As a manager, the messages you convey and actions you take tell a story. This story is received by other people in the company as well as your team members. Let’s explore why it’s important for a manager to think about the story he or she is delivering within an organization.
To the organization
Managers’ decisions, collaborations, and communication affect those around them; you don’t exist in a vacuum.
Reputation
The way you treat your subordinates will inevitably ooze through the organization via word of mouth. Do you want your actions to influence positive stories (my manager is so great because xyz) or negative ones (ugh, my manager is the worst)? You may word diligently and care heaps and bounds about your job, but beware that your reputation may precede you. It is sometimes almost as important – or just as important, in some settings – to curate a positive reputation as it is to do excellent work. I believe in authenticity, so I do not suggest using charisma alone to build a positive reputation that is empty or not justified by the actual words and sentiments you exhibit behind closed doors; on the contrary, your work and the way you treat others need to align in order for both to boost you up. Otherwise, you may fall short. (Think of two people trying to hoist a trophy. If one person doesn’t have the energy to raise it up, the imbalance will cause it to teeter and fall. In this metaphor, the two people symbolize your work and your reputation, and you are the trophy.) And don’t think that this is solely self-promoting: A manager represents his team (and in marketing and communications, that manager may represent more than that, such as the company’s identity or the overarching brand strategy). Successful employees tend to want to do well for themselves and their companies; your story should align with that of your team and work together to build momentum and morale.
Collaboration
As a manager, you often will need to collaborate with other managers and employees on projects. The way you collaborate is part of your story. If other people don’t feel they can work with you on a project, this will hinder your chances at advancing into positions that will require increased collaboration. I have never heard of good collaboration being a bad thing; exceling in this area can only propel you toward success. Plus, effective collaboration reflects empathy, open communication, social rapport, and project management skills. Collaborating on a project requires you to understand the needs, objectives, strengths, and weaknesses of yourself and others, then take the appropriate actions to help you all – together, as a unit – reach your collective goals. If you come to the table with your own aspirations in mind, you will likely not have a great experience (or I should say that the other people at the table won’t). This may leave you out of future conversations or – to build off of the last element – may hurt your reputation internally. Learning to be a strong collaborator will help managers work better together.
Communication
To me, communication is at the heart of everything. Focusing this into the context of this topic, the way managers communicate to others within an organization says a lot about that person, his or her team, and how everything aligns.
Example #1: A Collective View
I was taught not to say “I” if I could help it (for better or worse). In other words, I progressed through my career accustomed to shying away from saying, “I worked on this content” or “I’m excited to share my spreadsheet with you.” It felt so egotistical to say “I,” since I knew that these projects often involved other people. But even more important is the fact that I inherently knew that good leaders didn’t talk about themselves or their own work in a boastful manner. Even if I was the only one to work on something, or even when I was the only person in a new department that I hadn’t built yet, I still said, “We.” There is something powerful about a leader saying “we” – it shows that I’m not the center of the universe, and that even if I poured my heart and soul into this project, I’m not the only one who contributed to it OR I’m not the only one who will benefit from it. Saying “we” instead of “I” illustrates a collective view of your place in the organization that is powerful from a leadership perspective. Using “we” shows to others that you are humble and apt to give credit where credit is due; it shows that you understand your impact beyond your own role; it shows that you are taking on a group’s goals (whether that be your team, department, or organization) instead of your own. I often see employees use “I” when they are earlier in their careers because they feel they have to assert themselves and prove the work they are doing; when I hear someone say “we,” I pay more attention and feel more tied to that person’s story. I also think that a team member saying “we” is a sign of potential leadership down the road.
Disclaimer: This doesn’t mean you can never say “I.” Sometimes you are going to have to be your own advocate, and sometimes you are going to have to speak with a bit more authority if you are faced with the need to justify your actions. And you should definitely use “I” when taking responsibility after the fact, especially if something goes wrong. But it doesn’t always have to be self-deprecating – you can say that you are excited about something or your work on a project felt meaningful or impactful. Just know that there is a time and a place, and the context around the use of your language matters.
Example #2: Content and Context
What do you choose to share to the organization? How do you package it up? What’s your angle? Do you give people a glimpse into the strategy behind your choice, or do you only provide the details they need to know? Do you adjust your positioning based on who in the organization you are speaking to? These are all important questions to ask each time you are communicating within your organization, especially to cross-departmentally or company-wide. The content you choose to share tells a story; the context you provide in that communication builds on it. Both are important and will be perceived differently by different recipients; recognize this and be strategic in your approach to intraorganizational communication.
To your team members
The way you deliver messages to your team members is a major part of your story as a manager. It is arguably the main portion of your intraorganizational communication that reflects your role as a manager, since all other forms of communication can be done by individual contributors.
Consistent Messages
Let’s look first at a warning sign in management that is very common, especially in a cut-throat corporate culture: inconsistent messages. Earlier in my career, I wasn’t able to quite put my finger on why I didn’t like some managers until I heard the term “inconsistent messages” in a leadership class. If a manager implements inconsistent messages, trust is deteriorated. Employees won’t believe that the next thing out of your mouth (or fingertips, in this digital-first world) will be true. They won’t know whether the welfare of the team is at the heart of your actions or whether your choices are self-serving. To describe it plainly, inconsistent messages refer to situations wherein a manager says one thing and does another, or says one thing one day and another thing the next. If you tell an employee you are going to promote him in May, then in May you don’t promote him but tell him you’re going to promote him in September, then September comes but you say you’re going to promote him in January…you can see why the employee would feel devalued. If you tell an employee you’re going to share her idea to the client, then you tell the client it was your idea, the inconsistencies in that string of communication are hurtful and lasting.
Being consistent in your communication will allow your employees to see who you truly are, how you feel about certain situations, and whether or not they can approach you, especially with personal matters. If you associate with the figurative person above who kept getting strung along and never got his promotion, you probably won’t feel comfortable having difficult conversations with your manager, asking him to advocate for you, or providing you with leniency in personal situations. If your manager took credit for your idea, you probably won’t want to share many ideas with your manager in the future, seriously damaging future workflows. Clearly, being consistent is important, but that consistency must come in the form of truth and authenticity. Being consistently authentic will allow your employees to feel they can talk with you about serious or informal topics just the same, and they can predict how you might react. This will help your team members feel comfortable and proud to be a part of your team, and will help them excel at work, which should always be one of your main objectives as a manager.
Trust-Building
Managers should be persistent in their never-ending journey to build trust with and among their team members. This doesn’t need to come through as explicitly as a trust fall, though that exercise has the same intentions at its core; trust can be built in little steps that accumulate along the way and manifest gradually through progressive actions and communication. If you train an employee then delegate the first step of a project to that employee, you are providing the opportunity for that employee to show you that she is trustworthy. As she performs well and proves through her work that she is trustworthy, you may increase her ownership at each step of the process, building mutual trust along the way. By the end, you trust that she can do the job, and she trusts that you are confident in her abilities. Win-win. But if you tell her you’re going to give her ownership of the project, she does well, and then you give it to someone else, you’re giving inconsistent messages and deteriorating her trust by not following through or rewarding her positive output. Lose-lose.
Trust can also be built through information sharing. Cultivating supportive team and one-on-one environments is paramount for managers, especially in today’s digital age.
Exercises:
Provide a spot in your weekly team meeting’s agenda where employees are encouraged to share wins (e.g., project x got wrapped up, project y allowed me to work with Jane and John, Suzie was really helpful when I was working on project z).
Begin each team meeting with a round of check-ins, where employees can share something personal that they are working on or looking forward to or excited to have done (e.g., a TV show they enjoyed, a trip they’re gearing up for, a class they’re taking at night).
At the start of individual one-on-ones, go through the obligatory, “How are you?” “Good, how are you?” “Good.” Then provide an extra space where the employee can talk more openly about how they are. You may have to prepare a question to open that door – “How is your dad doing since the surgery?” “How do you feel about your big move next month?” “How are you feeling about this new system?” Providing a starting point, and posing an open-ended question beginning with “how,” will show the employee that their personal and candid thoughts are welcome in this safe space and that you are truly interested in their feelings. This will build trust and may even inspire the employee to be more productive in the future.
Showing vulnerability and responsibility will help show your team members that you are human and you know they are human, which should translate into the way you manage them. You may find it effective to admit to a mistake or start a vulnerable conversation by sharing a personal story (if appropriate) or take responsibility for a change in the strategy halfway through a project. This will show that you don’t think you are infallible, and that you don’t expect anyone else to be perfect, easing tension and building trust on a human level.
Responding to team-wide conversations in a healthy manner may allow you to answer one person’s thoughts, but what you say is being heard by others and will show them your true feelings. For example, I once had an employee share a story on a team meeting about a racist interaction she experienced over the weekend. I was very deliberate and careful in my response because I knew my entire team was listening; I wasn’t just responding to that girl’s story – I was sending a message to my whole team. Doing this effectively can help create a safe (or brave!) space and instill a supportive culture from which everyone can benefit. Even those who may not feel ready to speak up will appreciate your response and use it to fuel confidence when vocalizing their thoughts in the future.
While there will certainly be many future posts about a manager’s story, starting with reputation, collaboration, communication, consistency, authenticity, and trust will lay the foundation to help managers craft a careful and strategic story at work. Each interaction builds upon the last one and moves in the direction you usher it towards through your communication choices. Be the manager you want to be, and your story will follow.
