Who manages the managers ?

Whilst watching a recent British and Irish Lions rugby match, I heard the former Irish fly half and now coach of La Rochelle in France, Ronan O’ Gara, provide a brilliant and simple explanation of the key elements of the game – skillset, structure and mindset.

All three are also central to any successful business, but I have a sense there is often an over emphasis on the first two, whilst the third can be overlooked. That feeling was brutally illustrated later the same day when I was in a retail outlet, not in Bath I should stress.

Whilst I wandered around the shelves, someone I took to be an area manager conducted a brief review of the operation. It was regrettable they did this in the hearing of customers, but maybe since it was a fairly small shop, that was unavoidable. But what was unforgiveable was the content of the review.

It consisted of nothing but carping over detail, barking orders and concluding with a summary of actions that needed to be completed before the end of the day. It was very strong on structure, probably adequate for the skillset of the two members of staff, but it didn’t address mindset in the least and they looked shell shocked by the encounter.

I can appreciate an area manager will be working under pressure, perhaps with a large number of shops to visit within a short space of time. Their focus could easily be concentrated on getting key messages over in what they think is a fast and effective way. But there is every danger they leave a trail of emotional wreckage in their wake, which will not be good for the business, however pertinent were all the points they brought up.

It is a real challenge for senior people in every business to be aware of everything that is going on and to be aware of how middle managers treat their teams. I know that 360-degree processes are often put in place, but I do wonder how frank, young and inexperienced members of staff will be when they are asked about the behaviour of their boss, especially if there’s a possibility of them being identified.

I’ve seen a wide variety of leadership styles but I have come to the conclusion that the most effective is the one where the boss does a lot of walking around, making themselves available for an informal conversation, picking up useful titbits of information and forging a relationship with the people in the business at a personal level. In other words, paying as much attention to the mindset of staff as providing them with the skills and structure they need to operate well.