The Psychology Behind Outstanding Management

Over the years, rolling rocks in a cement mixer have been gentler on the management profession than I.?It isn’t personal, it is science. Management methodologies have been tested and found to be as cogent and rational as an Amsterdam stag party, only without the consideration for other people.

There is as we should know, no reason on earth, for example, for cramming people into sterile spaces with nowhere to call home, standardizing what they do and monitoring them down to their toilet breaks. Such practices do pure damage. But enough. While 70% of people quit their jobs because of some issues with management, a good manager is a fabulous thing. Time to find out what this decent manager does and looks like and explore the impacts such a person will have?

Right or left

A good manager is a democrat. Note the lower case ‘d’. Some of the best managers I have met would be tempted to vote for Genghis Khan. Some of the worst, want to be ‘kind, engaged and inclusive’'. they are the worst because they only apply this epithet to people who share their views. This is an article based on science not politics.

A democratic manager includes everybody in the team, empowering people by sharing the power management assumed for itself in the 19th century and has kept ever since. A democratic manager understands that culture grows from the bottom-up, while discord runs like treacle down a pudding, and actively involves colleagues in decision-making as a result.

The manager acts on – note that they do not just ‘value’ – colleagues' opinions and contributions (‘value’ is a word as weasely as a stoat – and you know how to tell the difference*). Thus managerial action really can transform the working environment; improving productivity, job satisfaction, and mental well-being.

Receive

Management begins with a democratic approach, but there is also this; communicate. Always communicate. And receive first. Communication is about active listening before it is about anything else. Involving colleagues in their jobs is about as obvious a step as the first one away from a hungry grizzly, yet few take it, preferring that dafter action, instruction ("Halt hungry grizzl..."[gentle crunching]).

Involvement means properly incorporating the ideas and concerns of the experts, namely the job holders. This means letting the teams work out how to incorporate diverse perspectives. Managers, let us stress, are not the experts, their role is one of facilitation. Managers help, that is it. And that help is vital. A good workplace is based on universal inclusivity from the Farages to the Abbots, where the Trumps talk to the Bidens, and the Macrons sit down with les Le Pens. Teams meet and work out their differences.

Runes and bonds

And yes, you are right. It can’t possibly work, can it??In twenty years I have felt as though I have been teetering on the edge of some sort of workplace civil war. But open hostilities haven't broken out yet. It will happen, probably, but not yet and possibly never. Teams left alone, have - thus far - always worked things out. Always.

Such inclusivity not only strengthens team bonds but also enables the manager to access a wider range of innovative solutions. The added boost is that the teams appreciate this empowerment and identify with the manager and also with the organization. Life improves for everybody.

True empowerment allows colleagues to take ownership of their work, rather than having to take direction from an external source. Good managers imbue the empowered with a sense of autonomy and trust. They provide a sense of meaning which generates motivation and engagement. People's organizational citizenship improves, they develop a sense of genuine regard for the business and the people within it, and yes, stunningly, this includes the managers.

Employees are happier, they produce more and they don’t leave. It isn’t magic, although it may feel like it. It is pure psychology. Any managers that apply this psychology, should write to the author for a broom, cauldron and a special pointy stick.

Results

By properly involving employees, a good manager exceeds the clichés of professional growth and skill development. That manager exposes colleagues to challenges and to opportunities that do not exist in 95% of businesses. 95% or even more (see Knight & Haslam, 2010**).

Before we close, here is a splendid question. “What is the point of a manager?” The answer is usually simple. ‘There is none’.

However, there is definitely a point to a good manager. This is one who helps develop a more skilled and adaptable workforce. A good manager promotes a natural work-life balance, because the experts themselves decide what that balance is (you will remember who the experts are?). By facilitating colleagues to set schedules and determine workload distribution, the manager promotes autonomy and devolves responsibilities and adult decisions. This reduces negative stress while increasing senses of achievement.

Thought, trust, listening, devolving power and adopting a democratic approach, sew the seeds for a culture of trust and mutual respect. Expect open communication, engagement and satisfaction. Expect a business where organizational performance, profit and success improve by tens of percents. Managers, eh? Who could doubt them.

Any questions - or projects - here as always. Thanks for reading, Craig.

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*And if you don’t know how to tell the difference, here it is: A stoat is weasely recognizable, whereas a weasel is stoatally different.

** Knight, C.P., & Haslam, S.A. (2010). The relative merits of lean, enriched, and empowered Offices: An experimental examination of the impact of workspace management, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 16, 158 – 172.