Management 101 - Final Entry

My Management Epiphany

The learning opportunities I experienced this semester in my Management in Sport and Recreation class have given me such an amazing outlook on life as well as what my future career might entail. The knowledge I have gained from the major themes and emerging trends in the workforce today have really made me more confident in myself as a young professional. Before I took the class I had little to no idea what management was all about compared to my bank of knowledge to draw from after completing the course. In order to share these experiences and explain how they have shaped my opinions about management I broke it down into two major parts that include the major themes I found to be most beneficial and related to me the most, and the personal growth I endured throughout the semester. The first part describes the little “m” of management and what you do as a manger, and the second part describes the big “M” of management which is who I am as a manger. I would first like to start out with the wordle our class created on the first day of class. Below is a copy of the wordle and what we all thought management meant prior to the course. Our class also came up with a definition of management as well that reads: “using resources efficiently to lead a team effectively towards goals and objectives.” When I look back at this definition now, I can clearly see how much the course taught me about management and how much more it involves than what I thought initially.

 

The first major theme I found to be the most important was from the book by Jim Collins called “Good to Great.” The motto of getting the RIGHT people on the bus, and the WRONG people off the bus makes the most sense to me. As a manager it’s important to figure out who those right people are, but first you have to know what the bus looks like in order to put the right people on the bus. This involves figuring out how they fit and where will you put them to ultimately set them up for success. It sounds like common sense, but I can speak from my own experiences that some managers have no idea what their bus looks like making it difficult to figure out where to drive it. As a student softball manager, I work under three coaches that I would consider to be different types of leaders. Each year as a coaching staff it’s our job to figure out what our bus or team, will look like. The game of softball involves a lot of specialized positions and multiple personalities. The recruiting process takes care of finding the great people, but figuring out where to put each person on the bus can be very difficult.  There are always good players, but figuring out who the great players are is not easy. After the bus is full, as a team we then have to determine where to drive it meaning what is our mission and how are we going to go about achieving it. The practitioner visits this semester gave me great insight as to how to choose the right people based on what they look for when hiring people. Almost everyone stated they would hire someone with a great personality that’s fits in well with the business over having the skills necessary for the job. Skills can be taught, but personality is the ultimate factor in choosing one person over another.

Another theme that caught my attention is how to motivate people. Again, in life and as a coach, motivation is a key to success if utilized appropriately. I understand that not every person is alike and everyone responds differently to different types of motivation. I coach some players that respond better to an ass chewing as opposed to some would rather have a conversation about it. The two types of motivation that emerge in the workforce the most are intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic comes from the self and extrinsic comes from an external factor. In my opinion, I think intrinsic motivation is more beneficial long term. The important piece with motivation like I said before is figuring out what motivates each person individually. An important point to remember from a manager’s standpoint is that you have to know your employees on a personal level and communicate with them to figure out what drives them to be successful. Giving employees the opportunity to do something they will likely be successful with and passionate about leads to higher intrinsic motivation. One example of motivation that always stands out to me is very popular in the field of recreation. People in today’s society are always trying to get fit or lose weight and a major piece to accomplishing that goal is motivation. Some might be extrinsically motivated when they step on the scale every morning or can reward themselves with a “cheat meal” or new clothes. Others, which tend to be more successful, are intrinsically motivated because they have learned to make it a lifestyle change. The good feeling they get after a workout or the confidence they gain in themselves after losing the weight is what really drives them to continue.  Managers can learn from this example because it paints a perfect picture of how everyone is different and it takes different types of motivation to be successful. There are no specific steps to follow, it’s more about getting to know your employees personally and learning from each other what motivates one another.

The next theme that has been reoccurring in a lot of areas of my life is the difference between management and leadership and figuring out the right balance between the two. There are a number of ways to manage or lead in this case, a group of people. One reading that distinguished the roles best for me was by Kouzes and Posner. The idea that “leadership is not about personality, it’s about behavior,” “credibility is the foundation of leadership,” and “modeling the way” define leadership very nicely. As an athlete and coach, if a leader is not reinforcing his/her own actions by what is being expected, then the players will not follow because of the lack of credibility and trustworthiness. As I stated in a blog earlier this semester, I think the top for characteristics discussed in the reading hit it right on the head as to what qualities a leader should have: Honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competence. My personal experiences in a leadership role defined who I was as a person. When I took on the additional responsibilities as a team captain I had to pay more attention to my actions because my teammates looked up to me as a role model. This is important in a managerial role as well because as a boss in the workforce there is limited opportunity for mistakes. If you want your employees to be successful you have to model the way you want them to behave.  The saying that you should always practice what you preach is the perfect way to define this role. Another reading by Kotterman does a nice job describing the difference between a manager and a leader. The manager plans and budgets, sets timelines, organizes staffs, maintains structure, implements the vision, monitors results, etc. The leader sets the direction and develops the vision, motivates, inspires, influences creation of teams/partnerships, displays passion etc. A combination of both roles is an ideal management style in my opinion. 

This leads me into my next point that once you have found a management style that fits you, how do you go about driving the bus and keeping everyone on the same page? The answer to this based off readings and the case study I conducted is strategic planning, a key concept that is utilized by almost everyone. By definition, a strategic plan establishes a shared vision, and path towards that vision. I never really understood the importance of this concept until I started investigating my case study on the attendance decrease at the IHSA March Madness Basketball Tournament. In order to solve a problem, a plan has to be put into place and then was an entire process I followed to offer solutions. To me, planning is important because it provides structure, a way to reach goals, and contains specific action plans to reach those goals. Focusing on the stakeholders in many cases is one way to outline a plan because they are the ones with a vested interest in what you are providing. Another important piece of the plan was conducting a SWOT analysis. This is sort of like a rough draft or starting point in the planning process. This type of analysis determines the internal strengths and weaknesses and the external opportunities and threats. The more in depth I got with this the easier it was to determine the problem and potential solutions. I have learned to utilize the SWOT analysis concept in many areas of my life like figuring out what career path to take. Throughout the semester I found myself constantly evaluating my strengths and weaknesses and determining where opportunities were available and the possible threat I could encounter. A number of times the most common weakness I found was my lack of experience outside of softball based on the requirements of jobs I applied for. Looking back at my experiences, I wish I would’ve opened up my options and possibly attended a different graduate school so I could learn how other programs operate and possibly gain additional mentors.

After the plan is decided the next step of the process is to make the decisions on implementing the plan. Decision making was another major theme that can be different every place you go. Understanding that selecting the “best” option doesn’t always ensure that things will turn out the way we wanted them to in the long run. Managers must be able to take on this responsibility and support the decision no matter what the outcome may be….someone has to take blame if it fails. Making the wrong decision doesn’t always doom us for failure or unhappiness either. A big part of making a decision is more about what happens in the next days, months, and years that follow the decision. From my own decision making experiences, I found it beneficial to prepare myself for resistance prior to even discussing the option because I know when it comes to multiple people involved in the process, the decision won’t be accepted by everyone. Encouraging group think, choosing the right people to involve, and having a plan to execute the decision are the three keys to decision making for me. The Mountain Adventure activity we partook in during class this semester was an awesome activity I think managers should conduct with their employees for fun and as a learning experience. The discouraging part of the activity was trying to get everyone to agree on the same items and producing the “buy-in” that everyone is on board.

The final piece of my epiphany of management is the personal growth I endured throughout the semester. In other words, based on the knowledge I gained I have started to find my own personal management style by pulling information from all aspects of the course. The management motto I came up with for myself is to “be the type of manager your employees want to be led by, not just a dictator. Be accountable, reliable, personable, and a motivator for success.” I really believed this motto sets the stage for my professional development and first job I’m about to take on after completing graduate school. My management style is based off of the idea that as a manager you are constantly growing and learning from others and possibly the mistakes you encountered along the way. I have pulled information from not only class and personal experiences, but from the practitioners that visited the class as well. A couple points were made by various practitioners that I continually remind myself of when I look for jobs and what I might eventually enjoy doing. The first point was made by Leslie Radice when she stated the she believes fresh blood is good in an organization, but also promoting from within an organization can be beneficial. She also said she liked people who are always asking what else can I do? The final statement I really take to heart is those who have confidence within their own skills are the employees she enjoys most. In addition, Joe Delous mentioned how he likes to manage in a way that everyone is on the same page. He also had similar comments on the idea that he would rather hire people who take initiative. He said, every day you go into work and it’s an interview. You are constantly being evaluated, so it’s best to have confidence in yourself to earn the most respect from your employees. This comment really hit home to me because I do believed being evaluated is a huge part in the workforce. Leann Seal mentioned as part of her evaluation process is to constantly take notes and write down everything, put it in a file, and when it’s time to refer back to something you won’t forget the details. I’ve always been one to take notes and keep files on record, so I think this would be an easy transition for me to utilize in my management style. Lastly, I would like to refer to a previous blog when I discussed what I feel is my personal management style. As a manager I would attempt to implement a mixture of concepts and ideas from personal experience, research, and collaboration amongst co-workers. I’m inclined to be driven by the organizations stakeholders (consumer’s) satisfaction in order to produce positive long-term results. The hope is to increase the number of loyal customers and employees at the same time by pleasing both. Employees are ultimately a manger’s potential customers who are spreading word of mouth to the public, making them the most important. This is why it is also important to create a harmonious and autonomous environment. Autonomy allows for the employees to have freedom, take risks, and make decisions which can be very empowering. As we know, money isn’t everything and is only one motivator manager’s are necessarily in control of. This puts importance on creating an efficient and effective culture in the workplace. In order to be efficient the manager must divide responsibility and build buy-in to the company’s vision/values. I refer back to this quote when I evaluate myself as trying to be an “ideal” manager: “Before people care what you know, they need to know you care.” As a manager, it’s extremely important to show interest and care about your employees. Everyone is on the same bus for the same reasons; you just have to figure out how to keep the bus moving as efficiently and effectively as possible. Always remember, as Leann Seal stated on her visit: “the fish stinks from the head down.”

Entry #6 The One Minute Manager Key Concepts - Rewrite

I recently had the opportunity to read “The One Minute Manager” by Ken Blanchard for my KNR management class this semester and the points made in the book definitely caught my attention. The book “The One Minute Manager” is a simple reading that is very applicable to my life and future endeavors. I believe that all managers, both new and experienced, make mistakes they can all learn from by reading this book. Sometimes managers believe there are helping their employees, but in reality they could possibly be hurting them. “The One Minute Manager” opened my outlook on various managerial styles and the idea that positive habits and learning from past mistakes can benefit managers of all types.

There are three of many key ideas to being a “One Minute Manager,” below are my interpretations of the three I found to be important and reasons why I recommend reading the book:

One Minute Goal Setting: “the number one motivator of people is feedback on results”

It sounds like a simple idea, but many employees have no clue what their managers want and expect from them. The One Minute Managers overcome this by having their employees write down their goals in 250 words or less and focus on the positives. Again, keeping the goals simple and trusting the employees to meet their goals are important. I like to set my goals based on the acronym: SMART. As a coach, we utilize this method when goal setting prior to competition, practice, and in the classroom. It’s important to note that goals must be set at a level that achievement is possible within a specific timeframe. Below is a picture describing what SMART goals include:

Picture retrieved from google images: https://wikispaces.psu.edu/display/PSYCH484/6.+Goal+Setting+Theory

The One Minute Manager also encourages employees to revisit their goals weekly and review them periodically with their manager to determine if they need to be adjusted as the employee grows in his/her role. One mistake many managers make is assuming their employees know exactly what their manager’s expect from them. This brings up an important point about continually evaluating and reevaluating employees. Building this trustworthy relationship upon reliance is a great asset to any company or organization. The need to constant communication among coworkers to ensure everyone is working towards the mission or vision is of the most importance. Managers must make themselves available and have the willingness to work one on one with all employees to make this happen.

In relation to class materials this semester goal setting is an extremely important aspect of the planning and organizational structure of a business. This process involves six steps that include: analysis, vision, mission, goals, strategies, and action plans. The planning typically is a long process, so the sooner it can be developed and put into action the more applicable it becomes. More specifically, the goal setting portion of the plan determines what needs accomplished in order to achieve the vision of the company.  In order to find the solution, strategies with specific action plans are put into place and continually evaluated. One minute goal setting can be an essential part of this plan because it makes certain employees are constantly working toward the shared vision of the company.

One Minute Praising’s: “help people reach their full potential…catch them doing something right”

One Minute Managers sometimes catch people doing things right or somewhat right in the workplace. As soon as the manager observes the positive behavior, they tell the employee what they specifically did right and how it makes him or her feel by reinforcing the praising. The mistake that many mangers make is only communicating with employees, especially great employees, when they make a mistake. In reality, what happens is that good employees who are doing things right only receive negative feedback and not enough positive feedback. I observe this dilemma in the coaching profession on a daily basis. Sometimes coaches have their “favorites” or their “starter” that receives the most praise and the others are left on the back burner. In some cases these “favorites” receive a lot of the negative praise because the coach expects more out of them and if they make mistakes it means a lot more than if a non-starter were to make a mistake. It is important to praise everyone equally or not at all. This is where athletic programs run into the problem of having people quit, lack of effort, and disruptions to the team. If everyone receives praise on the team and staff it creates a more positive relationship that will result in success and teamwork.

One Minute Praising’s remind me a lot about how managers gain trust from their employees. This all relates back to the article by Ron Zemke “Can You Manage Trust?”  The article states that “Trust is the foundation of good relationships with employees and customers alike-and it’s eroding on both fronts. What’s a manager do?” A couple ways to gain trust are managing expectation by being clear with people about what is expected, establishing boundaries, delegating appropriately by giving opportunities to employees that guarantee success, and  honoring agreements by keeping your word and “walking the talk.” I think this quote from the article says a lot about whether a manager is successful or not: “Trust is a test that is passed or failed on a daily basis, not something one can build and walk away from. Continually giving one minute praising’s just one way to keep building trust within a work environment.
One Minute Reprimands:
One Minute Managers use reprimands to correct and redirect behavior in the workplace. When the manager observes someone doing something negative, he/she will tell them immediately and specifically. The manager tells the employee what he/she is doing incorrectly as an action. This means the manager is never reprimanding them as a person. He/she will also tell them how it makes them feel, and redirect them back to their One Minute Goals to encourage the person to do better next time. By focusing on correcting their behavior in the future and letting them know why can do it is the key element.  The mistake managers make is the “Reprimand” sandwich. This is when they say a positive, then a negative, then a positive. This does the employee no good because when you give a compliment the employee then expects a negative and the idea of One Minute Praising’s is eliminated.  Under certain circumstances it is ok to be positive, but this must take place at the right time and place. The manager must establish their grounds in order to eliminate the same mistakes over and over again. Second and third chances cannot be tolerated multiple times because that would make for a very inefficient operation. Reprimanding an employee is something that takes confidence and authority, but will benefit both the manager and his/her employees in the long run.

I think One Minute Reprimands relate closely with the topic of Performance Appraisals discussed in class. These appraisals can be a formal method for assessing how well people are doing with respect to their assigned goals. As a manager, these are essential to making decisions on salary and promotions. Managers typically use what they call 360-degree feedback for bring the observations of employees.  As part of the process for effective appraisals, managers must prepare, have appraisal meetings, identify both good and bad performance, find the root cause of performance gaps, plan how the gaps can be closed, reevaluate goals, documentation of the meetings, and a follow-up of the employee’s progress.
In summary of “The One Minute Manager,” I have gained three key ingredients to being a successful manager: tell people what they did wrong, tell people how you feel about it, and remind people that they are valuable and worthwhile. All of these elements along with setting goals can help lead to improvements in employee behavior and a successful work environment.

Entry #5 Decision Making - Rewrite

A majority of my work and future career path as a coach involves helping athletes perform and making important decisions. Sometimes these decisions can feel particularly big because they involved choosing one option to the exclusion of others when the cost of being “wrong” can be considerably important (win or loss). Making a decision of who to put in the line-up, or even a career path decision like considering job offers and deciding which one to accept are all applicable to my life right now.

 Difficult decisions like this constantly remind me about the decision making process we’ve been discussing in class. I believe it’s important to make good decisions, but I’ve learned to spend much  less time and energy worrying about “making the right decision” and more time on ensuring that the decisions I make turn out right. Before we make any important decisions, especially one’s that we cannot undo, we become anxious and focused on trying to make the “best” decision because of the risk of being “wrong.” One interesting mindset I’ve ran into that is sometimes the feeling of being overemphasized in the moment which makes me lose sight of everything that follows the decision. Understanding that selecting the “best” option doesn’t always ensure that things will turn out the way we wanted them to in the long run. In contrast, making the wrong decision doesn’t always doom us for failure or unhappiness either. I believe it’s about what happens in the next days, months, and years that follow the decision that ultimately determine whether the decision was “right.”

 Currently I have been searching for jobs and making an important life decision regarding which career path I should follow, and what will ultimately set me up for success in the long run. I have identified the problem, but defining the objectives for the solution is where I’m stuck. I know I want to start by getting my foot in the door and starting a career path in the direction of athletics. I just don’t know which direction to go because of a number of variables whether it be coaching, administration, or even operations. A lot of the decision has to be based on what job openings are out there in the area that I want to pursue. I think this decision has no wrong answer, but I could encounter set-backs along the way. Many factors have to be taken into account with this type of decision like location, salary, job requirements, experience, and finding the right fit. Involving not only myself in the decision, but family as well is a huge part of this process. Their experiences in making career choices can help me to better understand possible solutions, provide encouragement to take risks, and financial support to help me along the way.

This idea of finding the right fit and setting being able to set myself up for success all relate back to the concept of “getting the right people on the bus” discussed in Jim Collin’s book “Good to Great.” Ultimately, my goal is to be the right/great person to get on a bus that is going to allow me to succeed. Collin’s found that the great companies find a way to create roles that are essential for success and in order to do so, making sure the right people are in those seats is the key. As a young professional entering a new career, I have learned to understand that this is a priority for managers and during my interviews I need to find a way to flaunt this asset. The real question however, is determining what the interviewer’s perception of the “right” people for the organization is. Researching and asking questions about the organization can be helpful, but what really makes you stand apart from the rest of the potential candidates?  

 From my experiences as an athlete and coach, I understand that the right people are those who will work and train harder than any other athletes. They have a strong work ethic that will enable them to develop and mold into the program as well. From a coaches or manager’s perspective, identifying who the right people are and creating a process that gets them on the right bus in the right seat is important. Every organization or team has different needs so the right people may be different in one team compared to another. Sometimes I think it is easier to identify certain people in the organization who I wish I could clone and define their characteristics and traits that create this right person. My goal in the interviewing process is to determine the “right” person the team is looking for and finding a way to make my strengths align with this person.

 All in all decisions are difficult, so when I start to get those anxious feelings I try to follow a more rational analysis much like the process managers use in the business world. I envision myself in the future scenario, listen to my emotions and determine how those feelings influence my level of commitment to that particular choice, and evaluate the decision after the fact. I’ve learned we can’t always make the “right” decision, but we can always make decisions right.

Entry #4 Managing Motivation

It has been very fascinating to read about how managers and top executives choose their employees and the styles they utilize to motivate employees in the workplace.  I believe the great managers understand what makes a team function and are able to utilize this knowledge to their advantage in order to drive performance and execution. They constantly have to be investing in the development of their employees to involve everyone both individually and collectively. When you think about motivating your employees as a Manager, it all begins during the hiring process. This is where the good employees are separated from the great. In the readings from “Good to Great” by Collins I definitely agree with his oppinion that we must hire great employees because a shared vision can be learned and most great employees are in it for the long run. Hiring the best employees possible is definitely the most important concept I would address from a hiring standpoint. During the hiring process being able to determine which employees fit best with the company is hard to figure out. The only way I believe this process can be successful is to focus the interview questions towards figuring out what motivates the potential employee. In addition it is important that the candidate is personable, relatable, and confident in themselves. The Executive Director from Champaign Parks and Recreation that spoke with us last week was very beneficial in describing the types of qualities he looks for in his employees. The two most important things he described to be important were a great personality and someone who takes initiative. He would much rather have someone that will get out there and try new things on their own rather than someone that might be conservative and sticks to what’s comfortable to them. As a young professional that will soon be going through the hiring process and interviews I really took this into consideration. I think he is spot on when he talked about giving it your all and showing people how good you are at what you do. Ultimately it’s important to make the person above you look good by showing your personality fits in and you are motivated to do your good the best you possibly can.

This leads me to my next point of how to motivate employees. There is a lot of controversy out there saying that it is not the job of managers to motivate their employees and other believe it is the manager’s job to motivate them. I think it is a mixture of both because internal motivation has to come from the self which puts the employee in charge of his/her own motivation. In addition I think the manager must understand what motivates his/her employees and use it as a tool to create a successful organization.  I believe that motivation should not be treated as a program, but more as a personal approach to deal with employees. Each person is likely to be motivated differently in a number of ways. Some may be more intrinsically motivated and some more extrinsically. Based on the two types I would rather have intrinsically motivated employees, but that likely hard to find, especially since people change overtime and there is never a consistency. An important point to understand is that as a manager you have to know your employees on a personal level with constant communication to figure out what drives them to be successful. Another way to think of this is to shift from a “management”
 role to more of a “leadership” role. You manage the projects going on in the business, but you lead the people. This could start by paying attention to what matters to your employees and focusing on the WHAT of work and leaving the HOW to the people you hired in these positions. This builds trust and allows for intrinsic motivation to occur because they can individually focus on their strengths. Giving employees the opportunity to do something they will likely be successful with and passionate about leads to higher intrinsic motivation. 

 Another concept I believe can help motivate employees extrinsically is to reinforce. This focuses on the positive and reinforcing what is valued in the company. For example, when employees are meeting the organizational goals this behavior should be reinforced or rewarded. Rewarding those who are accomplishing behaviors that are expected should happen automatically, but rewarding those who go above and beyond is acceptable in this case. A manager’s role in motivating employees can be tricky, but I think it’s all about knowing your employees and keeping a work relationship that allows for constant evaluation and communication to make sure they will be successful. It is the job of the manager to set people up for success it’s just a matter of putting forth the effort to figure out what makes his/her employees tick.

 

Entry #3 Organizational Structure on & off the field

During these past couple weeks of class I have been interested in the organizational structure of sports teams and how they can differ on and off the field. The structure can be different from one team to the next as well as one sport to the next. As someone who has been a player in a Division I softball program and currently a Graduate Assistant I definitely understand this importance in order to be a successful team. As I am approaching graduation and applying for jobs I have thought about these different organizational structures because I ultimately would like to coach or take on a role as the director of operations on the administrative side of athletics. To better understand my perspective of these structures I am using my own experiences and staff structure.

First, I would like to start by explaining the organization structure of a softball team on the field. I would consider this structure more of a team based design. Everyone's position or role is departmentalized working towards the same common goal (to WIN). I broke the departments into coaching staff, pitchers & catchers, infielders, outfielders, hitters, and reserve players. It takes everyone to win a game which is why it would also be appropriate to view it as an All-Channel Network. The communication amongst all departments is crucial in almost all sports. At times this could be inefficient in the dugout, but on the field it is extremely important. Like Pete Rose stated in the reading "baseball is a team game, but 9 men who meet their individual goals make a nice team." It takes everyone including the reserve players and coaching staff to win a ball game. The position players are loosely connected and spread out on the field, but synchronization must occur amongst them all. This synchronization is probably most important between the pitcher and catcher from my own experiences as a pitcher. We had to be on the same page or else we could easily be caught off guard or chaos would occur. The coaching staff is there mostly to help make decisions, but have to be careful not to disrupt the team's performance. It's also important to structure a team with like characteristics that can mesh together to allow for success. In the attached drawing I showed the organizational structure as a team based design (Figure 1) and as a All-Channel Network (Figure 2).

Now, from a coaching staff position off the field the organizational structure is totally different. In the office of a coach, the structure I have experienced is a bureaucracy. I don't necessarily agree with this style, but I live and learn from it each day. The head coach is directly above the Associate head coach followed by the assistant coach. This is where the structure starts to get a little tricky from my own personal experiences. I would like to think the net level in the chain of command is the Graduate Assistants, Media Relations, Athletic Training, and Director of Operations, but in my situation I have to report the the head coach as well as the assistants. Under the Graduate Assistants come the student assistants and the student manager. I don't believe the student assistant and manager should be on the same level because as a student assistant you have more experience and are more knowledgeable to coach. Also, the head coach is directly in charge of the student assistant coach and the Graduate Assistants manage them. In addition, I think for a coaching staff to operate in a positive way they must work as a team more so than a bureaucracy. The internal process approach is a great way to explain this "staff relationship." There must be an absence of internal strain, where members are highly integrated and function smoothly. Trust, benevolence, and communication are of the most important in this type of role. I have laid out the organizational structure (Figure 3) of the coaching staff off the field.

To conclude my thoughts on this topic, I think my own experiences have definitely helped shape my opinions and beliefs about how a softball team should be structure on and off the field. I would love to work for a staff that communicates and has a team structure, yet still has a head coach that can oversee and delegate responsibilities with trust and great communication. Everyone has input, some more than others, but the trust is what keeps a successful team on track.

Entry #2: The "ideal" Management Style

Based on discussion in last week’s class I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the history of management in order to determine an “ideal” management style in my opinion.  I understand there are definitely different types of managers based on the organizations visions and goals, but based on my analysis I created a style for someone who would be involved in a recreation organization. The following analysis will take you through six “styles,” or time eras, and conclude with my version of the “ideal” manager.

Frederick Taylor & Taylorism

I like theory behind this style based on efficiency because I’m a person that likes to divide up work and responsibility equally as long as workers are trained well and trustworthy. This relationship between coworkers creates a great work atmosphere because everyone is working toward the same goal as a team rather than individuals. Even though this style is focused on the “1 best thing,” I think there could be some changes made to better the management style.

Henri Fayol’s functions/Principles of Management

I like the fact that this theory is based on personal experiences and its ability to define roles and functions of an organization. The five functions its places an emphasis on (plan, organize, command, coordinate, control) are a perfect combination of responsibilities a manager should utilize. However, the way in which these principles are enforced is the key to being a great manager. The fourteen principles of management also explain many disciplines that managers should possess, but there are a few that don’t make a lot of sense to me. Number six, subordination of individual interest does not take into consideration the personal interest of the employees. I believe it is crucial to show interest in your employees as a manager in order to keep them happy and retain them long-term. Number nine, scalar chain, is not realistic in today’s society because promotions and further education have increased immensely. The ability to move up in the chain of command can be as easy or hard depending on the organization.  The principles I do like include the idea of forcing employees to take initiative, being kind to employees, creating harmony within the organization, and treating coworkers fairly.

Elton Mayo & Hawthorne Studies

This management style was all based on the behavioral era and recognizing each individuals wants and needs in order to help them become more productive. Humans were no longer viewed as just a skill set; they had a need for job satisfaction. I think it is important to understand that this personal attention from managers especially, created a trustworthy environment and ultimately happier employees. The development of Human Resources was also a huge push during this time era which is important to any manager.

McGregor & Theory X/Theory Y

The main point I took from this theory was the fact that managers shouldn’t judge employees or allow opinions to determine how you treat them. The perceptions a manager has about his/her employees should remain invisible to employers. This theory clearly outlines the way mangers treat Y and X employees. The X employers are viewed in a negative manor compared to the Y employers. This causes the manager to act more like a supervisor rather than a supportive and empowering boss.

Herzberg’s Motivation – Hygiene Theory

This theory is my least favorite of the management styles discussed in class. The theory is based on satisfiers vs. motivators and recognizing personal strengths. By better understanding the strengths of employees the manager should be able to make employees happy but that is not always the case. This is an all or nothing mentality that can cause people to become unhappy. I believe that money isn’t everything and the need to recognize motivational elements that draw out the best in our employees is of the most importance. The motivation to make more money and receive better benefits will constantly affect the mindset of employees in this day and age.

W. Edwards Deming & Total Quality Management

This is the most current theory we discussed and the most meaningful to me. I think in today’s society managers must focus on customer satisfaction. In order to have long-term success in organizations they must keep the customers happy by listening to their wants/needs. The fourteen points of Total Quality Management also seem like the perfect way to manage successfully if a majority of them can be achieved. However, there is a lot of overlap among the points which can make it difficult to achieve all of them. The eight key best practices also seem logical when it comes to employee satisfaction. For example:  giving employees the freedom to take risks so they can learn from it, creating a culture of trust, collaboration amongst staff, and recognizing employee’s visions/values.

My vision of the “ideal” manager:

I believe an “ideal” manager will attempt to implement a mixture of past and presents theories based on personal experience, research, and collaboration amongst co-workers. The manager must be driven by consumer’s satisfaction in order to produce positive long-term results. This will help to increase loyal customers and employees at the same time.  Employees are ultimately a manger’s potential customers who are spreading word of mouth to the public. This is why it is also important to create a harmonious and autonomous environment. An autonomous allows for the employees to have freedom to take risks and make decisions which is very empowering. In addition, building trust amongst co-workers will allow for the manager to better motivate them and listen to their personal interest. As we know, money isn’t everything and is only one motivator manager’s are necessarily in control of. This puts importance on creating an efficient and effective culture in the workplace. In order to be efficient the manager must divide responsibility and build buy in to the company’s vision/values. In conclusion of the “ideal” manager I want to leave you with this quote: “Before people care what you know, they need to know you care.” Mangers should really take this into consideration and adopt a balance of past and present studies to establish a successful long-term workforce.

Entry #1 Management vs. Leadership

The past two weeks of class have really intrigued me to gain a better understanding of the differences and commonalities between managers and leaders. The experiences I have had as a college athlete transitioning into a graduate assistant coaching position have introduced me to the behind the scenes “Coaching techniques” necessary to run a successful program. I first would like to discuss the role of a manager in sport and how important it is to a coaching staff. The manager is more so the authoritative figure that is responsible for making sure the planning, organizing, and busy work get done taking place off the field typically. In my case as a graduate assistant, I take on a lot of responsibility in this role. This is again why I’m also considered the graduate student manager. The daily tasks I’m in charge of are setting up equipment for practices, organizing/inventory of equipment, planning travel arrangements, arranging meals while on the road, monitoring team study sessions, and other various office tasks assigned. During the games I manage the bullpen by making sure pitchers are ready to enter the game at any given time and remain in constant communication with the pitching coach as well. Along with the management role, I also play a leadership role. As a leader I have to help motivate players on a daily basis in practices and in games. Pushing them to reach their full potential and keeping a positive atmosphere can be tough. The difficult part about it is when to turn that switch from a management role to a leadership role and when it’s appropriate to do so.  

Within our coaching staff the head coach is more so the leader and the assistants serve more as managers. Based on the qualities of the two roles in the reading from class by Kotterman, I thought the descriptions tied in perfectly to our staff. The manager plans and budgets, sets timelines, organizes staffs, maintains structure, implements the vision, monitors results, etc. The leader sets the direction and develops the vision, motivates, inspires, influences creation of teams/partnerships, displays passion etc.  

I really liked the idea that “leadership is not about personality, it’s about behavior” and “modeling the way.” These quotations came from the Kouzes and Posner reading. They also stated that “credibility is the foundation of leadership.” I believe in this 100 percent because as an athlete and as a coach, if a leader is not doing what he/she says, then others will not follow because of the lack of credibility, trustworthiness, and behavior they possess. I think the top for characteristics discussed in the reading hit it right on the head as to what qualities a leader should possess : Honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent.  When I think about my experiences as being in a leadership role as a team captain when playing, I believe my teammate made the effort to evaluate me in these categories before accepting me as a leader. Likewise, in coaching; the players are not going to respect you or practice what you preach unless you are modeling the way with these types of characteristics.

In combination of the two positions (leadership and management), I think it is difficult to be one or the other. The continuum and Miracle movie clips we discussed in class painted a perfect picture of this scenario. In the locker room before the hockey game the coach served as a leader motivating and inspiring his team to prepare for the game. In the office the coach served as both the manager and the leader by taking care of the small tasks like building a stronger schedule, recruiting top players, and implementing the vision of being the best team in the world. On the ice at practice the coach served as more of a manager than a leader in my opinion because he was conditioning his team, diagraming plays, and making sure his team was ready for competition comes game time. He had to be the authoritative figure, but find a way to motivate his team to push themselves to that next level.