by Eugen Mihai, Marketing Manager, Real Hypermarket România
This summarizes the key learnings I draw based on the top mistakes I did in my career so far, both in business as well as vis-à-vis managing people. Please note that the order is not necessarily related to the importance of the mistake/learning.
I have decided to formalize them in writing, having in mind a two-fold objective: are them with you, the readers, in an attempt to help you avoid making the same mistakes; have them written nearby for the future, just in case I forget some of them.
A. Business learnings
1. Always „Go to Gemba”.
„Gemba” = the place where the action takes place, the „heart” of the problem: the store where customer shops, the factory where workers make a product etc. First time I heard this concept was in 1996 from my first GM, Claude Papas. This was his „compass” in his business life – always trying to go to the root of the problem in order to find the correct solution.
In doing so, use the Lean management approach (also known as Toyotism because Toyota used it for the first time in their Toyota Production System): „Go see, ask WHY, show respect” – Fujio Cho – CEO & Chairman Toyota Motors Co.
2. Always walk in customer shoes.
Understand what your consumer (= your ultimate BOSS!) needs and wants, also what he/she is willing to pay for. Talk to them frequently, stay with them for a while and see what you can do to make their lives better. The customer is never wrong – he/she will always tell you the reality and he/she will be your best advisor – it’s only up to you to listen…
3. First, fix the business fundamentals.
Always think of the business like a house: you must have strong foundation in order to build a solid 2-3 storey house. Same is for business: if your business fundamentals are suffering, fix them first before working on „nice to have” or „differentiating” things. If your brand suffers at the level of „points of parity” versus its competitors, don’t bother crafting beautiful „points of differentiation”.
4. Always do the right thing (Principle Based Decision Making).
Before any decision, ask yourself: „what is the right thing to do in this case?” The answer may not be popular and you may face opposition from people with different interests, so you will need to be „politically correct” and drive the decision through. Also, a right decision may be tough on short term, but lead to healthier mid-long term.
5. Always analyze the business in a balanced manner (both positives and negatives)
In the „heat” of the business you may be tempted (very often even…) to only look at what’s wrong, what can be improved and completely overlook what’s working right. Don’t do it because it creates huge de-motivation among the teams involved and will cause a negative spiraling effect.
6. Prioritize!
Put all your projects in order of priority. Use the Urgent/Important matrix to help take decision, then align the list with your manager (in the discussion, don’t forget points A.4. and A.9). Also remember the 80/20 Rule and put the right focus on the right projects. Review regularly the priorities and make the necessary adjustments.
7. Customers are not stupid.
Don’t try to lie to the customers! They can be fooled once, but they will see immediately the truth and will ”divorce” you asap. They will also become your worst word of mouth „ambassadors” and the mid-long term loss of business may be irrecoverable.
8. Execute with excellence Instore (or where customer meets your brand)
You can draw the most beautiful plans for your product or service, but if the actual execution is not meeting (or even exceeding) the customer needs and expectations, then all your effort is wasted. Remember „the only strategy your customer sees is the instore execution”. Remember points A.1., A.2. and A.7.
9. Have the guts to say „no”
At times you will be asked to do tasks/ in which you don’t believe (and you have valid arguments for this!). Then, have the guts to say NO to your manager (in a polite and respectful manner) and explain why you think differently or what will be the consequence of taking the requested action. A smart manager will always appreciate your strategic thinking and also your assertive attitude.
10. Take responsibility for your mistakes and learn from them
We all made and will make mistakes. Only if you don’t work you don’t make mistakes. But always make sure you did your best to avoid the mistake (by thorough preparation), that you take your learning and avoid repeating the same mistake in the future.
B. People management learnings
1. When hiring, look for the following paramount traits:
Integrity: do you trust that person with your wallet and the PIN codes of your cards?
Character/ethics: is the person acting in a way consistent with ethical standards and your set of priciples and values?
„Can Do” attitude: is the person always having the „glass half full” attitude or looking for reasons to complain?
A relentless will to „get things done”: is the person only a „theoretician” who speaks very nicely but not following through the projects to completion or he/she will „move the mountains” in order to accomplish his/her objectives?
2. When in doubt – throw out
If you have doubts regarding the right fit of a candidate with the job opening, don’t take him/her. Generally, candidates where you have significant fit doubts don’t perform at the required level and you, as hiring manager, must handle the situation afterwards. And remember, it’s not the candidate’s fault that you mistakenly hired him/her – it’s entirely your fault, so you must „clean the mess”. See also point B.3. below.
3. People don’t fundamentally change
The deep, fundamental human traits don’t change! A fundamentally lazy person will remain lazy, even if he/she will try to hide this by having episodes of hard work. A dishonest person will not become honest, but, given the opportunity, will behave again dishonestly. So, keep this in mind when recruiting and evaluation people in order to avoid later people management „pains”.
4. Invest in people, despite ”environmental” challenges
People are the most important asset of any company and the key focus must be on training and developing them, on keeping them motivated. Encourage and reward employees to do activities that develop themselves and/or their peers/subordinates. During crisis times, when business is not performing as expected, under top management stress, it’s very easy to lose sight of this and only focus on fixing the business. As a result, people will get increasingly de-motivated and less productive, leading to a negative downwards spiral. So, it’s your choice to make: do you keep the focus on people, no matter what?
5. Have the guts to say „no”
This is similar to the Business one at point A.9. At times, some of your people may request from you things that are not principial or fair (e.g. a subordinate manager asking you to be more indulgent when doing the evaluation of a subordinate of the manager). Have the guts to say NO and behave equally fair. It’s true, you can never please everyone (see also point B. 10.), so in the end there may be people feeling unhappy. But what will matter is the fairness of the treatment across the organization.
6. Don’t procrastinate the action against non-performance
There will always be people not performing at the required level. Discriminate between the three possible reasons:
* not having the skills to do the job (hence offer the training/coaching)
* not having the capacity (job being too highly demanding for the person – and you need to offer another, lower level, job) or
* pure and simple laziness (in which case fire the person).
But, in any of the cases, don’t delay the action. Remember that the non-performance of one of your subordinates leads to your non-performance and to de-motivation of the other team members!
It’s good to be „democratic”, friendly and „approachable”. Under normal circumstances, it leads to people being more motivated and to closer relationships. But some people never know when „enough is enough” and create tensions by not understanding the purpose of hierarchy. Take immediate action, because the more you postpone, the more difficult it is to confine the undesired behavior.
8. Learn every day – you are not perfect (… and you will never be…)!
One of my favorite quotes is „Learning is not compulsory, neither is survival”. Self sufficiency is the recipe for disaster – you become locked into a status quo that will never improve (we all met a Mr./Mrs. „I know it all” and we know how it feels…). And, nowadays, with the speed of change increasing day by day, you only have one chance: improve continuously. And also keep in mind that „nothing is more constant in life than the change”. True, the time you have available for this may be very limited, as we all become busier and busier. But it is a matter of choice – it requires discipline to do it: block in agenda regular „time with yourself” for reading, schedule meetings with more experienced managers, learn new skills and teach them to others etc.
9. Be tough when needed, praise when needed
Just as for business, with people you need to take the same balanced approach: look both at positives (and praise) and also at improvement areas (and, if needed, be tough). I’ve seen managers (I would call them „mother-like”) that only look at the positives of their people and defend them „till the end of the World” if they make mistakes. This approach can only harm both the manager and the subordinate, because none of them will learn anything from either things those done well or those that were mistaken.
10. Don’t be a „Rabi”, trying to please everybody
„Managing people is the most difficult thing – much more difficult than managing the business” – said my first manager, Joe Garner. He was so true… A really big mistake I did was to try to please everybody in my area – which meant doing compromises that only lasted short term – and in the end the issue became bigger and bigger. Managing also means taking (hopefully) the right decision – for business issues, as well as regarding people points of view.
And one final point: Be humble – remember that we are mere, temporary human beings that one day will leave for a better place. And that we don’t know everything. So, always listen before you speak and keep in mind Michael Josephson’s poem, „What Will Matter”.
