Several years ago, two American gentlemen called Peters and Waterman published an instant bestseller called “In Search of Excellence”. The book was based on research that they had carried out into American industry and commerce. There were prompted to do so by a general feeling that effectiveness and excitement had somehow started to disappear from North American industrial life.
Peters and Waterman looked very closely at the ‘management styles’ and ‘culture’ of the most successful companies in the United States.
They discovered that the secret of success of these companies lay in the very simple but effective style of management that was in place. In every single case there was a family or team atmosphere pervading right through the business and no manager regarded himself as ‘the boss’, disciplinarian, or naysayer.
He was the Coach, Mentor, Motivator, Counsellor and Cheerleader.
Exactly the same principles apply in your industry, no matter what it is.
Look at the most successful managers in your business. They are indeed the coach, mentor, motivator, counsellor and cheerleader.
There should be a feeling of “teamship” (If there is such a word! If not, I have just invented it!).
Many of you will have seen the John Adair model of management which, if you remember is the one where three interlocking circles representing a view of management. The three interlocking circles represent:
- The job or TASK to be done
- Building and maintaining the TEAM
- Developing the INDIVIDUAL
For a complete management style, we need to be achieving all of the above three components.
The fact that we need to be delivering the task is self-evident. The CEO’s task may be to deliver a profit, your task may be to develop the website or look after the accounts. We all have a task.
Numbers two and three (above) simply provide the means of achieving the tasks.
A note of caution, though — How many of us have met or even worked for a manager who is so task-oriented that he forgets about the individuals and has no wish to even think about his team?
Such a boss is an illustration of the fact that many supervisors and managers who are not aware of the Adair model of management, forget that in the long-term there has to be a balance between Task, Team and Individual.
As Peters and Waterman discovered, an efficient and happy business is very conscious of the team but not in preference to the other two components.
It’s all simply a question of balance and awareness.
