The Modern Manager

Most people have a general idea about how their colleagues or team members work best. You may occasionally pick up a random fact about a person's personality or work style, but it's rare to have the full picture. The result: we are frustrated by our coworkers because we don’t understand them and they don’t understand us.  Today I talk about creating a Personal Instruction Manual, or PIM for short. A PIM is a resource that describes a person’s personality and working preferences, and its purpose is to help that person’s coworkers and manager better understand and work with them. Similar to an instruction manual that comes with a new piece of hardware or software, a PIM helps people understand how to engage with someone most effectively. The full episode guide includes a template for creating a Personal Instruction Manual. You’ll find questions for each section to help the creator capture relevant insights about themselves. In addition, I’m offering an extra bonus this week. If you are interested in having me support your team to develop Personal Instruction Manuals, I will facilitate a team coaching program centered on PIMs at a 20% discount. Get these offers when you join the Modern Manager community or purchase the full guide at www.themodernmanager.com/shop.     Get the free mini-guide at themodernnmanager.com/miniguides.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.    Read the related blog article: Optimize Your Working Relationships with the Personal Instruction Manual   Key Takeaways: Don’t waste time guessing what your teammates need. Craft and share Personal Instruction Manuals to explain how each person works most effectively.  Each person learns and shares their Myer Briggs profile so everyone can better understand different thinking styles and behaviors.  Explain what work environment you work best in: remote/office, quiet/noisy, deep work/meeting times, and most productive times of days.  Share what types of things stress you at work and what behaviors indicate that you're feeling stressed. Explain how people can best support you at these times.  Describe your communication preferences: How do you like feedback? How do you deal with conflict and what makes you feel appreciated?  Include a “Surprise Section” for people to share any miscellaneous things others might need to know in order to work together effectively.  Before holding a PIM sharing meeting, collect and share everyone’s PIMs so people can review them beforehand. When sharing, ask people to give real life examples where their personality/preference showed up in ways that worked or didn’t.  Update and share new PIMs annually to adjust to people/work situations changing and professional/personal growth.  Sharing PIMs is an excellent tool for onboarding new employees.  Additional Resources: Episode 99: Show Authentic and Meaningful Appreciation with Dr. Paul White Episode 14: Personality and Preferences with Rob Toomey mamie@mamieks.com

We’ve all been there. We thought we knew what was best, only to find out later that what we thought we knew was wrong. Even the best manager can get lost in all the leadership advice, trying to do what’s right and still somehow failing. This is because sometimes that leadership advice is wrong. Today’s guest is Sumit Gupta. Sumit spent 20 years in software, started 2 for-profit and 1 non-profit organizations, and is a photographer. He combines his experiences as a techie, engineer, 3x entrepreneur, and leader in companies like Yahoo and Booking.com, and as a poet and photographer – to help leaders merge the science of doing business with the art of leadership. Sumit and I talk about the seven paradoxes of leadership. These paradoxes are concepts that shift the way we think about leadership and what it takes to be a great manager. They take the typical leadership advice and flip it on its head. Members of the Modern Manager community get a 20% discount on Deploy Yourself, a 6-month group coaching program for leaders starting July 15 and September 15, 2022. This program will help you create better results in less time, build strong relationships, and find meaning and joy. You can get an additional 20% off the program if you register by June 20. Get it when you join the Modern Manager community.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.    Read the related blog article: What You Thought About Leading a Team is Wrong   KEEP UP WITH SUMIT Podcast: https://www.deployyourself.com/podcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumit4all/ Newsletter: https://www.deployyourself.com/newsletter/ Seven Paradoxes Report: https://www.deployyourself.com/7-leadership-paradoxes/   Key Takeaways: What we believe about effective management is often the opposite. We call these paradoxes of effective leadership. To build psychological safety, trust your team’s intentions and abilities from the start, rather than waiting for them to prove themselves.  Don’t blindly trust. Set up the right structure of clear expectations, values and direction. Be transparent about any concerns you have so they can be addressed right away.  Fear is your friend. It tells you what is at the edge of your abilities and what’s important to you. Don’t cover it with guilt for feeling that way.  Leadership is power through the ability to get results, not superiority. People want to follow leaders who know how to win together. We can’t force people to change. The best we can do is create the right conditions and inspire others by our own actions.  mamie@mamieks.com instagram.com/mamieks

When working with a team, delegation is one of the most important skills to develop. One of our main goals as managers is to unlock the potential of our people, and effective delegation enables that to happen. However, ineffective delegation can lead to frustration and inefficiencies for everyone.  Today’s guest is Yuri Elkaim. Yuri is a former pro athlete, leading health expert, New York Times bestselling author, and the founder of Healthpreneur® where he helps health entrepreneurs, coaches, and practitioners start and scale online practices that create more income and freedom...and better results for their clients. Yuri and I talk about creating the parameters for people to take on additional responsibility and autonomy while meeting the standards and expectations that you’ve set. We talk about creating principles, the importance of effective onboarding, and finding the balance between micromanaging and being totally hands off. Members of the Modern Manager community get the worksheet Communication is Key, which is one lesson from Mamie’s course, The Modern Manager’s Guide to Effective Delegation. In addition, members get 90% off the full course which includes 5 modules of brief mini-lessons that help you take manageable actions to apply the learnings to your situation. It’s designed for busy managers who are ready to free their time and eliminate friction through effective delegation. Get these bonuses when you join the Modern Manager community.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.    Read the related blog article: Guide Your Team Using Organization Principles   KEEP UP WITH YURI Website: https://healthpreneurgroup.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthpreneur/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yurielkaim   Key Takeaways: To document your management approach, imagine a scene of yourself working. Consider what you say and how you interact. If you can articulate your process, you can delegate it to others.  Elevate your time by delegating low level tasks below your paygrade. Maintain oversight as you delegate new tasks to ensure they are completed to your standards.  Use an ‘early alignment phase’ for the first two weeks during which you closely monitor the work to make sure your team member learns the new expectations properly. Small, early misses could lead to big mistakes farther down. Be available for support if needed later on when you take a step back.  Use your organization’s principles as guardrails so your team knows where they have autonomy and how to make decisions in alignment with your values.  To decide on principles, consider what situations/practices bother you and create principles that are the opposite of that.  Involve your team in co-creating principles. Small teams may want to consider everyone’s perspective while larger teams may focus on getting the right people involved.  Additional Resources: Episode 80: Shift Your Mindset and Start Delegating Book: Mindfloss Sweetprocess special offer for listeners of The Modern Manager: Get an extended 28 day trial and reduced pricing for small teams of $390/year for 8 seats Episode 136: Easily Document Processes and Procedures with Owen McGab Enaohwo mamie@mamieks.com instagram.com/mamieks

A modern manager is an employee’s partner. You support them, teach them, and guide them through the ups and downs of doing their work. While many new managers, and entrepreneurs are thrown into the position without training, they don’t need to flounder. With a bit of intention and determination, anyone can become a rockstar manager.  Today’s guest is Joie Jager-Hyman. Joie is the Founder of College Prep 360, a boutique educational advisory group. She is also the author of two books on college admissions: "B+ Grades A+ College Applications" and "Fat Envelope Frenzy". Joie and I talk about her experience of transforming into a “modern manager” and how that has impacted her personally, her team, and her business. Members of the Modern Manager community get 10% off educational advising or college essay editing from College Prep 360. Get this bonus when you join the Modern Manager community.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.    Read the related blog article: People Management Should Be Your Top Priority   KEEP UP WITH JOIE: Website: https://www.collegeprep360.com/   Key Takeaways: Most managers and entrepreneurs never got trained to be people managers, so we have to proactively educate ourselves. Strong people management is your foundation. The better you take care of your team, the better work they can do. Develop team and/or company values. Together, decide what you care about and how you want to treat each other. Reference these values as often as possible in meetings, when giving feedback, etc. Don’t let stress overtake your values. Being stressed is not an excuse for treating team members poorly. It’s just as important to support your team as it is to please clients. Invest in a coach for yourself and give your team members opportunities for professional coaching.  Good people management is a learning journey. Your team members will need different things from you as they develop. Additional Resources: Episode 72: Align Your Team By Creating Shared Values Episode 76: Bring Team Values to Life  mamie@mamieks.com

We live in an age of distraction. No matter what we have to do – whether it's writing an essay, working in an office, or just going about our daily lives – we are constantly at the mercy of internal and external distractions. These attention-breakers have serious consequences on our quality of work. The good news is that with our growing knowledge of the brain and improved technology, there are specific steps we can take to increase attention and improve focus. This week’s episode covers the difference between internal and external distractions and practical steps you can take to increase your focus. While our internal distractions are actually much more numerous than external, both can prevent people from focused work. I talk about the things you may be doing that prevent deep focus, then I give you steps you can take to mitigate distractions using short-term and long-term approaches. The full episode guide includes the matrix of focus along with tips and suggestions for how to focus from each of the various perspectives of the matrix. Get it when you join the Modern Manager community or purchase the full guide at www.themodernmanager.com/shop.   Get the free mini-guide at themodernnmanager.com/miniguides.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   Read the related blog article: How to Stop Getting so Distracted and Focus   Key Takeaways: External distractions are physical interruptions in our environment that break our focus. Internal distractions come from within us, whether it’s a desire to check social media or feeling hungry. 80% of all distractions we encounter are internal. Focusing better is about controlling your mind. If you have too much on your mind (cognitive overload), you depress your ability to concentrate on the task at hand. Humans can’t multitask (do two things at once). Instead, we task switch, which takes time to refocus. Clear your physical and digital spaces from visual distractions. Block out time on your calendar to get deep work done. Develop ways for your team to signal when they don’t want to be interrupted (like a closed door or headphones on). Build your ability to focus with meditation or breath work. Use both short-term and long-term techniques to set yourself up for better focus and getting yourself back on track after an interruption. Additional Resources: Book: Free to Focus Book: Peak Mind Book: Getting Things Done Netflix episode: The Mind, Explained: season 2 episode 1, How to Focus Episode 158: Discover Your Optimal Work Episode 179: Free Your Time For What Matters Most with Dorie Clark mamie@mamieks.com

People that don't feel safe in their work can't reach their full potential. Psychological safety can make the difference between a productive and innovative workplace, and one where employees feel the need to keep their heads down. As managers, it's our responsibility to create a culture of psychological safety so our team members can communicate well, produce better results, and be their authentic selves. Today’s guest is Teresa Mitrovic. Teresa is the founder of ORO Collective, as well as a consultant, coach, course creator, and author specializing in performance, psychological safety, and trust. In her past life as a corporate leader, when the increasing demands of senior leadership clashed with single parenthood, Teresa pivoted her career to coaching leaders.  Teresa and I talk about psychological safety and how to foster an environment in which people speak up, give feedback, show up authentically, and act without fear.  Members of the Modern Manager community get Teresa’s Coaching as a Manager guide. This video walk-through will help you refine the relationship you have with your team and begin the process of converting emotional tension into creative tension, while helping your team to learn, fail and continually develop with greater psychological safety. Get it when you join the Modern Manager community.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles, and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.    Read the related blog article: Foster Psychological Safety Within Your Team   KEEP UP WITH TERESA Website: https://www.orocollective.space/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teresamitrovic/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orocollectiveteam LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-psych-safety-project-6892397826123423744/   Key Takeaways: Psychological safety is the feeling that you can speak up and be vulnerable in front of your boss and colleagues without fear of judgment or repercussions. When we feel safe, we go into “Connect Mode” which activates the prefrontal cortex. We think creatively, expansively, and feel confident sharing our thoughts.  When stressed, we go into “Protect Mode” which activates the limbic brain. We go into flight/fright/freeze and feel afraid to speak up.  Have individual conversations with employees about why they are hesitating to speak. Tell them you value their opinions and ask what they would contribute to the conversation.  People from different cultures build trust differently. Also, trauma experiences impact one’s ability to build trust.  Pay attention to signs that employees feel unsafe. What perceived risks might they see?  Deep internal conditioning of how managers and employees would act (all-knowing or obedient) may affect one’s mindset about what’s appropriate to share.  Celebrate when your team speaks up, even if it’s hard to hear. Acknowledge the truth of their lived experiences. Give yourself time to digest and get back to them if you disagree.  A psychologically safe environment means that all team members show respect for one another’s contributions. If someone speaks in a disrespectful manner, thank them for sharing while asking them to express themselves differently. When damaging behavior is caught and corrected, people will feel safer being vulnerable.  Additional Resources: Episode 56: It all Boils Down to Psychological Safety mamie@mamieks.com instagram.com/mamieks

For many people, the pandemic blurred the lines between personal and professional spaces. While this had many benefits such as bringing people closer together, it also created ambiguity that is challenging for managers to navigate. How can managers best create and maintain boundaries while supporting their team members’ whole selves? Today’s guest is Deborah Grayson Riegel. Deborah is a keynote speaker, executive coach, and consultant who has taught leadership communication for Wharton Business School, Duke Corporate Education, Columbia Business School’s Women in Leadership Program, and the Beijing International MBA Program at Peking University. She is the co-author of “Go to Help: 31 Ways to Offer, Ask for, and Accept Help” and "Overcoming Overthinking: 36 Ways to Tame Anxiety for Work, School, and Life” — both written with her daughter Sophie, who is Junior at Duke. Deborah and I talk about how to navigate the tricky situation of personal life bleeding into work life. We discuss setting boundaries and building relationships as well as how to support someone who is struggling in their personal life and what to do when it starts impacting their performance at work.   Get Deborah’s guide How To Have A C.A.L.M.E.R. Conversation About Mental Health At Work. This guide includes an overview of the C.A.L.M.E.R. approach that makes these difficult conversations easier for both parties. Get it when you join the Modern Manager community. Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.    Read the related blog article: How to Take Care of Stressed Out Employees   KEEP UP WITH DEBORAH: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahgraysonriegel/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deborahgraysonriegel Book: Go To Help  Book: Overcoming Anything    Key Takeaways: Be intentional and explicit about setting personal boundaries at work. Connect with each person about what feels right for them. If you’re shifting from a peer to a manager role, talk abou what will change and what will stay the same about your relationship. Follow the APGAR acronym to notice early warning signs of stress in colleagues.  A= Appearance. Notice signs of stress and ask how they’re sleeping.  P= Performance. Ask how they feel about their workload.  G= Growth. Is there anything exciting for them at work to do?  A= Affect Control. What is stressing them at work?  R= Relationships. Who do they have at work/home to support them?  When someone comes to you for support or to unload personal issues, switch your mindset from “What Can I Do” to “Who Do I Want To Be” in this moment.  You don’t need to solve your employee’s personal problems. You are a bridge to other resources.  Give your stressed employee flexibility and then ask your manager for advice on picking up the slack. Speak with your team to decide together how to handle the shift in workload. Offer the extra work as a growth opportunity to someone who might benefit from the added or expanded responsibility.  Establish a timeframe about when work pace will go back to normal. Check in frequently about progress and how they’re doing.  mamie@mamieks.com www.instagram.com/mamieks

Organizations across the globe are reconsidering how, when, and where work gets done. As offices reopen and employees desire more flexibility, now is the time for teams and organizations to design a work ecosystem that meets today's needs while setting people up for the future.  Today’s guest is Emily Esterly. Emily has nearly 15 years of experience in roles spanning HROD, corporate strategy, economic development, workforce development, and corporate sustainability. At GOJO, her HROD and Enterprise Strategy roles have focused on advancing innovative ways of working across its highly collaborative networked organization to ensure the company stays adaptive as it grows in a highly complex and ever-changing world. Her aim is to ensure both teams and individuals at GOJO reach their full potential, thriving personally and professionally, and delivering on the company’s Purpose of Saving Lives and Making Life Better out in the world. Emily and I talk about the new Work Ecosystem that GOJO is rolling out to address new ways of collaborating, flexible work, and bringing the organization into the future.  Members of the Modern Manager community get a detailed diagram that explains GOJO’s work ecosystem. Get it, along with dozens of other guest bonuses and episode guides, when you join the Modern Manager community.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.    Read the related blog article: A New Work Ecosystem for the Future   KEEP UP WITH EMILY LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gojo-industries/ Website: www.gojo.com   Key Takeaways: Organizations need to design a work ecosystem that combines remote and onsite workers so that people thrive and work is done effectively. The four role types to consider are: mostly onsite, mostly virtual, blended weekly, and blended monthly. These roles are based on what an employee needs in order to complete their work. Mostly onsite workers need access to special equipment or facilities, and spend 80% of their time in the office. Mostly virtual workers spend 80% of their time working remotely. Blended weekly workers need to be in the office 40-60% of their time to partake in important relationships building activities and work that needs in person collaboration or oversight.  Blended monthly workers go to the office a few times a month for ‘moments that matter’ such as project kick offs and relationship building activities.  Assume that meetings will always include at least one remote participant. Design meetings as hybrid from the start even if you are hoping it will be entirely in person, just to be prepared. Think about what types of equipment and interactions will make the hybrid meeting a success. Consider using screens, videos, audio, and activities that will create an inclusive experience for both in person and remote participants.  An effective work ecosystem begins with improving daily digital collaboration tools. Use live shared documents, chat, and survey tools rather than defaulting to meetings all the time.  As you collaborate more asynchronously, you build a case for hybrid work schedules and effective remote teaming.    Additional Resources: GOJO Work Ecosystem Blog Post GOJO Work Ecosystem Video mamie@mamieks.com instagram.com/mamieks

Today I’m celebrating 200 episodes. This feels like a major accomplishment. When I launched the show in May 2018, just getting to 10 episodes felt a little overwhelming. Now, looking back, I’m so proud of what I was able to do and how many managers like yourself I’ve been able to help. It’s because of you that I create this show week after week. For this special 200th episode, I looked back over the guest episodes and thought about what ideas really stood out for me. While every episode has golden nuggets, I chose 5 key takeaways that have impacted or stayed with me in some way. I hope you find these ideas useful, but more importantly, I hope you’ll scroll back into the feed and check out older episodes even if you have already listened to them. There are some truly great conversations and solo episodes in the archive. And listening to a show for a second time helps us hear new things because we’ve grown and evolved since we first listened.   Get 20% off all levels of The Modern Manager annual membership. Use code CELEBRATE200 at www.themodernmanager.com/join. Offer expires on May 1, 2022.   The full episode guide includes details on how to take action on each learning’s next step. Get it when you join the Modern Manager community or purchase the full guide at www.themodernmanager.com/shop.    Get the free mini-guide at themodernnmanager.com/miniguides.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.   Read the related blog article: 5 Management Takeaways From 200 Episodes   Key Takeaways: A heartfelt thank you to my listeners, members of The Modern Manager community and all my guests! Reflection is thinking about what you could have done better. Introspection is asking yourself why you had that reaction. Use introspection to get to the root of your challenges. When driving a car, an intersection dictates rules the driver obeys. A stoplight has strong control rules that reduce driver autonomy. A roundabout puts more trust and responsibility on the driver to make his own decisions. Roundabouts are more effective, safer, and cheaper. Apply the stoplight / roundabout metaphor at work. Create more roundabout processes at work for an increase in motivation, critical thinking, and ownership. If your reaction to an opportunity isn’t a Hell Yeah (super excited response), you’re likely best off turning it down. We can easily rationalize all the things we should do, but it’s these activities that  eat up our valuable time, often with little return. Exercising new DEIB muscles is uncomfortable because of fear of doing the wrong thing. It’s okay to feel awkward or make mistakes. Model taking risks and learning from missteps. Put together a board of advisors or a single trusted individual who can give you honest feedback when you misstep. Balancing on a bike is only good if you want to keep going in the same direction. To change course, you need to lean to one side and then counterbalance. Do the same with all of your responsibilities. Don’t try to do everything all at once. Choose what to focus on and go for it. Then, lean into the next when appropriate. Additional Resources:     Episode 52: Looking Back, Looking Forward     Episode 167: Cultivate A Culture Of Love With Mohammad Anwar and Frank Danna     Episode 53: Moving Beyond Modern Management with Aaron Dignan     Episode 179: Free Your Time For What Matters Most with Dorie Clark     Episode 89: Growing into an Inclusive Leader with Jennifer Brown     Episode 106: Living Your Most Productive Life with Tonya Dalton   mamie@mamieks.com Instagram: mamieks

Athletes train their bodies with intention. They practice their chosen activity but also take time to develop the skills needed for high performance. If our bodies benefit from both “playing the game” and “training in the gym”, why wouldn’t that same approach be true for our brains?   Today’s guest is Darcy Luoma. Darcy is the author of Thoughtfully Fit® and a highly sought-after coach and consultant who has worked with more than five hundred organizations in forty-eight industries to create high-performing people and teams. She balances her thriving business with raising her two energetic teenage daughters and competing in triathlons.   Darcy and I talk about lessons from her book Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success. As you’ll hear, she uses the metaphor of being physically fit and applies it to how we think about our mental and emotional fitness so that we can be effective managers and effective humans in general.   Members of the Modern Manager community can win one of two available signed copies of Darcy’s book, Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success. To be eligible, you must be a member. Join by visiting the Modern Manager community.   Subscribe to my newsletter to get episodes, articles and free mini-guides delivered to your inbox.    Read the related blog article: Train Your Brain to Succeed at Work   KEEP UP WITH DARCY Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darcyluoma/Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfullyfitTwitter: @DarcyLuomaInstagram: @darcyluomacoachingLinkedIn Personal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/darcyluoma/LinkedIn Company - https://www.linkedin.com/company/darcy-luoma-coaching-&-consulting-llcYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaMLTzKl2YO5olR6V23aaXAPinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/darcyluoma/Book: Thoughtfully Fit on Amazon   Key Takeaways: Just as athletes train to succeed, managers and employees can train to succeed at work. There are six main skills to develop in order to achieve high performance in the workplace; stillness, strength, endurance, flexibility, balance, and agility.  For rest, create scheduled breaks in your day to recharge and think more clearly.  For strength, develop self-management techniques to shake off stress and interact positively with colleagues.  For endurance, learn how to get unstuck by sticking with problems and looking for creative solutions.  For flexibility, stretch yourself  to accept others how they are and work with what you have.  For balance, try to align what you need with what your teammates need to reach a common goal.  For agility, respond thoughtfully instead of defensively or chaotically when faced with upset colleagues or a surprising situation.  Build your “core” by learning to (1) pause, (2) reflect, and (3) respond thoughtfully as issues come up. Set scheduled times during the day to do this which will help tap into this practice when you need it during a tough moment. Teach your team to create boundaries and respect them. Creating times of stillness is essential so they don’t get overwhelmed and quit.  mamie@mamieks.com instagram.com/mamieks