Read an Excerpt
The Peon Book
How to Manage Us
By Dave Haynes
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2004 Dave Haynes
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-57675-285-2
Chapter One
Get Trustworthy
..... weak constitutions should sit this one out. The view of the world through the eyes of a peon is not always a clear or peaceful one, but it is the key to your success as a manager. My intent is to help you transform yourself into a better leader by letting you know how we peons think and what we expect from you.
In order to make a successful transformation, though, you and I are going to have to establish some ground rules. First, I promise to be completely honest with you, that I will not hold anything back. I also promise that I will not just diagnose problems but also will give you solutions to those problems. I promise to keep the book as entertaining as possible for a business book, and I promise to give you real suggestions that you can use in your job today.
In return, I expect a few things from you. First, I expect you to be open-minded. Yes, I am a peon, and yes, my clothes are less expensive than yours, and no, I don't have a talking GPS system in my car, but you still might learn something from me. Second, I expect you to be honest with yourself. Nobody is here except you and me, and I want you to be honest in your self-assessments. Third, I expect you to laugh. Don't take my jokes too seriously—I don't. Finally, I expect you to do something with these suggestions. If you are just reading this to appease someone else, then put it down and go back to riding your NordicTrack. I want you to plan to get something out of these suggestions that will help you be a better manager.
Now that we are on the same page, ready to help you be a more peon-friendly manager, the first thing we need to address is your personality. I am aware that changing personality traits is like jamming toothpicks under your fingernails. I realize that we all read books that tell us "be a better listener" or "be your own motivator"—things that are easier said than done. We are who we are, and reading some stupid book isn't going to change who we are, is it?
No, a book is not going to change you, but it can point out some traits to refocus. I know what I just said about the toothpicks, but stick with me. If certain personality traits aren't established as the basis of our new, managerial you, then the rest won't work. In the words of Jesus, quoted in the Gospel of Matthew, it will be a house built on sand that, when the rains come, will wash away.
In order to identify traits that need refocusing, it is important to point out that the two quickest ways to offend or insult another person are either to disrespect them or to deceive them. These can be very difficult offenses to forgive; in fact, in some cases, such behavior can lead the offended party to much more serious offenses, in retaliation. This book as a whole focuses on point number one; this chapter is about point number two.
Therefore, the first and most critical managerial trait is to be trustworthy. Any good relationship is established on a basis of trust: husband and wife, parent and child, manager and employee, CEO and investors. Trustworthiness is a significant personality trait; it is the glue of a relationship and it is the bond that makes a group a team. Trust is critical to the success of any personal or professional relationship, and if you want to get your employees to do anything, then they'd better trust you. Deceit is the fastest way to lose the respect of your peons. They will not be motivated to work for you if they do not trust you.
Trust is a funny thing, though. It is so easy to damage, and so difficult to repair. This funny world with all of its funny crooks and all their funny ideas have made us all a little gunshy when it comes to trusting others. Many managers assume that because they occupy a management position, people will automatically trust their judgment and look to them for leadership. As though just by placing the mantle of leadership on their shoulders they become a different person, and suddenly their subordinates trust them completely. Such an assumption is like assuming that simply because someone has a driver's license they should be trusted to drive your car.
We peons respect you as a manager because of your authority, but that doesn't necessarily mean we trust you. In fact, to most employees, the mere fact of a manager's ascension up the corporate ladder makes them about as trustworthy as the company's legal department. A manager can be trusted, but many elements other than just a title must be present. A title may get you respect, but it does not earn you any trust.
So your peons don't trust you—so what? No big deal ... neither do your in-laws. Life moves on, right? Consider, however:
Peons will only follow a leader wholeheartedly if they are completely confident in the promises made by that leader.
An employee will hardly be confident in your promises if they mistrust you. I think every manager dreams that when they order their team to jump the unanimous response is "How high?" However, if your employees don't trust you, their response will be more like "Is there really any reason we need to jump? What if we hurt ourselves? Is this in my job description?" Peons won't have confidence in your vision if they don't trust you. A prospective shareholder won't have confidence in their stock purchase if they don't trust you. A prospective spouse won't have confidence in your plans for the future if they don't trust you.
Central to your new focus must be a desire to develop the trust of your peons. What have you done lately to gain their trust and confidence? Further, what have you done lately that may have violated that trust, even something that may not have affected your peons directly—something such as lying, cheating, or failing to keep a promise? If you want peons to follow you, be trustworthy. When we trust you, we will be confident in you and willing to follow you, because we won't fear that you are leading us in the wrong direction.
Years ago, I worked for a small manufacturer, selling water purification equipment for people's homes. Many of the salespeople in this field had come from the old school of door-to-door selling. Their sales philosophy consisted of a quick message, very little information, all kinds of promises, and some Zig Ziglar close to wrap up the deal. This type of salesperson never worried about future customer service; instead, it was "get the sale, get the praise, and get the commission." In other words, their professional behavior was successful but untrustworthy.
One of these old-school guys was a seasoned salesman who felt that he could sell pretty much anything to anybody, anytime. Within weeks of joining our company, he began selling the socks off every other salesperson. His commission checks were three times the amount of anyone else's; he was making some great money.
I started to watch him closely, to see what I could learn, because I wanted to make that kind of money. I noticed that he kept no real record of his customers and engaged in no follow-up. I didn't understand it. How could he care so little and yet sell so much? So one day I stopped him and asked him to enlighten me. His response was that his basic pitch was always the same, and that the point of the pitch was to give the customer enough information to know the general product they were buying, but nothing more. He felt letting a customer know too much was dangerous. That didn't sit well with me, but my opinion didn't matter; he was happy, the boss was happy, everybody was making money, so that was success, right?
However, I could sense the eventual backlash from this type of selling: the buyer's remorse and the increased customer expectations resulting from inflated promises, not to mention the ethical dilemmas presented by working this way. But the boss was so impressed by this guy's work that he basically demoted the current sales manager and gave Mr. Performance the job.
I didn't like this setup, so I went in to talk to the boss.
"Boss, I don't like Mr. Performance as my sales manager."
"Why not?"
"'Cause I don't trust him."
"Neither do I, but he's making this company a ton of money."
"Maybe so, but don't you see that this is going to come back and bite you in the butt?"
"What am I supposed to do? The other sales manager isn't doing a good job motivating you, and—"
"And you think this guy is going to motivate me? Motivate me to look for another job maybe."
"Fine. Go look for another job. This is the way it is."
As a result, I did start job searching, and when the right opportunity came up, I left.
Think about the ramifications of having an untrustworthy manager at the helm. Not only did he set a bad precedent for the company, but he also managed to demoralize the rest of the workforce at the company, beginning with me. My poor wife had to hear me rant and rave over dinner about this untrustworthy manager. My poor computer had to feel my anger when I typed up my résumé in disgust. My poor customers had to learn every minute detail about our product because I didn't want to be anything like that guy. I felt that if the man was shady with his customers and didn't seem to mind the ethics of the way he dealt with them, what was supposed to make me think that he would be honest with me?
Honesty and integrity are not switches that you can just turn on and off.
I was his direct subordinate, but I wasn't the only one who felt demoralized by having an untrustworthy manager at the company. The guy who worked in production hated his job because this shady manager made unrealistic promises to customers. The guy who installed the water systems hated his job because when he went to a customer's house he had to deal with angry customers who felt they had been finagled. Thus, one manager's dishonest, aggressive behavior affected everyone, even people who were not his direct subordinates. Ironically, this "improvement" was initiated to help the company, because he was the one responsible for bringing in tons of money and helping the company to "succeed." Instead, it was eating the company apart from the inside out.
In this case, employees were frustrated with the unethical behavior and, more importantly, disconcerted by the implied message that if we wanted to advance in the company we needed to be like Mr. Performance. A peon's hands really feel tied when you realize that you won't be promoted based on your talents or skills, but rather, on your ability to bend the rules and cheat.
How is your management affecting your company? Is your company being eaten apart from the inside out because of you? Are your people going home, boring their spouses, and pounding out résumés because they can't stand being around you?
Mr. or Ms. Manager, look at yourself. Really look at yourself. Remember, you promised you would be honest with yourself. Do your people think you are honest? Now really think about this. Have you ever given them a reason to trust you, or to mistrust you? Does your behavior with your employees, other workers, and customers suggest integrity, or does it reek of dishonesty?
Do it for the Peon
If this is an area that needs a little work, where do you get started? How do you get your people to trust you? I promised you solutions, right? Well, now I am going to deliver on that promise. See, you can trust me. The first step to becoming more trustworthy is to be dependable, loyal, and steady. Think about the most trustworthy person you know. What is the first character trait that comes to mind when you think of that person? Probably something related to the fact that you know that their behavior will not change. For instance, you could reveal to them extremely confidential information and their behavior remains exactly the same, as if they had never heard it.
Imagine you are about to take a daylong horseback-riding trip, and you are given an option of riding one of two horses. The first horse is an old, reliable horse guaranteed to give you a safe, enjoyable ride with no surprises. The second horse is a bit of a hothead. His behavior is very sporadic. Sometimes he just does what he feels like doing and may take you miles off the beaten trail. Which horse would you choose for the ride? I am going to guess that most people would rather have the steady, trustworthy horse. The most desirable element of that horse's personality is that you can trust it because it is steady and unchanging.
So, the first element of being trustworthy is being steady and unchanging. Okay, that is a good trait over time, but how can you work to gain the trust of your peons today? The best way to gain trust is to do something for someone for which there is no apparent personal reward in return. If you are a direct manager, this could entail something as simple as taking an employee out to lunch or remembering their birthday. If you are an upper-level manager, it could be something as simple (and as complicated) as remembering a peon's name. Trust can be gained by doing things that only benefit the employee.
During the middle and latter part of the 1990s, I—like 99.87% of the U.S. workforce—had visions of making oodles of money through the Internet. I calculated that the ability to design and put together a Web site would be a very valuable job skill. At the time, a friend of my wife's owned a small shop that sold competitive swimsuits. Through conversation with my wife, this friend learned that I aspired to Web design and asked if I would put together a site for her small business. I appreciated her inquiry; however, I had to decline because at that time I did not yet know how to do what she was asking. She responded by giving me an opportunity to learn: "I'll pay you to learn while you make my Web site."
I couldn't believe it. She was going to pay me, by the hour, to learn how to design Web pages, and all I had to do in return was to design hers. It was difficult for cynical old me to figure this out. Sure, she would get a Web site out of the deal, but it would cost twice as much—and probably take ten times longer—to have me rather than a professional do the work.
The thought kept crossing my mind: "Why is she doing this?" I could not come up with a better explanation than "she just wants to help me," with no overwhelming benefit to herself. Once I concluded this about her motives, I can't overstate just how motivated I was to avoid letting her down. I wanted to work twice as hard, to learn quickly, and to make her Web site top-notch. As time went on, she continued to do unselfish things for me, which in turn built up my trust in her.
Trust can be a very valuable asset in your quest to win the hearts of your peons, and you can do many little things that will earn trust. For example, extend the branch of trust and, on days when productivity has obviously become negative rather than positive, let people go home early. It is a small gesture that has no apparent benefit to you, and that can help to build the trust of your peons. Such days might include Christmas Eve or the day before Thanksgiving or some particularly nonproductive Friday right before a three-day weekend. Let everybody go early—confuse them by doing something that carries no obvious benefit to you.
What crosses the mind of a peon when you act in this way? At first, we say to ourselves, "What is she gaining from this?" If we can't come up with an obvious answer, then we say to ourselves, "Okay, what does the company gain from this?" If there is still no obvious answer, then our final conclusion is, "Hmm, that is a really nice thing to do. Maybe she really is just a normal person." When others see you as a normal person, they see you as a more trustworthy person. It starts to break down the divide between managers and peons, and the trust gets built as you become a member of the One of Us club.
It has always amazed me that most managers neglect the opportunity to build trust by letting people go early on nonproductive days. Maybe you considered it but felt too afraid of your own boss to lay down a decision. Come on! What happened to all those posters of eagles and fog-covered golf courses with inspirational quotes about "controlling your destiny?" Do you really believe that you control your own destiny? Then act like it. Make the decision.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Peon Book by Dave Haynes Copyright © 2004 by Dave Haynes. Excerpted by permission of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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