• Build your systems
    • Chaos to Consistency
    • Bespoke Mentoring & Development
  • Systems online
    • Business Efficiency Bundle
    • Systems Mastery
  • Manager Development
    • Managers' Development Programme
  • About
    • Meet The Team
    • Marianne
    • Contact
    • Media
  • Books
  • Blog
Marianne Page
  • Build your systems
    • Chaos to Consistency
    • Bespoke Mentoring & Development
  • Systems online
    • Business Efficiency Bundle
    • Systems Mastery
  • Manager Development
    • Managers' Development Programme
  • About
    • Meet The Team
    • Marianne
    • Contact
    • Media
  • Books
  • Blog

A Key Management Lesson from Pep Guardiola

5/20/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
I read a great quote by Clare Balding the other day about Pep Guardiola. She wrote, “He (Pep) is the manager not just of a team of players but also of backroom staff whom he always values, praises and thanks. He is a leader who makes them all believe the impossible is possible.”

It just got me thinking about how bosses and managers treat their ‘backroom’ team. One of my pet hates over the years is hearing a manager giving someone a task and apologise for it. How does that person then feel? How can they take pride in their job and feel any sort of fulfilment? I’ve seen it in managers who want to be liked or are worried about a possible reaction, “I’m really sorry to have to ask you to do this…’’  

Now I’m not suggesting they do a Tarzan swing and ‘big-up’ a simple or repetitive job but rather to explain to people how their role fits in to the bigger picture. You may think cleaning toilets isn’t much of a job. Okay now imagine you work in an office and they’re not cleaned! I know many people who judge an eatery not just by its food and service but also by its toilets. Have you ever come back from the loo and raved about it or returned to your table vowing never to return to the restaurant? 

We had a US vice president at McDonald’s who would always make the toilets his first port of call when checking out a restaurant. Not for a call of nature but to make sure they were so clean that he could eat his burger off the toilet floor. (I wonder if he ever did?)

People want to feel that they belong, that they’re valued, that they are part of the business and that they make a difference to its success. I heard a story recently where a school had called a meeting about its future but had just invited teachers to it. Not the facilities people or the grounds team, those people without whom the teaching couldn’t happen. How to quickly make people feel they don’t count!

On the other hand, I know someone who made a point of working late a few times a week to catch the cleaners coming in so she could learn their names, thank them in person and explain the difference they made to the working environment and the business’s success. Yes, these people were employed by an Agency, but she felt they were still part of the team. She would also insist on clear desks and work areas every night explaining that it made it easier for the cleaners and to get her team members to appreciate their work. 

An old boss of mine used to love telling the tale of the man he used to pass regularly on his way to work pushing his dustcart round London streets. He was so impressed that this guy was always smiling, acknowledging people as he passed. His cart was decorated and the pride he took in his work oozed from his pores. Imagine if the person giving him that task had been apologetic rather than explaining that the first impression people get of a city is its clean streets.

So going back to Guardiola, I imagine that when he has a team meeting which is about the future, rather than next week’s tactics, he invites the whole team. And what is so great about it is that the extremes in that team would be hard to replicate in most SME’s; famous multi-millionaires and the person who cuts the grass being inspired by the boss about the future of the club.

Do one thing: make time to ask your team members individually how they think their role impacts the business. If they don’t know, then there’s your chance.

Thanks for reading. Have a great week.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Sign up for our weekly insights email below

    Sign up

    Author

    Marianne is the author of three books, and is currently working on her fourth, whilst regularly writing her blog, we hope you enjoy it :-)

    Archives

    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Business Consistency
    Business Growth Solutions
    Business Owner
    Business Planning
    Business Relationships
    Business Systems
    Communication
    Cost Efficient Systems
    Creativity
    Customer Experience
    Customer Journey
    Customer Satisfaction
    Easy Business
    Efficiency
    Entrepreneur
    Family
    Feedback
    Get Stuff Done
    High Performing Team
    Hiring Well
    Leadership
    Management Development
    Managers' Development Programme
    Managing People
    Marianne Page
    One Right Way
    Overwhelm
    People Systems
    Performance Reviews
    Personal Development
    Personal Effectiveness
    Personal Management System
    Personal Process
    Personal Satisfaction
    Personal Systems
    Personal Transformation
    Planning For Success
    Planning System
    Process & Systems
    Scale Up
    Service Excellence
    Simple Logical Repeatable
    Success Habits
    Systems4Scale
    Team Engagement
    Time Management
    Time Management & Personal Effectiveness
    Time Off
    Training
    Vision & Values
    You Reap What You Sow

    RSS Feed

Picture
Get Started
Marianne
Blog
Contact
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
  ©Marianne Page 2018
Picture
  • Build your systems
    • Chaos to Consistency
    • Bespoke Mentoring & Development
  • Systems online
    • Business Efficiency Bundle
    • Systems Mastery
  • Manager Development
    • Managers' Development Programme
  • About
    • Meet The Team
    • Marianne
    • Contact
    • Media
  • Books
  • Blog