Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
OF THE MANAGER
THIS TIME IT’S PERSONAL
Consultation edition
September 2016
MEET MIND GYM CONTENTS
Mind Gym transforms performance by changing the way people think. Managers matter 04
61% of FTSE 100 and 53% of S&P 100 companies use Mind Gym for major challenges, such as: I’m a manager. Get me out of here 08
Direct 24
MIND GYM BELIEFS Execute 26
Unilever 30
People change only when they believe it’s in their own best interest
Thomson Reuters 32
Making it happen 34
One size fits no one
References 38
MANAGERS MATTER
No-one loves middle managers.
And yet, managers have the greatest challenge in company life: how to
understand, organise and motivate people to work together to achieve more,
better and faster.
Much of the time they’re expected to do this with only rudimentary guidance
and little release from all the other corporate demands.
This report is for people who manage people. It’s also for the executives of
organisations whose search for a competitive advantage can lead them to spend
vast sums on fancy IT systems and glamorous marketing campaigns that deliver
uncertain outcomes in indeterminate time scales. As this report will show, the
surer answer to their productivity conundrum is much closer to home.
Who wins?
By the downturn of the early 1990s, the companies with the cleverest use of
technology found the fast track to recovery. Some used it to streamline their
supply chain, others to better understand their customers.
The companies that came out of the 2008 crisis fastest were those that focused
on people. The most effective way to do this is through the much maligned
middle manager.
CASE STUDY
The great news for those holding the Scrapping a poor manager
company’s purse strings is that good
management costs little and delivers a lot.
for a good one increases Change from the middle
productivity by 13%
The team at Stanford’s Graduate School of The traditional route to delivering sustainable and energetic changes.
Business measured the daily output for 23,878 than the increase provided by many a costly (not change is either top down or bottom Some effort went into stopping
workers matched to 1,940 bosses over five years to mention disruptive) IT investment. It was also up. But what if both are flawed? senior groups from getting in the
from 2006 to 2010, resulting in nearly 6 million greater than the boost provided by adding an way, and individuals from the front
measurements1. The workers came from a wide extra employee to the team (11%). Trickling initiatives down through line were asked for their views at the
range of industries and companies but all did The electronic games industry is creative, a management hierarchy is start of the programme. But the bulk
routine, computer-based work, e.g. retail knowledge-based and requires swift, efficient unpredictable – will those in the of the effort, and investment, went
checkout operators, airline gate agents and call implementation. Each new game has two upper echelons really change? – towards changing how managers,
centre workers. As each worker had, on average, managers: the designer, who leads the creative slow and by the time change reaches and ‘managers of managers’ thought,
four managers/supervisors a year, it was possible team, and the producer, who leads the team that the front line (if it ever does) a new felt and behaved.
to determine the impact of a good manager makes it all happen. The quality of the designer change is needed. Starting with
compared to a poor one. accounted for 7.4% of the variation in revenue, the front line is just as precarious. Before the programme started,
and the quality of the producer, 22.3%. That’s Once the initiative has passed, Santander was among the worst
Replacing a poor manager with a good one almost 30% of the success of a new game managers tend to return to things rated organisations (not just banks)
increased productivity from the same team credited to the quality of the two managers just as they were. in the UK for service. Within eight
members by a whopping 13%. That’s greater leading it2. months, Santander branch banks
The UK banking division of Santander were at the same level as their peers.
transformed branch customer Santander went on to win ‘best
service by equipping branch branch bank for customer service’
Fig 1: Great managers lead to better store performance managers (and their immediate boss, two years in a row.
the regional manager) to make real,
0.8
Transformational
management
0.6 It’s clear that swapping poor managers for good profit and reduced costs. There are plenty
Structured
management
ones improves performance across industries. more studies that make the same point:
0.4 But what about within the same company? better managers deliver better results5.
Consideration
Correlation
0.2 In a large US manufacturing firm, managers who Compared to most other kinds of business
demonstrated effective communication and outlay, astute investment in the quality of
0 inclusiveness, gave feedback well, encouraged management delivers a more certain,
innovation and created career development greater and faster financial return. And yet
plans saw a 50% increase in sales3. In a chain most companies invest less in management
-0.2
of Dutch supermarkets (Fig.1)4, employees development than in the desk, chair and
were interviewed to determine managers’ computer that the manager uses. Overall,
-0.4
management style. Six months later, the on average, companies spend $976 per
branches where transformational management learner per year6.
-0.6
was present reported significantly greater net
Net profit Controllable
costs
Mind Gym’s psychologists have analysed more their efforts in the other areas. Conversely, a
than 100 peer-reviewed studies to unearth what manager without this skill will find that, however
makes the most difference to manager much they excel at the other six talents, they will
DI
There have been two recent and notable ‘leader-member-exchange’ or LMX.
CU
meta-analyses that carved up the masses of When a team member has a poor relationship
RE
data in rigorous and meaningful ways. The first with their manager, they’ll look for the worst.
CT
EXE
meta-analysis (popularised by the SHL Talent A good relationship means that the manager
Management Group) spoke of ‘The Great Eight’ gets the benefit of the doubt. Team members
manager competencies10. The second (by John will trust their manager’s actions to be in their
Meriac and colleagues) reliably reduced 168 own best interests and reciprocate.
RELATE
manager dimensions into seven core skills11.
The two lists were not only very similar, but they
CASE STUDY
also mapped onto Google’s work with people
analytics (see below), and Yukl’s Flexible
Leadership Theory12. This allowed Mind Gym’s
IN N
E The seven manager talents now form the core most important attributes, which
of management development in some of the are consistent with Mind Gym’s
world’s most admired companies, including seven talents13.
Category
Priority
Too close
Relationship
The right range
Outcome
Too distant
Output
Overwhelmingly
The best working relationships aren’t Gym’s Academic Board) demonstrated Feedback Only praise
critical
Descriptive
the closest or most harmonious. They a correlation between strong teamwork
are the ones that get the best results and reduced mortality22. Draw
Poor Ignore and
for the business. generalised
performance forgive
Building appropriate relationships with direct Raise, discuss, move on conclusions
Individuals who have good relationships with reports, and ensuring they exist between peers, Team
their managers are healthier, happier14 and requires a complex set of skills that most of members’ Protective Unaware
have better careers15. They also perform better16 us hone throughout our career. The greatest wellbeing Attentive
(putting in more discretionary effort17), are more opportunity for business is to give these skills
innovative18, more resilient during change19, to managers as they reach the first rung of the Manager’s
Indiscreet Guarded
less likely to leave20, and better at responding corporate ladder rather than wait until they personal life
Selective
to feedback21. step off it.
Team
Colluding Uninterested
Relationships between team colleagues are In it together dynamics
Impartial
also highly significant. In a study on NHS wards,
Professor Michael West (a former chair of Mind A manager needs to be clear about what the
Availability Interfering Absent
team is here to do. This can take the form of
Accessible
goals and targets, but it will be more compelling
if a manager can clarify a team purpose and See
build a shared identity to motivate and inspire23. themselves Friend Boss
as… Manager
Example profile of a manager
It also pays to be clear about how we are going
to behave towards each other. This form of
more explicit contracting sets expectations and
makes it easier for everyone to respond if they distant. Mind Gym’s psychologists, with the help a boundary is crossed and it will be doubly hard
are breached. of Professor Janet Reibstein (who sits on Mind to rebuild it.
Gym’s Academic Board) have started to define
Managers Sans Frontières the range for an appropriate manager-direct Equally, if you’ve ever managed a direct report
report relationship. In summary, it looks like this who frightens you slightly. Imagine a direct
In order to get the best from their teams, (see Fig.2). report makes a joke which is subtly at your
managers need to strike a delicate balance: expense – others smirk or laugh. A boundary
focus too heavily on the relationships The challenge with boundaries comes when has clearly been crossed but what should you
themselves and the goals slip out of reach; they are breached, whether by the manager do to maintain respect without looking like you
ignore a team’s needs, and commitment herself/himself or by their direct report. don’t have a sense of humour?
will falter. The answer? Boundaries. You’ve worked late nights, your boss is on your
back, you’re not getting much attention at home At the heart of Relate is understanding what
The most successful managers keep the – it’s only human to want a bit of appreciation. the boundaries are for appropriate working
relationships appropriate. They achieve this, Tempting though it is, as an exhausted manager relationships, keeping to them where possible
often unconsciously, by maintaining a suitable you must avoid looking to your team for and repairing them when they are breached.
balance between being too close and too empathy or positive strokes. If you do, then It isn’t easy, but it is critical.
The Stanford study that found a 13% increase acronyms, the quality of coaching in most
in productivity when poor managers were companies is mixed.
swapped for great ones24 revealed the single When it comes to improving performance, there
most important difference: coaching. are six aspects of coaching that have the biggest
impact on a manager’s ability to coach: their
Rich pickings motivation, their mindset and four key behaviours.
13%
Increase in productivity
29%
Ability to hit
revenue targets
21%
Higher revenues
700%
ROI for coaching
Distracted Focused
Challenge
Guide
Weakness-focused Strengths-focused
Move
Try it out forward
I’m okay/you’re not okay I’m okay/you’re okay Enable What will What can
you do? be done
better?
Parent/child Adult/adult
Situation
Outputs
Nourisher
Ideas
What to do to prevent
When something goes What went wrong
something similar happening
In most organisations, ’generators’ (those who wrong, focuses on and why
in future
are restlessly discontent with the status quo)
are worryingly underrepresented49 because the Gives their views first and asks Listens first, then gives
When chairing a discussion
emphasis is on execution skills over innovation. if there are any questions their views
It’s a bias that is pronounced in organisations
at every level – right the way up to the CEOs50. Pushes to decide on actions Encourages everyone to share
In project/team meetings and agree responsibilities their views and probes to
The truth is, we need both, to differing degrees quickly elaborate
depending on the organisation. In the Apples Comes down on one side
and Facebooks of this world, innovation and Validates and celebrates the
When people disagree of the argument and
execution skills aren’t just equally valued, they’re value of different opinions
explains why
intertwined: one cannot exist without the other.
Changes their mind as they
Opinions Consistent in their views
Nurture, not nature learn something new
The good news is that innovators demonstrate Sets stretching but achievable
In setting goals Sets unrealistic targets
key discovery behaviours that can be taught51. goals
We don’t have to be born innovators, but instead
by developing our curiosity, our exploration, our Focuses on the long term
In time horizon Focuses quarter by quarter
connections and our willingness to experiment, as well as the short term
we can all create a culture where innovation
can flourish. Prioritises maintaining Constructively challenges the
In relation to change
stability status quo
Are you a stifler?
Keeps a realistic focus on
Managers don’t need to be especially innovative When facing an idea Tests feasibility
current constraints
themselves, but there are consistent behaviours
they’ll need to develop (and just as many they’ll Without always sharing
need to put out to pasture) if innovation is Rejects an idea With a strong rationale
the reason
to thrive.
Prefers to share an idea once
Every manager should aim to be an innovation With a network Seeks input and tests ideas
fully formed or implemented
nourisher rather than a stifler (see fig.3).
Manages the risk by keeping Sets a clear framework for
In experimenting
close control experimentation
Fig 4: Self-compassion
Managers first them thrive when things get tough59. This can be
done by answering three questions after
The best way to create an organisation of a positive encounter:
elf thrivers is to start with managers. Once they
uls Your
(In
cr are thriving, they’ll not only provide a model 01. What did that make me grateful for?
df
compassionate for employees to follow but be better equipped 02. What resources did it build in me?
in
ea
m
se
friend to help them along the way. 03. What’s the one positive thought I can
ur
ea “I’m a failure”
r
se
)
The research has also found that most people o be told about serious issues
T
To get regular updates
have a default preference – so we all need to or big successes
master how to embrace the other view. Starting
with box-top leadership can make the
difference. Think of jigsaw puzzles with the Knowing the company vision from the outset, a vision but quite another to get people to
completed picture on the top of the box. along with how different pieces slot into it, will believe in it. Establishing shared ownership and
help managers keep both the big picture and the accountability is key. One of the most effective
detail top of mind. approaches for gaining employee buy-in is what
Louis Fox calls ‘spiritual leadership’69. Managers
If managers start with the bigger picture, when share the organisational vision in such a way that
is the right time to zoom in? As with all the employees not only understand it but develop
7 talents, Direct is increasingly more about their own personal interpretation and reasons to
enabling others. When a manager gets it right, believe in it. Sharing stories and using inclusive
they only rarely need zoom in – their people are language (we, not I) are quick routes to this.
making the right decisions and doing the right
things when they’re not around. Key to this is Often, the weeds are where the business risk lies.
continually reinforcing the direction through There are plenty of terms – ‘micromanagement’
every interaction - a speech at a townhall, a and ‘seagull managers’ – to describe the
team meeting or a 1:1 coaching conversation. negative consequences of zooming in too far.
Step back, zoom out, and keep reinforcing the
Getting these everyday interactions right makes bigger picture to Direct with accomplishment.
a huge difference. After all, it’s one thing to share
High
(cont.)
Cautious Focused
Deliver on promises, on time, in style, with others
Attention
There isn’t much sexy about ‘execution’, but impact on branch performance as the ‘worst’.
when team Mind Gym asked the people at the The hyperactive types kept coming up with new
top of companies – from Paul Walsh, when he activities and distracted the exhausted branch
was CEO of Diageo, to Luis Miranda, when he teams so much that they weren’t able to follow Absent Hectic
was Chairman of IDFC (who built more power through. The more lackadaisical regional
stations than the Indian government)70 – what managers would give instructions on their
Low
they most want in their managers, the answer occasional branch tour but never followed up,
was unequivocal: the ability to execute. so the branch team would carry on as they
always had done. The net effect was the same.
Low Energy High
When RBS studied the impact of a tier of
71
regional management, they were surprised to The key to effective execution is focus and
discover that the ‘best’ managers had the same accountability.
02. ACCOUNTABILITY
01. FOCUS
Of the 17 traits that make organisations effective at executing72, at the top of the list was
Managers who find it difficult to get results tend to have trouble separating being busy accountability: “Everyone has a good idea of the decisions and actions for which he or
and getting things done. The urgency addiction can take hold, and, often with the best of she is responsible”. In companies that were strong on execution, 71% agreed with this
intentions, they try to do everything. The result is a lot of noise, an exhausted manager and statement; in organisations that weren’t, the figure dropped to 32%.
little to show for it.
The ABCD of accountability offers a simple checklist to ensure that this is properly set up.
The manager who executes well not only has a lot of energy but knows where to point it.
They identify what is necessary or likely to have the greatest effect and concentrate their • Authority levels: what do your team have full authority to do
effort on that. They also recognise that their time is the scarcest resource in the team and and where do they need sign off?
so learning how to use that well will deliver a greater return than almost anything else in • Boundaries: what is in scope and what is not?
their control. • Controls: how will you monitor progress?
• Deliverables: what needs to be delivered, how and when?
To tell how well focused you are, answer four short questions:
Of these, it is the ‘C’, Controls, that tends to need most attention. Part of the answer is data,
– Which one aspect of my role can have the biggest positive impact in particular information that is a strong predictor of future trouble rather than reporting on
on my objective? what has already happened.
– What percentage of my time do I currently spend on this? Controls also mean being clear about what deliverables are to be expected and when,
and then following up. Once a rhythm for reporting has been agreed, it is important that
– What percentage of my time should I spend on this? everyone sticks to it. Check in too often and a manager risks all the pitfalls of
micromanagement, including ending up doing the work themselves. But fail to keep to
– How can I increase this percentage? the regular reviews, and it may well be too late when you find that someone has veered
off course.
To evaluate the impact of the programme, a selection of managers who took part
in UMDP were asked a series of questions three months later. Here is what they
said:
Unilever CEO, Paul Polman, set the direction for the business to grow from €40bn
100% and skills from attending
the programme
82.5% a positive impact on
my engagement
to €80bn whilst reducing its environmental impact and making a positive social
impact. HR intends to grow volume in every category, in every country, and central
to achieving these targets is talent.
The last employee engagement survey showed that line manager capability was an I have been able to
area that, if improved, would significantly impact the company’s ability to ‘win with successfully apply the The programme was a
our people’, which is a cornerstone of the Unilever strategy.
96% knowledge and skills
I learnt to my job. Of these,
95.5% worthwhile investment
in my career development
The Unilever Management Development Programme (UMDP) is the first time a 91% said they were able to
single programme has been introduced to build the capabilities of Unilever’s 15,500 apply their learning within
supervisors, first and second line managers across 33 countries. just 2-4 weeks
The ambition was to build a scalable, customised, global programme that can be
delivered quickly, consistently to high quality, whilst managing costs.
The programme has The programme was a
Although Unilever already had its own ‘standards of leadership’, they chose to adopt 90.5% improved my performance 100% worthwhile investment
the Mind Gym’s seven key talents that drive manager performance because these at work
are grounded in science. Two programmes were created: one for first-line
managers and one for manager leaders.
Each programme was built around the seven core talents but designed and pitched
for the specific audience. A manager that experienced both programmes as they
progressed up the company would recognise the core that runs between them
and yet would also learn something completely new. “Management development can sometimes
A robust online diagnostic provided every manager with a detailed 24-page report
be perceived as the poor cousin to leadership
revealing how their own self-rating compared with the views of those they manage, development, whereas the reality is that you need
their peers and their boss.
both to succeed and thrive. As well as the training
In order to deliver a standardised programme that resonated across markets and
cultures, a network of coaches was specifically recruited and up-skilled to deliver
transfer data which is demonstrating the value
the same core messages with local relevance and cultural acuity. created by applying these skills back in the workplace,
At the time of writing, over 2,500 managers have taken part in UMDP. In the next one of the things I’m most struck by is how this
few years, all managers will get the chance to partake in the programme and, in so
doing, set a new performance standard for Unilever. programme is reinvigorating the sense of pride in
being a great manager”.
Nick Pope, Global Learning Director, Unilever
The programme has delivered a minimum 43% ROI, so for every $1 invested, $1.43
has been returned. This is based on the views of three separate audiences:
1. Direct reports
In 2008, the Thomson Corporation acquired Reuters to form one company,
Thomson Reuters. In the years that followed, the company focused on integration,
expanding its global footprint and deepening its services and products through Direct reports view of their manager effectiveness*
multiple acquisitions. This was a period of huge change.
1.2 * based on seven traceable questions
** increase is statistically significant
Consequently, the time and effort spent developing managers began to slip. The
existing learning and development programmes focused on a very small number of 1.0
MES score
fundamental basics of management needed to be improved at all levels. +0.028**
0.6 Manager did not
take part in MaTR
In 2012, Thomson Reuters appointed a new CEO, Jim Smith, and embarked on 0.4
a transformational journey. To achieve sustainable growth and a healthy return Overall population Manager takes (-0.016)
for investors, the leadership team committed to driving change to move from part in MaTR
0.2
and to as follows:
0
From: To:
• Internally focused • Customer focused 2. Managers of managers
• Siloed, duplicating efforts • Collaborative and simplified
• Fragmented approaches • Managing talent as a company asset
• Reactive • Here to win
• Performance-driven Said they observed an Said they noticed a positive
68% improvement in their direct
report’s management skills
57% change in the performance
of the team their direct
Thomson Reuters’ leadership realised that a highly engaged workforce led by skilled report manages
managers was key to achieving its bold objectives. Managers play a critical role in
translating business strategy into action by enhancing employee engagement,
effectively leading teams through change, focusing on outcomes and holding
teams accountable. 3. The managers themselves
HAPPEN
and your bottom line soar. of others.
THRIVE EXECUTE
You’ve missed the bus, again. Your
Create a culture of focus, discipline Find out the secrets to running
Discover how the power of choice office is making cutbacks. Learn
and accountability so your team Fleeting meetings that deliver what’s
Thrive can help you spend more time at Bounce back how to bounce back from the Execute
meetings
delivers in style and on time – needed with extra zest and the
your best. everyday setbacks that life throws
every time. minimum of fuss.
at us, and come out even stronger.
Being able to identify and Get what you want from life by Through learning how to effectively
True collaboration is not easy to
Give me understand our strengths can Create your choosing to think optimistically, Make it manage a project you can deliver Collaborative
strength own luck happen solutions achieve, but there are tactics we
help us get more energy from spotting opportunities and taking on time, to budget and with
can use to help us get there.
our everyday lives. responsibility. minimal hurdles along the way.
Know more
Website: www.themindgym.com
Blog: www.themindgym.com/insights
Twitter: @themindgym