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.”