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Practicing 'Practical Empathy' as a Leader

A manager I know had an employee who was facing a challenging situation in their family. They needed time to help another family member, but they felt guilty about falling behind on their work.  The manager encouraged the employee to take time off and not worry about their tasks, even suggesting gently that they might want to take a temporary leave. However, the employee chose to keep trying to do their job. They said they appreciated the change of pace it offered, even though they were distracted and not able to perform at their usual level.  The two of them limped through this situation for several months. The employee felt guilty about their work effort, but they were doing their best under the circumstances. Meanwhile, the manager felt like they were not handling everything precisely the way they should. It was difficult and stressful, and the manager felt unprepared to offer the right kind of assistance or to guide the employee to resources that could help. I’ve often thought abou
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Communicating with Angry Clients

Middle managers spend much of their time discussing work issues with their teams and their supervisors, but perhaps the most difficult communication tasks are those that involve people from outside the organization.  I learned during my years working for newspapers and other companies that talking to angry customers is never fun. It was usually the part of the job I dreaded the most. Fortunately, interactions with perturbed clients often weren’t as bad as I expected them to be, and I’ve developed a few tactics over the years to help me work through problems while still having my team members’ backs.  I don’t have formal training in customer service, but here are some ideas that have worked well for me when dealing with a client “escalation.” Respond quickly, but take time to prepare . It may seem that these two statements are contradictory, but they aren’t. When you receive a client’s complaint, you should try to get back to them as soon as possible. However, if you’re not ready to add
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Focusing on Personal Development

Managers are responsible for helping employees meet business-related targets, but good leaders also want the people who report to them to achieve personal development goals. Doing so builds stronger workers and better teams, and seeing your employees succeed is one of the joys of middle management. However, just as a manager needs to help employees create and follow through on career development plans, it’s also vital that managers do the same for themselves. Especially if you’re in middle management, your boss may not have the time to help you do this, so you need to take the initiative and make your development a priority. Here are a few ideas to help: Spend time thinking about your short- and long-term goals . What do you want to accomplish in the next quarter, the next year, and the next five years? What are other people in your position doing to advance in their careers? Think of someone who sets an example you would like to follow in your professional or personal life and conside
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Guiding Meetings and Making Decisions

I’m not a fan of meetings. To be fair, I don’t know many people who are. However, I recognize that they are a necessary part of most jobs. Because we’re likely to spend large chunks of our careers in meetings with our teams, our supervisors, fellow managers, or others, we should at least make sure those get-togethers are meaningful. I believe a good meeting usually results in effective decision-making, and if it’s a meeting I’m running, that’s what I’m hoping to achieve.  Here are a few steps I follow to keep people on track and moving toward a decision during a work meeting: Consider the specifics of the situation . Before the meeting begins, answer several questions. First, and perhaps most importantly, do you need to have a meeting, or could the work to be done be handled via email? (If it could, please consider that option!) Assuming you do need a meeting, have you clearly been put in charge of solving the problem or completing the project that will be discussed? Do the other peopl
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Managing Relationships with Other Managers

Most managers keep their primary focus on their teams, which makes complete sense. They spend a significant chunk of their time each day trying to help their people hit work-related targets and achieve personal development goals. This often means that they are unable to put as much effort into their relationships with peers on the same leadership level in their organization. However, I have found that taking time to build those ties can be vitally important to helping your team and the entire company succeed. Here are a few ideas to help you as you seek to strengthen bonds with your fellow managers: Get to know them . This is similar to what you do with your team members. Take the time to communicate with other managers. In addition to talking to them about work, find out about their interests outside of the office. Show that you care about them as people, not just colleagues. You likely won’t become best friends with all your fellow managers, and that’s OK. You should at least be good
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Understanding Communication from the C-suite

When you’re part of a small team in a big organization, it can be difficult to understand statements you hear from the CEO and other high-level executives in “town hall” meetings. Perhaps they mention projects that don’t seem to have a direct impact on the work you and your team are doing. Or maybe they’re using acronyms and jargon you don’t understand. In such cases, tuning out their messages is a natural response. But it’s a bad idea, especially if you’re a manager. Though C-suite executives may be focusing on the big picture, it’s up to you to interpret their statements and translate them so your employees can understand what the organization is doing and how they can contribute to meeting overall goals. Here are a few suggestions to help you understand and explain those high-level messages. Pay attention . Some people ignore companywide messages and skip town hall meetings, assuming they have better things to do with their time. I think that’s a mistake. You need to know what you
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Embracing the Joys of Middle Management

Middle management is not for the faint of heart.  You face daily demands from leaders higher up the food chain and from the people who report to you. You juggle multiple projects and deadlines of your own, and you’re responsible for making sure your team members stay on track and complete their projects. It sometimes seems that you get all the blame when something goes wrong, but none of the credit when it goes well. So why would anyone aspire to management? As someone who has worked in middle management for decades, I can confirm that the challenges are many, but so are the rewards. Today, let’s focus on the latter. Here are some of the best things about working in management generally and middle management specifically: Higher compensation . This is probably obvious, but managers usually get paid more than the people they manage. Since money is an integral part of life, this is a benefit that shouldn’t be overlooked, and it’s usually a major factor in people deciding to seek a role i
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