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How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

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Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#161

Post by wiz21c »

First :

>>> People are not stagnant; instead, they are constantly learning and evolving.

There's adifference between evolving naturally and evolving because you're pushed to do so by the company. I work with people who don't want to evolve. They seek a peaceful, comfortable environment. They do their job quite well, nothing more. I understand that.

Second, values... Should people be hired because of their skill or because of their values ? What if their political views conflic with your values ? Isn't it the moment when discrimination comes in ? Say you work for Google because you love the AI stuff, then Google starts selling weapons. Should they fire people who don't share those values anymore ?

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#162

Post by gowld »

Bahamut wrote: post #159
drblast wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems to be the impression in the business world, which has what I can only describe as a fetish for stories about the military, but Marines in particular have a very tough time adapting to life and careers outside the military. It's fun to think of our businesses as just like a Seal team and try to glean lessons from stories of heroism, but the reality is if the military were in the business of making a profit,…

The US military is efficient at what it does, generally speaking - it is the product of a can't fail fighting force, and all the implications that come out of that. As an enlisted infantry Marine who transitioned very easily into software engineering, I find my leadership training in the Marine Corps a distinct advantage I have over my peers. I have been called the best manager other engineers have ever had by multip…

What's a "can't fail fighting force"? Military can certainly fail.

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#163

Post by gowld »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #128
piyh wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What were a few differences you ran into?

Asians have massive respect for authority. This, in effect, mean that they won't ever say no to, or disagree with, their boss. I had to learn to ask open questions, because if they could say yes they would. They would still guess at what I wanted to hear and tell me that. I got told different things than other members of the management team, not because anyone was trying to deceive, but purely as a show of respect. M…

> After training myself for years to not send emails

Why would you do that? That's a recipe for miscommunication and mis-coordination in any country.

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#164

Post by marcus_holmes »

gowld wrote: post #163
marcus_holmes wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Asians have massive respect for authority. This, in effect, mean that they won't ever say no to, or disagree with, their boss. I had to learn to ask open questions, because if they could say yes they would. They would still guess at what I wanted to hear and tell me that. I got told different things than other members of the management team, not because anyone was trying to deceive, but purely as a show of respect. M…

> After training myself for years to not send emails Why would you do that? That's a recipe for miscommunication and mis-coordination in any country.

I'm a geek, I have a massive preference for written communication. Salesfolk, marketroids and other species of colleague prefer verbal communication. I had to train myself to call some people and email others, in other words to use their preferred communication method rather than mine. It worked a lot better.

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#165

Post by marcus_holmes »

spyckie2 wrote: post #152
hanniabu wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious why the servant leadership style didn't work for you and why you think that is because this is the approach I prefer as well but I'm young in my career.

It doesn't work in Asia because of cultural reasons. Independent thinking and enabling others is a very American way of thinking. People don't realize how much culture is derived off of core principles within major founding documents (declaration of independence, constitution). In Asia, Confucian philosophy dominates the cultural landscape in terms of what values they have. One of the big principles of it is how to m…

This, exactly. It was a huge surprise to find that asian people do not think of themselves as equals. Incidentally this is also one of the reasons democracy is struggling here, in my opinion.

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#166

Post by marcus_holmes »

gregskloot wrote: post #10
marcus_holmes wrote: post #6

Great for building a brand new team. Not so great for assuming leadership of an existing team/business. Also, very American. I just stopped being CEO of a SE Asian business, and this just doesn't apply globally. There are culture differences that make enormous differences in leadership styles and outcomes.

That's a very fair point. My leadership experience is in the U.S. so totally makes sense that it came out from that angle. For assuming leadership of an existing team, I think it depends on the state of the team. Often the teams I have inherited needed a lot of work. There wasn't a defined culture or great communication processes, so I found a lot of it still applied. In my last business, I needed to help re-build /…

So, for instance, your section on hiring people. It talks about hiring for the culture you want. But if you have an existing team culture, do you hire for the "new" culture that you want, knowing that the new person is going to struggle to fit in, or do you hire for the existing culture, and hope to change it over time?

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#167

Post by gowld »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #62
dahart wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if it’s 8, you can no longer call them “core” You are lucky if you think 10-12 hour work days don't exist in software development. You might also be forgetting about flex schedules, core hours may include the entire working day and may be a signal that substituting 9-10am for 5-6pm is not acceptable because you were hired to do a job that depends on your presence when others are also there. There are multiple legit…

No, they really can't do that, at least they can't document it, unless the employees are non-exempt or they wish for the employees to be paid overtime. Even having core time at all sounds like a non-exempt requirement, let alone the whole day. Many managers are completely oblivious to federal labor laws, unfortunately.

Exempt means not paid hourly. I think you are confusing Exempt with Independent Contractor or something else. An exempt employee can certainly be required to show up for work when needed, be they an oncaller, or a hospital resident, or an attorney litigating in court.

http://www.flsa.com/coverage.html

> The job duties of the traditional "learned professions" are exempt.

> Professionally exempt work means work which is predominantly intellectual, requires specialized education, and involves the exercise of discretion and judgment.

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#168

Post by gowld »

jph wrote: post #58
anothergoogler wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd have some sign language for anybody who tried enforcing "sign language ground rules." > * I have a teammate who likes to write the core rules on the whiteboard before each meeting, and point to them when he starts the meeting, and each time a participant needs reminding. Are you working with school children or professionals?

> I'd have some sign language for anybody who tried enforcing "sign language ground rules." Are you working with school children or professionals? For example the Executive Director was deaf, a significant number of client staff were hard of hearing, and there were 100K school students, including special needs students, and many recent immigrants who were starting to learn English. All online materials were provided…

You've received a lot of hostile comments in this conversation, and you've handled them all with aplomb and courtesy, bridging the gaps of mismatched assumptions. I salute you.

Re: How to be a Manager – A step-by-step guide to leading a team

#170

Post by krolley »

gowld wrote: post #160
darkerside wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tend to agree. This piece reads more like, how to be a director or VP. Setting the culture is not a front line manager's job any moreso than individual contributors. A manager just needs to keep his folks productive in a way that's aligned with the company goals.

Why? ICs don't pay so much attention to the CEO of the company. An IC is CEO of themself. A manager is CEO of the team. > needs to keep his folks productive in a way that's aligned with the company goals How is that different from "Setting the culture" ?

Because you don't set the values of the company, you just align your team to the goals of your larger organization / company.
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