THE MANAGER’S PLAYBOOK
“IN MY OPINION, HAVING A CLEAR VISION IS THE SINGLE ATTRIBUTE THAT SEPARATES THE BEST FROM THE REST. THEY KNOW WHERE THEY WANT TO GO, HOW THEY WILL GET THERE. THEY MAKE THIS A REALITY FOR EVERYONE.”
GÉRARD HOULLIER
Uncertain times, like we have all experienced over the past year due to COVID, create different levels of concern and uncertainty for each of us.
Understanding how COVID is impacting each individual in your team will help you focus on taking the leadership actions that are likely to have the greatest positive impact.
During challenging times like COVID, seeking to know more about each member of your team in a few key areas will pay enormous dividends in the long run. The areas to spend more time understanding are:
1. Each staff member’s perspectives and experiences of the current COVID challenges
2. The most rewarding aspects of their role
3. How you can provide the best support to them to be more effective in their role
The time you invest up front with your team members will not only increase your effectiveness as a leader, but it will also increase your efficiency because you will be able to prioritise your efforts on the areas that will have the greatest impact for each individual.
The “ASC” model is a simple framework that you can use (and reuse) with each of your team members to help you test your assumptions about what people need from you. Remember –things can change rapidly for people during these times so make sure you check-in regularly.
Use the ASC framework overleaf with your team.
Ask your team what’s important to them and what they need from you
Use open-ended questions (can’t be answered with a yes, no or maybe)
Be comfortable with silence after asking a question
Listen like you mean it when the person responds
Adopt a mindset of being “curiously interested?
Seek to clarify what you’ve heard to ensure shared understanding
Commit to action based on what you’ve agreed is most important
Avoid or minimise “Communication Roadblocks” – see below
Use paraphrasing and statements that reflect the feelings of what you’ve heard
Summarise what you’ve heard from your team member about their needs
Prioritise the 2-3 things that you can do that will make the greatest difference
Agree how these commitments will become concrete actions and/or part of your “operating rhythm”
Agree the shared accountability –what you will do and what they will do
“What are you finding most challenging about the COVID environment?”
“What do you think I can do to best support you?”
“What could I do more often or less often to support you?”
“Can you tell me more about that?”
“So, you are feeling generally positive but are getting frustrated by the lack of consistent messages or constantly changing priorities?”
“Okay, so it sounds to me that the 2 things that will make the biggest difference to you right now are….”
1. Criticising
Judging
Avoiding the other’s concerns
Sending Solutions
2. Diagnosing
3. Praising evaluatively
4. Diverting
5. Logical Argument
6. Ignoring
7. Ordering
8. Threatening
9. Moralising
10. Excessive/inappropriate questioning
Spending time building rapport, understanding more about the people in your team and investing time in listening is the foundation for trust that is the key driver of team engagement and performance.
‘People Skills’ by Robert Bolton, PH. D
In times of uncertainty, it’s natural for your staff to look to you for leadership and certainty.
While providing the necessary leadership may seem relatively straightforward given your experience, in many cases you may not be able to provide the certainty people are seeking because things are moving too quickly, or you simply don’t have all the required information.
Psychology Research tells us that uncertain times increase our rumination and our focus on negative emotions. Additionally, rumination may also weaken people’s sense of mastery, reinforce the perception of loss of control, and cause depressive emotions to be prolonged NolenHoeksema et al. 1999).
People who are more intolerant of uncertainty (defined as the dispositional fear underlying emotional difficulties and where the unknown is perceived intensely) are more likely to ruminate in a negative way which increases negative thoughts and bad mood as well as negative psychological wellbeing in traumatic and uncertain situations. People who are intolerant of uncertainty are also likely to have a greater fear of COVID.
Research also tells us that people do not want to know about the negative events they will experience in the future or that will affect them in the future. Known as “the regret of knowing” people do not want to feel future threat in the present moment. However, people do want to fully realise the current threatening situation and know what they can and should do.
LEADING YOUR TEAM
Before you get to tasks and the work to be done, take the time to check in with each of your staff members about how they are physically, mentally and socially. Also, ask about their family’s wellbeing and about any concerns they may have for their family members. Taking such an approach creates a feeling of psychological safety which is likely to make people feel less anxious and more optimistic. Ideally this should be done daily because in a COVID environment, an individual’s wellbeing can fluctuate rapidly.
Keeping people focused on the near term means they don’t have to mentally deal with the uncertainty of the future, which may not (yet) be known or be subject to rapid change. Focusing on the near term also helps people avoid excessive rumination which has a negative impact on mental health and wellbeing. Near term focus ensures results are tangible and progress can be measured and celebrated.
If you have taken the time to get to know your staff as people, (not just as work colleagues) you will have a pretty good idea of what’s important to them (if you haven’t it’s never too late). Communicate why the work your staff are doing is so important and how the work they are they are doing during COVID goes beyond sport and actually makes a difference in the lives of players’ and their families, as well as people at your organisation. Remind staff that their work also makes a huge contribution in the lives of the fans, many of whom have been having a really challenging time these last 12 months. Remind people that you see them living their values and that is a great reward.
Two basic psychological needs of all human beings are to receive recognition and validation. Where possible, identify opportunities to provide public recognition for a job well done and where individuals have served the team, players or the organisation well.
Validation is the recognition and acceptance of another person’s thoughts, feelings, sensations and behaviours. This means communicating that you understand your staff ’s feelings, thoughts and behaviours; you don’t always have to agree but communicate you understand from their point of view.
The strategies outlined above not only help reduce uncertainty where it can be most problematic, in the long term, they will also help reduce rumination and help address the four fears associated with COVID; fear for the body, fear for significant others, fear of action/inaction, fear of knowing/not knowing, as outlined in the diagram.. By addressing these fears, we can help people be more optimistic and have a positive impact on their overall wellbeing.
Fear of significant others
Fear for significant others
Begum Satici and Mehmet Saricali and Seydi Ahmet Satici and Mark D. Griffiths. Intolerance of Uncertainty and Mental Wellbeing: Serial Mediation by Rumination and Fear of COVID-19 International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. May 2020
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Wisco, B. E., and Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Rethinking Rumination Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(5), 400–424
Gerd Gigerenzer Rocio Garcia-Retamero. Cassandra’s Regret: The Psychology of Not Wanting to Know. Psychological Review 2017, Vol. 124, No. 2, 179–196
Schimmenti, A., Billieux, J., Starcevic, V. (2020). The four horsemen of fear: An integrated model of understanding fear experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 17 (2), 41-45.
Following on from Module 02 of ‘Leading Self – Boundary Management’, you may have already experienced some of the benefits of deploying new strategies for managing your own personal boundaries.
However, longitudinal research has also shown that the extent to which organisations and leaders support their staff to manage their boundaries has implications for employee wellbeing.
A decade-long research study of work culture, work-life balance and health, funded by The National Institutes of Health, has found that workers in such supportive, flexible environments show half the risk of cardiovascular disease, significantly lower levels of stress, higher job satisfaction, and better physical and mental health. They sleep and exercise more, they’re more likely to go to a doctor if they’re sick, and they spend more time with their children.
Studies also found biological crossovers of stress - a process where an employee experiencing stress transfers those stress hormones like a virus to the rest of their family.
The business case for helping your team manage boundaries is not only based on minimising the long-term risks to their health and wellbeing but leader flexibility and support is also a driver of retention, engagement and productivity.
What you learnt about your boundary management style and the impact of effectively managing your work and life boundaries in Module 02 of ‘Leading Self’.
The behaviours that demonstrate you are committed to effectively managing your work/life boundaries.
Your team members to reflect on their current boundary management style. They may also want to take the short survey to understand more about the implications of their style [CLICK HERE]
Make time at one of your regular catch ups to see what insights and goals your team member has in improving their boundary management.
Identify if your team member feels like they have low boundary control – the perception that they have limited opportunities currently to make changes.
Once your team members have identified their goals, there are 3 different ways you can provide support – remember to ask them which they’d value most from you:
1. Emotional support – providing empathy and understanding of challenges or areas of work/life or work/family conflict.
2. Instrumental support – taking tangible actions that might include removing barriers or providing more autonomy and flexibility for your team member to achieve greater control over how and when they deliver on their objectives.
3. Informational support – sharing information that will help them achieve their goals and/ or providing them with the opportunity to learn more.
The Work, Family and Health Network (WFHN) is an interdisciplinary team of researchers brought together by The National Institutes of Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to advance the field of workplace psychosocial interventions in order to improve the health of workers and their families, while benefiting employers. Their publications can be found at workfamilyhealthnetwork.org/publications
Football managers often become so focused on the playing group that they forget the vital role they play in engaging and motivating their coaching and support staff.
And because coaching staff are often the front line of players it’s important that managers understand their crucial role in supporting and facilitating basic need satisfaction and higher quality motivation and performance.
Historically in sport, many managers approach motivation with a “carrot and stick” mentality. This approach, while engrained for many and can sometimes have a short-term impact, has proven to be a failed model of motivation. Research over the last 20 years has been able to understand what constitutes “high quality” motivation. The diagram below outlines that motivational quality on a continuum.
AMOTIVATION
I feel like I’m just going through the motions
I’m controlled by:
> Rewards/Empty Praise
> Punishments/Threats
> Forced by others PERSONAL VALUE
I’m controlled by:
> Guilt/Shame
> Self-pressure
> Ego-involvement
ASSOCIATED WITH:
Lower productivity
Lower creativity
Less learning
Less satisfaction with compensation
Decreased commitment to values and policies
Less loyalty and trust
I endorse and value the goals of my tasks and work (even if work isn’t directly enjoyable)
INTRINSIC
I find inherent satisfaction in my work. My work is implicity enjoyable
ASSOCIATED WITH:
Stronger performance
More innovation
Deeper learning
Greater job and compensation satisfaction
Greater commitment to values and policies
Greater loyalty and trust
On the left-hand side of the continuum, motivational quality is lowest where the person is simply “going through the motions” or is not feeling capable or effective at one’s job. Another lowquality form of motivation is characterised by external pressure, with the negative form being punishment and the positive form being rewards. Another low-quality form of motivation involves internal pressure that people place on themselves. Internal pressures are characterised by concern for approval, image management and self-esteem maintenance.
In contrast, high quality motivation is when one pursues goals that are personally meaningful and where individual goals and organisational goals, align. But the highest quality motivation is represented by intrinsic motivation where the activity itself is its own reward.
High motivational quality is associated with greater learning, creativity and performance.
Autonomy is the basic desire to be the “author of one’s life”. People want to feel ownership and volition in their work. It is important to take the time to communicate to staff why their work is meaningful and important and allow them the freedom to get on with their job.
Even when tasks have to be done, if you provide a rationale and provide some choice in how the tasks are completed, your staff members’ autonomy needs can be met even when the tasks are not enjoyable.
Relatedness is our basic need to feel we belong and matter to others. Make your staff feel respected, valued and included and provide opportunities to connect at all levels of the organisation.
Another basic human need is to feel effective, to grow and to be successful. People want to feel they can succeed at their daily tasks, applying their resources, skills and expertise. People also want to be stretched within their “zone of proximal development” – not too much challenge, not too little, but just right.
To help build this sense of mastery and competence, help your staff see a path that includes new challenges and responsibilities and allows them to anticipate growth in their work.
Strong basic psychological need satisfaction directly predicts trust in the organisation, quality of leadership, feelings of security and overall job satisfaction. Not surprisingly, it also predicts a positive passion for work.
In addition to these benefits, people are also less likely to get physically ill and less likely to take days off work. They are more likely to have higher levels of organisational commitment. When Managers work to support needs of their staff, they are making an investment in the organisation and a positive contribution to organisational culture.
Rigby, C.S., and Ryan, R.M. (2018) Self-Determination Theory in Human Resource Development: New Directions and Practical Considerations
Ryan, R. M., and Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
“THE ESSENCE OF A GOOD TEAM IS RECOGNISING THE QUALITIES OF EACH OTHER, AND THE WEAKNESSES OF EACH OTHER TOO.”
SIR ALEX FERGUSON CBE