When Denny Strigl was in charge of Verizon Mobile, he made surprise visits to his stores. He outlawed gobbedlygook. He didn't allow his company to put its customers' cell phone numbers in a phone book. He made it clear that the role of his managers was to get results, and he made sure that everyone in the organization knew what those results should look like. In his new book, Managers, Can You Hear Me Now?: Hard-Hitting Lessons on How to Get Real Results , Strigl brings his cut-to-the-chase style to struggling managers in one of the best-written and most effective business books to come out yet in the 21st century.
In just 190 pages, Managers, Can You Hear Me Now? is a quick but powerful read. Each of the nine chapters includes a summary and specific action items. Strigl and coauthor Frank Swiatek use specific examples - Strigl mostly from Verizon, Swiatek drawing from his long tenure as a consultant - to clarify the points they make. The clarity of thought in these pages is refreshing in a field of jargon-packed volumes.
Accountability, Not Excuses
Strigl makes it abundantly clear that managers are responsible for results, and that results are not the same as being busy. He is not impressed by managers working long hours, generating reams of reports, or attending endless meetings (and meetings about how to hold better meetings). Instead, he looks for:
- leading by example
- avoiding distractions
- focusing on relevant results
- integrity
- decisiveness
His expectations for managers are high, because managers set the tone and determine the success of a company. Employees watch their managers for cues as to what is acceptable, and managers are providing those clues constantly, whether they're conscious of it or not. Because of this powerful truth, Strigl demands that managers develop and implement policies only if they will boost results, and only if those managers are prepared to follow those policies, as well as enforce them.
Managing People, Not Reports
Management is an activity best performed in person. Written communication like reports and email briefings are devoid of non-verbal contextual clues, so employees will fill those clues in from their own experience, mood, and hunches. In addition, email in particular becomes a distraction very easily, eating up a manager's time.
Strigl advocates only checking email two or three times a day and using the phone or a visit for other communication. This keeps misunderstandings to a minimum, as the manager can clarify what was intended in an email. It also gets the manager out from behind his desk, putting him in front of his staff where he belongs.
Reports can and should be an important part of any corporate structure, but only if they're clearly tied to relevant results. Time spent generating reports is time not spent generating revenue, so the number and character of those reports should be evaluated carefully. Action plans and reports should be focused on producing results only. Strigl says that all results should be tied to one of his "Four Fundamentals" of management:
- grow revenue
- get new customers
- keep the customers you already have
- eliminate costs
Any tasks which do not fulfill one or more of these fundamentals shouldn't be performed.
Culture of Success
The culture of a company determines its success, and the managers set the culture. Strigl hammers this point home throughout the book. If a company's mission is to grow revenue but the managers spend their time sending emails and hanging banners that say "quality," the culture is going to be one of busy work, not one of success. Focusing on integrity, hard work, and outstanding customer service will prove more effective in every case than focusing on the trappings of management.
If a fraction of the corporations in America took Strigl's common sense and clear advice to heart, this country's economic woes could be only a dim memory in very short order.
Managers, Can You Hear Me Now? (2011 McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-04-175913-7) is available online and at major bookstores.
Terence P Ward - Terence P Ward has a business writing website, but spends a bit too much time writing press releases, blog posts, and thought leadership ...
