For about a half a decade I worked for a national stationary retailer. I don’t want to mention the company by name at this point for a variety of reasons, but let’s call them “Metal Fasteners” because I don’t know what those little metal fasteners that fit inside a stapler are actually called.
I was hired to pick stuff up. Literally, I got hired because I was a strapping young lad and they needed someone that could lift and carry large boxes of printer paper. But on my first day, 2/4 team members from electronics were sick and when you have an option between having your team lift paper or sell $3k desktop computers, there is no option. And so, on my very first day, I ended up in electronics. And that’s where I met Craig and Troy.
Craig and Troy were the co-leaders of the electronics department. Craig handled “computers” and Troy was in charge of “business machines” which included these archaic devices called fax machines that are still all the rage in the medical community and with lawyers. They were funny BUT worked hard. They expected a lot out of their team BUT provided unlimited patience and support.
In addition to the department managers, there were sales and service managers. And the best of the best was Jason. Jason was funny, smart, and caring. At one point, I didn’t get paid for a 2 week period. Apparently while I had been working the whole time, my swipe card didn’t work so according to the system I had not been working. When I mentioned it to my manager, he said “that sucks. No problem. That will be on your next cheque.” When I let him know that there was no way I could wait an additional two weeks before getting paid, he said “that sucks.” Luckily, Jason was listening in.
He pulled me aside and asked me how much money I NEEDED for the next two weeks before that money came in. I told him and about 15 minutes later he handed me an envelope with that much money in it. He didn’t ask a lot of questions. We didn’t write out a big contract. I was in need and he solved it.
And then, there was Garth. I’ve changed Garth’s name because I like Garth and I don’t want to have anything blow back on Garth but Garth was a TERRIBLE manager. And Garth was terrible in a very particular way. He was inconsistent.
If there is ONE THING I would lobby for when it comes to the way that you lead your team and your organization it’s that your team knows what to expect. Garth would vacillate wildly between goofing off, reprimanding you for goofing off, being friendly, being angry, making a joke, telling you to get to work and stop making jokes and so on. It wasn’t that Jason didn’t make jokes. It was that he made jokes AND got the work done. It wasn’t that he didn’t have fun. He had fun AND got the work done. It was about building blocks, not tradeoffs.
Garth’s inconsistency kept everyone on edge. I’ve been around enough abusive situations to see some of the similarities and it has personally impacted the way I’ve grown and developed. The idea that someone could suddenly, and without warning or reason, lash out at you, makes for a very scary and difficult environment. It makes people shrink. You try to stay out of the way.
Here’s what happened in those organizations. Jason thrived. He became a general manager and was widely recognized as one of the best leaders in the organization. Garth made a serious of lateral movements and his career with the organization stagnated. The people that worked “under” Garth all had similar things to say. His inconsistencies led to a team that was spending more time worrying about not angering Garth than doing a good job.
Conversely, Jason’s teams thrived “with” him. They were creative and thoughtful and collaborative. People knew that Jason gave his best and expected theirs and that came through in the work and ultimately in their careers.
Teams, and the work that comes out of those teams, can be directly related to the way those teams are built and led. Processes are important. Leadership is imperative. You can build out incredible systems for driving success but if the person steering is wildly erratic, the results are disastrous. That’s how you crash.
Who’s the BEST manager/leader you’ve ever worked for/with and what made them so magnificent?