Thursday, February 19, 1998

The 15 things that good managers have in common

By JAN NORMAN / The Orange County Register

Anyone who has ever worked for a good manager knows it.

It's not a physical recognition. Good managers come in varied packages. Consider the finalists for 1997 Manager of the Year of the Orange County, Calif., chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Management.

The co-managers of the year are Milton Gordon, president at California State University, Fullerton, and Ajay Myer, plant manager for 3M Dental Products in Irvine.

The other finalists: Cody Leser, district manager, Novell Corp. in Irvine; Lance Hicks, chief executive officer, Finance 500 in Irvine; Gary Nelson, vice president of engineering, Scantron Corp. in Tustin; Brad Gates, Orange County sheriff-coroner.

They range in age from 41 to 62. Four are white; one, black; one, east Indian. They work in industries that encompass manufacturing, law enforcement, education, finance.

Yet when they and their nominators talk about the principles on which these managers have built their careers, recurrent themes play a fugue.

These principles pay rewards in human capital and profits.

1. Give employees authority: No other principle came up as often as the need for a manager "to give people the tools, then stay out of the way and let them do their jobs," as Nelson put it.

Hicks merely calls it delegating.

"You can't be a good manager if you don't delegate," he insisted.

Novell employee Donna Hermann, who wrote Leser's nomination on behalf of his employees in three districts for the company, said he empowers employees by giving them the tools to accomplish their individual and company goals.

"He gave each account executive in our region a budget ... to fund seminars and marketing over the course of the year instead of going to the corporate trough each time," she said. "The net result was more Ôbang for the buck' -- superior seminars and marketing activities and higher sales for the company."

At 3M Dental, Myer calls this principle "windows of authority."

Each person has a range of responsibility and, as long as he or she is performing within that window, no reports or explanations are necessary.

"Once people know they're responsible for an assignment, they take ownership," he said. "Once outside that window, above or below, it's their responsibility to give me notice. No one is looking over their shoulder."

This approach enabled 3M Dental to win the California quality award in 1994 from the California Council for Quality and Service in San Diego -- six years ahead of the division's goal -- and the national Malcolm Baldridge Award for quality this year.

2. Communicate: Employee empowerment doesn't work without frequent communication.

"If people are to be successful, they have to have information," Myer said.

He talks informally with all 250 of his associates and has weekly staff meetings and semiannual "state of the plan" presentations.

Then there are the weekly basketball games.

"Good managers listen," Hicks said. "I have a constant parade of people in and out of my office. I have to listen very carefully and attend to each individually. If I don't, it adversely affects that person and the business."

3. Behave with integrity: Integrity, Gordon said, "is the real issue. If you're honest, you don't have to worry what you said the last time around."

Scantron engineer Marianne Roper said of Nelson, "In an age when greed and self-promotion are all too prevalent in the workplace ... he is a person of exceptional character. ... This is a genuine, good and decent man who does not just pay lip service to the Golden Rule; he really attempts to live it."

Hicks's nominator Bing Ng said one reason he went to work for Finance 500 was "Lance is a straight guy with strict adherence to the rules and regulations."

4. Hire greatness: Good managers aren't afraid to surround themselves with people who are smarter, Gates said.

"These are people who want to move up in the world and be successful. Even if they want the boss' job, that's OK."

5. Be sincere: An insincere manager will be ineffective over time, said Gordon. "Phoniness shows through in every walk of life."

6. Get your own priorities straight: Before Nelson tried to manage others, he believed it important to put his own priorities in order: family first, job second.

"I know what's important in my life," he said. "Jobs come and go."

Nominator Roper added, "Anyone who knows Gary realizes that he is a company man who balances his career with a solid commitment to his wife, Patricia, and their two grown children."

7. Put yourself in others' circumstances: With his own priorities clear, Nelson said, "I can be sensitive to others' needs and come up with a system that works so they can be productive in work and personal lives, whether it's telecommuting, flexible hours or something else."

Hicks said part of his management style is "to walk a mile in the other person's moccasins ... and not just listen but truly help."

8. Mentor: Hicks's helpfulness was mentioned repeatedly in nominating letters.

"When I first started, I was new to the industry," wrote employee Ron Homan. Lance Hicks took me under his wing. He counseled me daily and gave me innovative ideas."

Carolyn Plunkett, Hicks's operations manager, added, "His patience and commitment to my knowledge of the industry have had a tremendous effect on my ability to do my job intelligently. He never seems to stop teaching others."

9. Set objectives: 3M Dental doesn't run on gut feelings, Myer said.

"We love people's ideas, but then we go out and collect information," he said. "We try to find out the activities that must be done to achieve our goals. If we don't get the results, we did the wrong activities."

10. Challenge old rules: When Leser arrived 18 months ago, the Novell district was last in sales among the company's 30 districts. Now it's first.

"We needed to challenge old edicts," he said. "People would say ÔWe've always done it that way.' I said, ÔThat's ended. How should we do it?' "

11. Remove obstacles: Leser considers his most important managerial role to be eliminating barriers.

"My style is to ask each person ÔWhat is keeping you from being successful in your job,' then to tackle those obstacles," he explained. "I think that's why our district was able to go from last place to first in 18 months."

12. Make a decision: "I've always tried to give my people an answer, so they can walk out of a room and know what they're supposed to do," Gates said.

13. Have a sense of humor: Young academic administrators tend to take themselves too seriously, observes Gordon, who used to teach a Harvard University summer program for new college presidents.

"There are pressures every day. Almost every decision you make someone is going to criticize," he said. "I told those new presidents, ÔIf you don't see the funny mistakes, the silly things and laugh, you'll break up.' "

14. Reward a good job: "People need to be told they've done a good job," Gates said.

Every few months the sheriff's department gives Gold Star Awards to employees whose peers say they have done distinguished work.

"It might be one outstanding task or a good job every day over time," he said.

15. Celebrate: The bottom line, Myer said, "We have fun. We celebrate every success. At the halfway point toward a goal we have pizza. At six-tenths, we bring in bagels. At seven-tenths, the whole team goes out to lunch. At eight-tenths, each one gets a $25 gift certificate.

"We're not breaking the bank," he said. "We're recognizing success."