What Advice Would You Give to Help a Manager Go from Good to Great?

“Lord, what advice would you give to current and future leaders that will transform them form good to great?”

“Can you be here all night long Sam?  This is my sweet spot. I look for managers with compassion, generosity, love, forgiveness, cooperation, friendship, understanding—all these types of soft skills, as they are often called. I can cover so much but will try to pinpoint some areas I think might be the high points for your article.”

The Lord held up one finger.

”First, conduct your business dealings with the highest level of integrity and honesty. No ifs, ands, or buts. That is not negotiable with me and most other possible stakeholders.”

The Lord held up two fingers.

“Managers need confidence in themselves. You are who you are just like I said to Moses- when the people ask who I am, say I am who I am (Exodus 3:14-15). Everyone needs to know who they are and their morale compass. The golden rule should be for managers to have a backbone to do the right thing and have the confidence to fight any impulse or direction that runs contrary to the little voice in their head that tells them something is wrong.”

The Lord held up three fingers.

“Managers need to pursue justice. This means they have to at least follow the rule of law, but a great manager will go beyond the letter of the law to do what is right. Being just is akin to being holy. It is as God-like as someone can be on this earth. It serves as the basis for understanding and abolishing evil. Justice provides people with the tool to punish those who do evil and honor those who do the right thing. It is probably one of the most difficult tasks because so many people do not like to be judged. Why do so many people kick their careers into overdrive when they know it is time for their annual evaluation?  It’s like Christmas and how there is naughty and nice list. Kids rush to be on the nice list in December but would rather be on the naughty list the remaining eleven months. However, if a manager can create an environment where justice is engrained in theirs, and their employee’s action, they would not need to change behavior at the last minute but can be themselves and not worry. How can this practically be done Sam? Easy! Treat people as a manager would like to be treated and never flinch or waiver in the battle of good versus bad.”

The Lord stopped and paused for a second. “I take that back, Sam. A manager should treat them better than they would like to be treated. Most everyone knows what is good and bad, and if a manager does not know the difference, they should not be a manager. On top of that, employees need to call out a manager who does not know the difference between good and bad. That is community justice.”

The Lord lifted four fingers. I was wondering when the Lord might have six fingers on his hand. The Lord smiled.

“Managers need to create a bond not by just contracts where anyone can break a contract with a small penalty, but through a covenant that represents a true bond between the parties. A covenant transcends the letter or spirit of a contract. A covenant can long outlive the effective timeframe of a contract. I had a covenant with my people. Through good and bad, I still honor that covenant. My people are my covenant. Members of a team, division, company, or organization can be a covenant. It can be a loose nit group or a well-oiled machine. When the covenant is working, the personnel can truly become one where everyone has each other’s back. They love one another. All my laws were written to provide a framework for that love. Rules are there to provide the same framework for every manager. All the rules indicating “don’t do this” or “don’t do that” … are there to secure the framework of love. As I have written:

• Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18)
• Love the foreigner as yourself (Leviticus 19:34)
• You shall not hate your brother in your heart (Leviticus 19:17)

A marriage should be a covenant. Way too many people do not take ‘till death do we part’ seriously. I developed that line to show that by marrying someone you will always have their back. You can always trust them. It is the closest thing to my covenant with Abraham and a parent’s covenant with their child. The bond between a manager and their colleagues should be that strong. This is easier said than done. I know that many employees will jump around and work for many bosses at multiple organizations over their career. It is not about the permanence of the relationship. It is about respecting each one of those relationships as long as they exist. Think of it like how teammates bond on a football or basketball team. How can a manager manage a team well? They can push players through constant training and preparation, respect team members, show gratitude, celebrate victories, learn from losses, and judge appropriately. Through these actions, a true bond can be developed representing the covenant.”

“I hate to interrupt you Lord, but how can a manager really create this bond?

“Sure, Sam. One, respect people through telling them you respect their skills and abilities. They are special- so tell them.

Two, show gratitude on a regular basis and when earned. When was the last time a manager said a sincere thank you?  A manager should say at least five thank yous a day.

Three, celebrate. I love it when a store has a special bell to celebrate a major sale. Why should we only celebrate birthdays and retirements. There should not be only rare occasions for celebrating. Celebrate all the small victories because that will help people see progress and help people bind. Nothing helps people bind more than some sweet snacks.

Four, document all screw-ups, mistakes, and egregious violations- and reverse engineer them so people will know what happened and hopefully avoid the same mistakes in the future. For example, if someone failed to meet a deadline, figure out what went wrong. Did they willfully misact, did they make an honest mistake, or was the date entered incorrectly?  You don’t want to document everything for the purpose of punishment. You want to document for the purpose of learning. The hope is that by knowing what went wrong, corrective steps could be taken. It is a proactive approach.

Five Sam, I love the saying that when we point a finger at others- four fingers are pointed back at us. When we judge others, we are often only looking at their past actions rather than looking at their future potential. We need to judge people’s actions not just the person. When we find a fault, we must work on correcting that fault, not attacking a person. A little positive feedback can have significant impact.”

The top five was an impressive list.

“Forgot two Sam.”

The Lord lifted his hand and there were six figures on it. I could just imagine he was holding that one back for dramatic affect. At this point in the interview, I started to become accustomed to the Lord’s antics. I had to chuckle at his finger trick. But why should I be surprised at this point?

“I can’t think of anything more critical for a manager to do than read the Bible and follow my laws. I am not trying to brag… but gosh darn it, I wrote the best-selling book of all time. Yes, Harry Potter is trying to catch-up, but my book has passed the test of time because it has the best possible advice that can be analyzed and applied to numerous situations. There is a Hebrew saying, ‘s’hivim panim l’torah.’ It means seventy faces of the Torah the Bible. It means that every line can be interpreted in 70 different ways. Anyone can find what they are looking for and the answer to their questions by looking into the Bible.”

“The seventh one I would add is that managers should not wait for a big miracle but should create the environment that great things can happen. Yes, I want managers to have faith in me, but so many only have limited faith because they are hoping for something from me rather than focusing on all the daily miracles, we encounter from the sound of baby crying or laughing to the wonderful sights and sounds of nature. Those are the miracles that should show every manager that there are miracles, and they should have faith in continuing to see such miracles, if they let themselves realize those are the true miracles, not landing a major contract. Landing that contract is not 100% a miracle, it is based on hard work.”

The Lord lifted his hand again and the miracle was gone. He was back to five fingers.