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Congratulations to the Stop Hate UK Team

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I am currently training as a volunteer for STOP HATE UK who had their official launch in Leeds this afternoon. STOP HATE UK raises awareness and understanding of discrimination and hate crime, encourages its reporting, and supports the individuals and communities it affects.

It was really inspiring to listen to victims of hate crime talk about their experiences and describe the importance of the support that STOP HATE UK has been able to offer. I can’t wait to complete the training and start to get more involved.

But why do people hate in the first place? How could we engage with those who might become perpetrators of hate crime and prevent them from offending?

I am re-reading Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed which I first read when I did teacher training over 20 years ago. It reminds us that the oppressed, in turn, tend to become oppressors. My admittedly limited experience of hate crimes fits this pattern. The perpetrators are themselves victims of oppression both economically and socially. In order to find some power, status and esteem for themselves, they in turn oppress.

I believe that the same effect can play out in the workplace.  Old school managers strive to keep employees effective within roles that are tightly defined by job descriptions, targets, objectives and quality standards. The potential and aspiration of the individual comes a very distant second to their pre-ordained utility in the business.  Over time this distorts and inhibits their development as a human.  Essentially this style of management de-humanises and hatred, frustration, alienation and anger grow.  At best, people retire on the job.  At worst they express their alienation more powerfully through harassment, bullying and deception.

Progressive Managers on the other hand focus on the development of human potential.   Their role is to help people to exploit the opportunities that the organisation provides to further their own development as a person.  They build remarkable teams driven by the realisation of human potential – rather than the efficient but de-humanising fulfilment of a job description.

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Making it Easy to Say Thanks

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Sometimes saying thanks can be just too much work. You know you should drop someone a thank you card – but it is just too much effort to get to the shops and somehow it never gets done. So you just fire off an impersonal e-mail.

Instead, make it really easy to say ‘Thanks’ by setting up an emergency ‘Thank You’ kit. It should include some beautiful cards or notepaper, some postage stamps, and a selection of small but interesting gifts (I tend to give books or toys!). If you have to regularly thank chocolate loves you might want to look at this new service from Thorntons. (Big Thanks to Jayne Pickard from Encompass Marketing for the idea!)

You might also want to think about recording just how often you say thanks – and who to!

‘Our People Are Our Greatest Asset’ – The Big Lie!

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It is rare to work in an organisation these days that does not claim that ‘Our people are our greatest asset’.

This is the BIG lie! If it were true then we could simply recruit our way to success.

The truth is that some people are assets while others are liabilities and many managers find it hard to tell the difference. And managers who can effectively work with both assets and liabilities are rare. Instead we just settle for a complacent acceptance of the status quo.

So if people are not our greatest asset – then what is?

Well how about one (or more) from the following list:

  • Ideas
  • Passion
  • Energy
  • Commitment
  • Skills
  • Time.

How would we manage people to harness every idea, every ounce of passion, energy and commitment, and every skill; to make sure that none is wasted?

Focusing on what we expect people to contribute to our organisation holds the key to significantly improving our effectiveness as a manager.

From Good to Great Manager – Part 4 – The Power of Delegation

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Good bosses delegate.

Great bosses set up sensible monitoring routines so that they know how that delegation is going.

Good bosses engage employees in helping them with major projects.

Great bosses give their team members the major projects and are available to support them as required. They give the team members room to operate – without cutting them off.

Good bosses walk around the office talking to people – what Tom Peters calls Managing by Wandering Around or MBWA.

Great ones do that too, but they are careful not to ‘intrude’. They use MBWA as a way of getting information that helps them to give accurate feedback, to coach effectively and to delegate.

From Good to Great Manager – Part 3 – The Power of Appreciation

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The third in our occasional series on making the transition from being a good manager to being a great one.

Great managers know who does what.

Good managers are able to get a team to pull together to produce the goods.

Great managers know exactly who contributed what to the team effort. They take time to acknowledge and appreciate each person’s contribution.

They also know who has piggy backed on the hard work of others.  They give feedback and praise based on their own analysis and understanding of the person’s contribution.  They make sure that the feedback is based on firm evidence.

They use feedback and praise lavishly and effectively.

They know that by increasing the amount of appreciation in the organisation they increase esteem, confidence and self belief – vital ingredients to building high performing teams.

What opportunities does the Power of Appreciation hold for helping you to make the transition from good to great?