This is Professor Ram Charan...This is not my senior manager.
It got me thinking to pick up my reading on some other management books that were suggested to me by my ex-manager. He recommended First, Break All the Rules.
So on Wednesday, with me missing Mandarin class because I could not find a parking space, I went to MPH at Gurney Plaza to get the two books.
This is MPH. This one looks exactly like the MPH in Gurney Plaza because it is the exact same store...I got the pic off this blog.....
crapperzmind.blogspot.com/2007/07/mph.html
I have not read from there before, but i think due credit should be given to him for my plagiarism.
They weren't easy to find (the books lah, not MPH), since the books were all placed in Management Business and Human Resource. But found them I did, bought them, brought them home and now reading First, Break all the Rules....After all its titled First anyway. So mah read that one first.......
Since Profitable Growth involves higher level decision making, I will leave that for later.
First, Break...is quite an interesting book. It dwells into how to retain your right people. Remember a few months back in one of my posts (you'd probably would not since you don't come to my blog), it was on the book Good to Great.
And the RIGHT people are your most important asset. This book dwells into how to make them happy and retain them. I'm into Page 30 now....there's still another 230 to go, and hopefully by then i will be a better manager....
Which got me thinking...Do other managers read these books or they just go through their entire management working life following whatever convention they want to follow? Is this why the employees nowadays are not easily retained? Is this also the reason why managers, although liked by other employees, are difficult with their own?
My engineers SEEM to have a hard time with me. Though I do not give them hell, but they just don't like me for some reason. They'd stab me in the back I know that for sure. Surely this probably contributed to my dismal performance review last year...Hmmm....
Only if they know how tough it is sitting at my place. But they won't tell me the reasons. They'd go running off to my manager complaining that i need some improvement. Wait lah....if they ever meet a boss worse than me, or are in a situation worse than they are in now....
-> Boss is too emotional. Oh come on! If i did not show any emotion, they'd think boss was made of wood and would not understand them.
-> Boss get angry. So when i try to reason with them, don't want to listen. Get angry only listen. The boss needs to put the foot down!
-> Boss is too weak. When hear other opinion will change mind already. Errrmm...Its called getting others to think and have brainstorming for ideas. Take the best and most advantageous decision lah....Tak kan, if you gonna shoot yourself in the foot after hearing others, you still shoot yourself in the foot??
-> Boss is too stubborn. Now, that contradicts the above.
So eventually, when my boss talked with me, he realized that I knew what I was doing. There is a secret to this and a lesson to learn. I won't post it here, but it is very good to know it. They thought I did not fight for them, but my boss did. They thought I got angry because I would not listen to them. I did it for their own good and my boss did know. I don't blow my own trumpet for them, but my boss did know what i was doing. My style. I'd rather do things quietly, even if they do not seem conventional. If my engineers had thought a bit more, they would realise that i will definitely take care of them because they are my rice bowl, my treasure, my income.
Also, Good to Great taught me one thing....There are people whom you MUST let go. I did that last year. And this year, I have a nice slate of team, albeit maybe 1, but I will move to ensure they stay on. Surprisingly, the lot who complained the most are still in the team. Will they leave? And so, First, Break All the Rules!
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