Lethal Cocktails : Fatal Management Errors to be avoided!
Posted by Bernie Ritchie & Barry Zweibel on Feb 08, 2010

Here's the latest blog post from Management Sushi guest blogger and noted Chicago-based veteran executive coach Barry Zweibel. Barry blogs about the influence that W.Steven Brown's 25-year old seminal book, "13 Fatal Errors Managers Make and How You Can Avoid Them", has had on his working life and examines whether its business ethos still holds up today. See below for what Barry has to say!

Similarly, but much more recently, Business Week posted a slide show illustrating a "Baker's dozen of widespread misguided management practices and how you can correct them". Rather than Brown, they looked to business author Aubrey Daniels' book, "Oops! 13 Management Practices That Waste Time and Money" published in 2009. Check it out here and compare how the two sets of bakers' dozens of both Brown's and Daniel's warnings about management approaches stack up a quarter of a century apart!

A final word from Peter Drucker before you get to Barry's blog post [courtesy of Rick Wartzman's blog in Harvard Businesss Review last week - Rick is Executive Director of the Drucker Institute] ! Wartzman quotes one of Drucker's pithy pieces of management advice that he would challenge his consulting clients with: ...

"One either meets or one works. One cannot do both at the same time. Don't tell me you had a wonderful meeting with me. Tell me what you're going to do on Monday that's different."

It would be interesting to see what Drucker would have made of Brown's '13 Management Fatal Errors' and Daniels' '13 Management Practices that Waste Time and Money' - and what he would have added to the mix.

Here's Barry with his thoughts and update on Brown's '13 Fatal Errors'!

13 Fatal Errors Managers Make and How You Can Avoid Them

It was twenty five years ago that '13 Fatal Errors Managers Make and How You Can Avoid Them', by W. Steven Brown, was published. I've kept my copy all these years because it served me well; an able compass as I traveled along a managerial path from front-line operative to team leader to supervisor to manager to director to senior director to vice president and corporate officer - and now as an executive coach and leadership consultant.

It also served many of the people who reported to me along the way well, as well. (I made it "required reading" for many of them.)

Now, a full quarter-of-a-century later, I wonder if Brown's work still holds up held up as nicely as I expected it might.

Briefly, here are the 13 Fatal Errors:

- Refuse to Accept Personal Accountability
- Fail to Develop People
- Try to Control Results Instead of Influencing Thinking
- Join the Wrong Crowd
- Manage Everyone the Same Way
- Forget the Importance of Profit
- Concentrate on Problems Rather than Objectives
- Be a Buddy, Not a Boss
- Fail to Set Standards
- Fail to Train Your People
- Condone Incompetence
- Recognize Only Top Performers
- Try to Manipulate People

So what do YOU think? Are you seeing any of these Fatal Errors occurring here in 2010? I know I am.

Let's see what else Brown had to say that might still be relevant today.

"Management," per Brown, "is the skill of attaining predetermined objectives with and through the voluntary cooperation and effort of other people. We believe the definition works because of the semantics - the words that make up the definition itself."

He was referring to three words in particular:

Skill - Brown suggested that management is a SKILL because, as with other skills, our managerial acumen improves through practice. The extent to which we practice, and ultimately master, these skills will determine whether our direct reports do their best work and achieve and succeed ... or not.

Attaining - Management REQUIRES attaining. Effort is one thing, but results are what really count. Not to be callous about it, but without results, effort can only get you so far. Perhaps that's why Brown wrote, "management is NOT the art of DOING it like the pros - it's a skill of ACHIEVING like the pros."

Voluntary - Forcing compliance is NOT a sustainable managerial strategy, no matter what anyone tells you. To enable long-term success, a manager MUST connect staff with BIGGER reasons for working harder and smarter and longer and faster, and such, than they might otherwise. That's what inspires people to WANT to work harder and smarter and longer and faster, and such.

"The true art of management," Brown continued, "lies NOT in the art of winning, as popular business books so often characterize it; rather it demands the art of winning ASSENT. It is the art of clearly communicating and diligently monitoring tasks and goals, then fairly regarding the people who achieve them, because they have made a commitment to them on the basis of corporate good and personal interest."

The key words that stand out for me in this - and remain particularly relevant in today's world - include:

Clearly Communicating - Or as I like to say it: "Insuring that the message you INTEND to have received is identical to the message that actually IS received."

Diligently Monitoring - That is, insuring that nothing falls between the cracks or gets inadvertently lost somewhere along the way.

Fairly Regarding - A little respect for your direct reports goes a long way; a LOT of respect for them goes even farther. But it's gotta be REAL respect; you can't fake it. Authenticity matters.

Commitment - This is ETHIC that drives people to meet seemingly impossible deadlines and due dates. But be sure that you're getting people's ACTUAL commitments, rather than IMPLIED or INFERRED ones. (See here for more of my thoughts on these distinctions.)

Corporate Good - Yes, furthering your company's goals and objectives through your work is a non-negotiable prerequisite of continued employment these days.

Personal Interest - When employees can "connect the dots", between their work and their personal/professional interests, good things happen sooner. And when a manager can help them do that day-in/day-out, a secret mega-motivation tool is put-in-play.

So, YES, I'd say that 13 Fatal Errors Managers Make and How You Can Avoid Them HAS passed the 25-year "test of time" quite nicely. And how refreshing is THAT?!

Barry Zweibel, MBA, MCC, is president of GottaGettaCoach!®, Inc. As a noted executive coach, leadership consultant, and master certified life coach, he engages smart, capable, people in meaningful conversations about their personal growth and professional development. 

Barry's customized, coaching, mentoring, and consulting are particularly well-suited for executives and mid-level managers interested in increasing their organizational impact and influence. Those looking to improve their confidence, creativity, charisma and work/life balance, benefit from his life coach and life coaching-related services, as well.

For information on how Barry Zweibel can help you - or those in your organization - visit: http://www.ggci.com/ (web); http://www.ggci.com/blog2/ (blog); http://www.ggci.com/newsletter/ (newsletter); http://twitter.com/ggci (Twitter); or contact Barry directly, at info@ggci.com or 847-291-9735.

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