January 2006

Simple genius - Drucker on being a manager
For more than 50 years he stunned the business world with his observations and admonitions. Born in Germany, he studied economics, journalism and law and, to escape the tidal wave of Nazism, came to the United States in 1933 as a professor and a freelance writer [fascinating occupation, that].

In the more-than-60 times the Harvard Business Review invited him to appear in its pages, Drucker tore into executives' complacency about planning and managing businesses and the people in them. In his book The Practice of Management, he lays it all out using, as does HBR, stories of high-profile companies like Sears and IBM to drive home his points.

Today, his wisdom--like Deming's on quality--is considered baseline stuff. Everybody accepts these truths--yet somehow we still struggle with execution. In celebration of his legacy, HBR this month features selected articles from its archives. I like the last two punchy ones, so you get a snippet from each:

From "They're Not Employees, They're People" (2002). Knowledge workers, though a minority, increasingly create the jobs and wealth in our society. To get the greatest productivity from yours, Drucker advises:

• Cut out dull, routine "employee" paperwork--automate it and/or outsource it.


• Spend time with promising people--get to know them and be known by them.


• Just as in running research department or conducting a symphony orchestra, the key to greatness is to look for people's potential and develop it.

From "What Makes an Effective Executive" (2004). Forget charisma--that's not what it takes to be a leader. In his 65 years of consulting with CEOs (of every personality type imaginable), he found the great ones all did eight things consistently. In a brilliantly succinct description of a leader, he says they all:

1. Asked: What needs to be done?


2. Asked: What's right for the enterprise?


3. Developed action plans


4. Took responsibility for decisions


5. Took responsibility for communicating


6. Focused on opportunities rather than problems


7. Ran productive meetings


8. Thought and said "we" rather than "I..."

Drucker throws in one more--and says consider it a rule: "Listen first. Speak last."

I don't know about you, but I've found some other kinds of readings also help me understand how to be a better manager--readings in which philosophers say you can maintain your own values without rushing to find fault with others who think differently. Seems like good advice on how to fill in the space--to process the information you're receiving--while you "listen first" and before you "speak last."

And for every step you take towards being a better manager, the bonus is you'll be getting better at being a parent, a partner, and a friend.

Sincerely,
Barbara