How to Go From "Doing" to "Managing"

Some practical, “wish I had known that” experiential observations on being a Manager.

“Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.” GEN George S. Patton

                                                                                          Christopher G. Keown

30 April 2017

I was recently asked if I had any good tips for being a Manager. I realized there is no checklist for how to be a Manager and many people go into it blind. While most are successful I wondered how successful could they be if they were just given a few tips to start framing their thought processes before they reached that position. I have purposely stayed away from tips like “trust but verify” and the many cliché inputs we receive daily. What I chose to cover was experience-based lessons learned on how to transition from doing the work to managing the work. So here is my answer to that question. 

There is no one answer on how to be a successful Manager. However, I would like to attempt to give a few tips that can be applied across the spectrum of Management issues and help you start the process of mentally transitioning to being a Manager.  Becoming a Manager is a mind-shift from doing to truly leading and managing. Successful Managers are able to change their thought processes and how they interact with others. The following inputs may help you prepare for a new way of thinking and for the new interactions you may encounter. I will discuss three topics; 1) Transition Failures, 2) The Leadership, 3) Yourself. 

Transition Failures.

           All successful people transitioning to being a Manager face similar hurdles. Some overcome these hurdles earlier and better than others. I have compiled a few of the failures I experienced or have seen others experience. Hopefully by reviewing these they won’t trip you up like they have others. 

Failure 1: You want to be a success so you hit the ground at a sprint. Instead, take 2-4 weeks to learn what is going on. Learn the organization’s mission, the personalities of your organization and who your external partners are. Talk with your leadership for guidance on their expectations and way ahead. Determine who are your potential allies within the organization or team and who will be the people that properly disseminate your guidance, intent and mission focus.

Failure 2: You are a tactical/operational genius and still want to be. Instead, prepare yourself to lead and manage operations. Let your team be or become the tactical/operational genius you were allowed to become and use your genius to foster their development. 

Failure 3: It’s easier to do things yourself. Instead, delegate the workload and empower your people. Let them come up with the solution while you give guidance. They don’t always need to be shown the answer, their solution may be better, or it may just be close enough to your answer that it’s acceptable. Your people should have victories where they get to complete their vision too.

“If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results” ... GEN George S. Patton

Failure 4: You hold 100 meetings and expect constant updates. Instead, accept you will rarely know 100% of everything. Being comfortable operating in an environment where you have some unknowns is tough. But you can’t be successful if you don’t let others do their jobs.  Also, recognize who your SMEs (subject matter experts) are. It’s ok to let them have the limelight. You no longer need to be the SME.

Failure 5: You want to be liked by your people so you waiver on standards. Instead, set and adhere to very clear standards. People want to know exactly what you expect from them. Also, realize these standards are for not just your team, but you as well. This sounds like an easy concept, but this will set the tone for your entire Management assignment. Know what your standards will be before you arrive. Give yourself multiple reviews and time to change your standards to make sure they are what you want. Standards are everything, they must be concise, transparent and consistent. If you let any of your standards slip you have just set a new norm.

“Always do everything you ask of those you command” … GEN George S. Patton

Failure 6: You are still accomplishing things. Instead, it’s always “we” and never “I”. The days of you accomplishing things are gone. All accomplishments are a team effort and all failures reside on your shoulders. This also entails putting your people in an environment where they can be successful. The battlefield may require your preparation, but your team will be the ones carrying out the battle.

“Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well”… Dwight D. Eisenhower

Failure 7: You set out to accomplish 20 different and new ventures. Instead, learn to control your hunger. Not everything will happen on your timeline.  Prioritize your efforts and focus your success on what the organization needs. Learn when to push an issue and when to let it sit. Timing is key and your hunger may say push now but the environment hasn’t been properly prepared for success.

Failure 8: You are a lone ranger. Instead, understand the importance of your network. Rarely does a team do anything alone. Your network of peers and your contacts must be cultivated and maintained. Success often hinges on these relationships.

Failure 9: You only think about your team. Instead, go big picture and understand what the second and third order effects of your decision will be.

Failure 10: You fail to get and incorporate the leadership’s vision with your own. Instead, take the vision you have been contemplating for the last few months and present it to your leadership first. This mind-meld is important to success.

The Leadership.

           Your relationship with your Leadership is vital. It’s important to understand you “run” the operations but your Leadership “owns” the operations. Both you and your Leadership will have different backgrounds and experiences.  Understanding each other is vital to smooth, successful operations. Below are some tips I recommend.

Tip 1: Talk to your Leadership. You both need to be on the same page. You both need to understand what each other thinks the role of Leadership is, what the role of a Manager is, how the two interact and the functions each fill. You may find your view on those topics is vastly different than those of your Leadership. Having this conversation will set a base-line and departure point for all future discussions. 

Tip 2: Learn how your Leadership operates. Do they want you to produce a 90% solution and bring it to them or do they want to give their inputs in the beginning. Does your Leadership like to be presented with COAs or do they want you to state the issue and give your solution and why you recommend that solution. Regardless of the subject it is important to actively pursue learning how your Leadership operates and ingests data. 

Tip 3: Your Leadership has the final word no matter how wrong you think they are. We are all successful and smart and think we have the best solution. Sometimes we aren’t aware of the full picture. A good Manager knows when to stop pushing an issue and when to start executing the Leadership’s guidance.

Tip 4: Preemptive updates. Many Managers accomplish great things and move the ball forward but there is still friction between them and their Leadership. To help alleviate this update your Leadership with the information you know they want before they ask. A good rule of thumb is answer their questions before they have to come to your office and ask for them. 

Tip 5: End of day wrap up. At the end of everyday hit your Leadership’s office and have a quick session where you can each download what happened during the day and highlight anything that needs to happen for the next day. This may be when you give your preemptive updates to your Leadership or they may come more frequent throughout the day.

Tip 6: Know how your Team and Leadership are being graded. Often times Leaders and teams are graded by things other than operations. I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true. Make sure you meet or beat every timeline for taskers and reports. By having an impeccable record in this realm you are given more leeway to push the boundaries in other realms. (The CEO/SVP Executive Assistants and Task Managers need to become your best friends)

Yourself.

           You must know yourself, understand how you lead and why you lead the way you do. It’s important to have some self-reflection. It’s easy to get caught up in work and never step back and look at things from afar. Below are some personal tips.

Tip 1: Changes have to be calculated. If you are going to make change determine who are your allies (the people that are open to change) and make a small change to gauge the environment. Grandiose change the first time you interact with your team puts them off. Change is often times viewed as they weren’t doing their job right. I argue that the pace of technology alone determines organizations must be constantly evolving. Also, don’t make change to make change. Make smart calculated changes and explain them in detail to your people along with the “why” the change is being made. 

Tip 2: It’s your job to generate excitement and backing for things. It’s not your job to carry the torch forever. If you have a new mission or are implementing a change you need to build up the backing, maintain excitement for it and get it off the ground and running.  Once it is running you need to turn it over to your people. Too many Managers forget to turn it over. 

Tip 3: Your span of influence will grow but your span of control shrinks. You will really only interact intimately with your direct reports (Flights’ OICs, NCOICs and your ADO if you have one). It’s vitally important this team is properly disseminating your guidance and vision. Your message will get twisted as it makes it way down the levels. Make sure the lowest level is properly receiving it. To combat this you may try a quarterly guidance letter. In it you can discuss successes of the last quarter but more importantly you can discuss the upcoming quarter and where your weight of effort will be or in grand terms what you expect to be accomplished.

Tip 4: You have to be able to write a 1206, EPR and OPR (evals). Your ability to write a bullet and properly capture what your people are doing is crucial. This ability is imperative to being able to take care of your people and ensure they are properly recognized. Always look beyond the immediate impact of what was accomplished and focus on second and third order effects.

Tip 5: Become a storyteller. It’s not enough to tell Leadership and the public the facts about what you do. You need to be able to tell them a story about what you do. Your story should have personal facts, names and results tied into it and it Must have a personal touch. A story will get them emotionally vested and interested in your mission which helps get you and your team’s efforts noticed. 

Tip 6: Sell your team. Know what unique capability your team bring to the organization and be able to professionally articulate this. Once again, being able to tell your story is important.

Tip 7: Have a message. You need to have a message that becomes intertwined in the fabric of your team’s operations. It needs to be something you repeat and talk about every time you speak to your people. What this does is mentally prepare your people for how you will operate and how you see the mission being conducted.

Tip 8: There are no failures (as long as no laws have been broken). Mistakes come with the territory. Managers who fail, allow a mistake to define and debilitate them. Instead view a mistake as a misstep. We went right when we should have gone left. Correct your orientation and move off in the right direction.

“I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom” ... GEN George S. Patton

Tip 9: Understand the importance of reassessment. It’s your job to be constantly thinking about the future. You need to make sure you aren’t so buried into day to day work that you fail to properly reassess what you are doing. Reassessment allows you to verify yes we are on the right path or recognize no we aren’t on the right path and need to change course. 

Tip 10: Don’t keep legacy missions going just because they are legacy missions. You must be able to properly assess the value of that mission to the team, your organization and Leadership. You should have no rice bowls and your actions should be conducted with the best interest of the organization at heart.

Tip 11: Know how to do a budget and become intimate friends with the Finance Team. This may be your first opportunity to manage a large sum of money or be the one that provides the determining inputs to your Leadership on spending.  Only a few things can get someone in serious trouble. Mismanagement of money is one of them.

Tip 12: Leaders adapt their style to the situation. A leader must be like a chameleon, constantly adapting their leadership style to the situation. Every person reacts to different motivators. Key here and where most people fail it to stay genuine, people always see through fake leaders. Tip 13 falls in this realm also.

“Leadership is a gift. It’s given by those who follow” … Gen Mark Welsh

Tip 13: Who defines success? As a Manager you define what success is for your team and organization. But on an individual basis the person defines what success is to them. As a manager you need to also know what the goals and interests of your people are and how they define success for themselves.

Tip 14: Embrace turmoil. In the mist of turmoil and the uncertainty of chaos, the first person to a solution will become the default leader. Seize these moments and be mentally prepared to step up. Decisiveness is paramount and will prove prudent in getting you out of and through the situation.

Tip 15: Innovation isn’t a catch phrase. Innovation represents the very core of what the AF has stood for. From flying bombers off a carrier to conducting distributed operations the AF has and will continue to constantly evolve. Nothing ventured is nothing gained. Don’t be afraid to push the limits, no real progress is ever made by playing it safe. (Ensure you properly gauge your Leadership’s appetite for pushing limits)

Tip 16: Who you are is sacred. Integrity and trust are the mark of a great Manager & Leader. Integrity is proven and trust is earned. Neither is given freely and if you lose or break either you will never get it back. Guard both! Your name is who you are and your reputation is who you are to the organization and industry. Be cautious of who you vouch for and be cautious of who or what you attach your name to. Also, be careful of what you endorse with your signature. 

Tip 17: You believe your own hype. Becoming a Manager is a great accomplishment. You’ve reached this position by being good at what you do. Many people live in the past and focus on their past assignments and past accomplishments which leads to arrogance and failure. Your past has given you a multitude of experiences but no-one wants to hear your “well at my old job this is how we did it” stories. Also, by living your glory days over and over you become complacent and lose sight of what made you so successful. The day you stop being nervous is probably the day you start failing.

Tip 18: Minimize changeover length. Set your arrival and changeover to last no longer than two weeks. Anything longer becomes troublesome.

Tip 19: You will make an impact. As a Manager, you will leave an impression and affect people’s lives. Don’t kid yourself and think you aren’t making an impact. You need to make sure the impact you are making is a positive one. If you aren’t sure of the impact you are making, you are making a negative one.

           Becoming a Manager can be a burden, an opportunity or both. I have provided some experience-based lessons learned to hopefully ease the transition into being a Manager. It’s obvious this is not an all-encompassing list. Being a successful Manager requires constant evolution on the part of the Manager. I would like to leave you with this thought, the veracity with which you attack your job, issues and personal life is what sets great Managers apart from mediocre Managers. If you have any inputs, gripes or questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.