less than what he needs from himself.

Bob does not need to be rewarded by his manager. But Bob needs a manager who rewards his staff for desired behavior and meeting expectations. This tells Bob that his manager is tuned in, front and center. A tuned in manager means he is in more of a position to help support Bob’s educational and developmental needs and to remove obstacles from his path and get him what he needs to get the job done.

Folks like Bob are a cut above. They are driven by inner excellence. We feel that everyone has the potential to be like Bob. Getting there is not an easy road to travel. A start is to take your manager’s expectations* and make them your own minimum requirement for a job well done.

Yes, people are interesting. And why they do what they do is downright fascinating. If you’re driven by the passion of inner excellence the why of what you do will be a great shining light  for those who still need rewards to follow.

*Can a manager’s expectations be unrealistic? Sure. While you’ll need to deploy common sense here, a good gauge that your manager is on track is if a coworker like Bob has been there a while.

The Gallup Corporation surveyed* over one million employees based upon the question: What do the most talented employees need from their workplace? Their finding: Talented employees need great managers. Another finding from this survey: People leave managers, not companies.

Hopefully the information that we provide here will help you to gauge your manager and his ability to care about you as a person, to care for your personal development and who has a desire to see you advance.

The bottom line is that you need a talented, effective and engaged manager to help with your development. If you do not find this person, well, you can print off this article and give it to his boss on your way out the door.

*Info from the book referenced in this post

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and assign tasks…teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea…Antoine de Saint Exupéry

This statement represents the essence of good management. Your manager needs to teach you and your coworkers about the immensity of the sea. If he isn’t, don’t expect much concern from him for your career and personal development. He’s not that interested in engaging your passion and talent. Instead he’s just focused on getting more work done.

What is the Immensity of the Sea?

This is the part of work that engages your talents with your passion. It is the area of work where you get meaning from your efforts and your manager gets meaning from engaging you and reaps the reward of your efforts. Not only do you get the internal rewards and meaning associated with work well done, you get internal rewards from helping other people.

The ways in which you help others can be defined in countless ways. It might be the feeling they get when they look into their beautifully landscaped yard, it might be the relief they feel when their computer is back online, it might be the efficiencies they receive from a redesigned kitchen or it might be the relief felt when a plumbing system is working and raw sewage is no longer floating about in their house. Your customers are feeling very good about your efforts and you’re on cloud nine when they show their appreciation.

Your manager needs to guide you and your coworkers towards the immensity of the sea. For on your way there, your spirit and enagement will get more work done for him, more effectively than he could ever dream possible.

What Paul talks about is really just good, competent management.  In these challenging economic times, Paul offers excellent advice to managers.  The key for you the technician, is to use this information to help to understand if your company and its managers is heading in the right direction.

Go over and read Paul’s article at HVACR Business and then head on back.

Key Points

Communications – Look for management to explain the why behind cost cutting and how it pertains to you.

Involve key employees in the process – Does your company involve you in ways to help it run better?  Does your manager listen to you and value your opinion?

Non-financial rewards – Does your manager thank you for your efforts?  Are you praised in front of your coworkers?

Paul makes a statement that tells me he really understands the essence of running an organization a cut above the rest:

The reality is that your best employees are thankful that they have a job, but they will not be satisfied with just having a job -they want to be part of something important.

When your manager understands and takes the steps to help you be part of something important, you have something that money can’t buy and you probably wouldn’t even think of looking for another company.

In a radical, bizarre twist of irony, a person whom I am very close to and who works for a very large organization, was the victim this week of such incompetent management, that they couldn’t have crushed her (and her peers) morale anymore if they huddled up and diagrammed a play in the dirt to do it.  Read about it here.