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.

Can you remember back to your school days? 

I’m sure for some of us it will be easier than for others! Remember how you’d answer a question, but even though it was technically right, it wasn’t the one the teacher was looking for? 

Q. What is ‘hard water’?
    A. Ice (of course!)

See what I mean? 

There was only ever one right answer at school - imagine what that did for your creativity and your confidence.

Many people, and you may be one of them, grow up believing that they’re not creative, but I’m a strong believer that trying to be creative makes us creative. It gets the under-used side of our brain up and running, the side that’s been lying dormant possibly since childhood. 

I think it was George Bernard Shaw who said,

“We don’t stop playing because we grow up, we grow up because we stop playing”. 

Of course, I’m not suggesting you go out french skipping at lunchtime or kicking a ball against a wall (though then again, why not?) but start playing at work; playing with ideas. 

Here’s a couple of ideas that will not only get the creative juices flowing but will also add value to your business.

Idea Pooling: how you can improve your Customer experience maybe or how you can attract more of your perfect Customers.
Gather your team, no ‘wrong’ answers, just as many ideas as you can think of, sane or wacky - get them all down and then pick out the gems. You’ll see people building on the ideas of others and gaining confidence that anything goes and no one is sitting in judgement. As well as providing original ideas it’s also a great team building exercise; just keep the energy high and have fun!


Mind-maps: I love. They are a great way to generate new and creative ideas, I so wish I’d known about them when I was at school. Such a great tool for revising and particularly for generating ideas when you’re planning. 

A mind-map gets us thinking in almost a chaotic way, allowing us to go off in all sorts of different directions, like a spider’s web. It snaps us out of that linear way of thinking which is more ordered and restrictive.

I bet you know someone who you think of as an ‘ideas’ person. Well the truth is we are all ‘ideas people’, we just need to give the creative side of our brain a bit of regular exercise. Just make a start and keep practising. I’m telling you, you’ll be amazed.

I wonder where the creative children who gave these ‘wrong answers’ are now? 

Q.  How can you delay milk turning sour?
A.  Keep it in the cow

Q.  Explain what you most like about Kipling?
A.  Almond slices

Q.  How do you change centimetres into metres?
A.  Remove ‘centi’.


Do one thing: Have some fun this week!

P.S. Great systems are a great foundation for you and the creative people in your business. They take care of the nuts and bolts of business to give you time to get those creative juices flowing.

‘Great systems are not chains to tie you down they are wings to help you fly’.

For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on  
​hello@mariannepage.co.uk

Does your other half complain that they see too much of you?

Do your kids groan ‘cos you’re taking them out for the day, again?

Are you the number one invite on your friends’ social calendar?

Do you never take your laptop on holiday with you?

No?

So you’re telling me you don’t have all the time in the world?!

Then let me ask you this: do you own your business, or does it own you?

We had a meeting with a new client recently, and we asked him how he felt about his business.  He paused for such a long time I can remember thinking, ‘this is going to be a loooong day’, and then he said just one word: 

‘’Resentful!”

“This ‘job’ - that’s what I call it now, totally owns me. It dictates my mood; my appetite, my energy levels. I think about it all the time. I lie awake fretting about it. It feels like my entire life is being sucked into a big black hole.

“I went out on my own to have more freedom - to spend more time with my wife and kids, and look at me now - working every hour God sends.

“Everyone told me I needed a team, but all that’s done is increase my workload - the tax, the paperwork, keeping on top of them. I’m sure right now they’ll be glued to their phones cos I’m not there. Arghhh….”

Of course he’s not unusual. 

In fact he could be a poster boy for the small successful business owner! Maybe he’s just like you?

You started small, right? Built a really great business, had loads of fun doing it, started taking people on. It was all ok for you too at first, and then… the wheels came off.  You lost your consistency, you lost your belief that people would perform for you, you began to work longer and longer hours to keep on top of everything.

But, and this may surprise you, even ‘the youth of today’ don’t come to work with the sole purpose of pissing you off. Nobody plans to have a bad day or do a bad job, especially not the people you hand-picked for your business.

The change you’re looking for doesn’t start with your people, it starts with you.

You want freedom, particularly time freedom? Then build strong foundations, that free your people first. 

Strong foundations built around:

Your Plans - showing your team what the destination is, and how you’re going to reach it together - the route map for them to follow

Your Processes - having a set way of doing what you do - a system for everything

Your People - only hiring people who match your values, and fit your team, and then training them to follow your set way of doing things

Your Performance Management - taking every opportunity to give constructive feedback, to correct, to praise.  Having regular performance reviews that reward excellence

Successful business is built on the consistent performance of high performing teams who know where they’re going and follow the business systems to take them there. Look to McDonald’s, to Virgin, to Apple if you doubt what I’m saying.

And you can have this too. Put your energy into building your foundations, and you will find your freedom.

Do one thing: take a look at your life and your business and decide if it’s time to change.

Thanks for reading :)

Many people I speak to can see the benefits of a systemised business. ‘Look at McDonald’s; look at Amazon,’ they say, ‘every really successful business is systemised, absolutely…there’s no getting away from it.’

But when it comes down to their own business you can see them coming out in a rash. The thought of systemising their business is just too overwhelming…

’I don’t have time’

‘I can’t afford it’

‘Systems are just a luxury’

I’ve heard them all.

The reality is that we all already have systems in our business; we all do things! But if the way we do things is not simple, logical and repeatable then we are wasting time and money and not achieving what every Customer (and every business owner) wants – consistency!  We’re spending time checking, correcting, complaining, working in our business not on it.

What I’m saying is that we have a choice, either:
a. do things haphazardly, with each team member doing things their way, reinventing the wheel every time a task is done, little being done the way you want it to be or

b. do every task in your business, in a simple, logical, repeatable way.

For me it’s a no brainer.

The question is not, ‘Can I afford to systemise my business?’ but ‘Can I afford not to?’

And the reality is, it’s really not the huge, overwhelming, expensive task you think it is.

You decide you’re going to do it, you start small, with your most routine, every day tasks and you ask three key questions:


1. ‘Is this task simple?’ 
Could anyone walking in off the street, (if it’s a basic task), or with the necessary technical knowledge (if it’s a specialist task) follow the steps to complete it?


2. ‘Is this task logical?’ 
Does the way we do it make sense? Can I answer the question, ‘why do we do it this way?’


3. ‘Is this task repeatable?’ 
Can it be done in the same way every time? Can I train people to do it this way?


A good system is simply a uniform and consistent way of doing things that makes your life easier.  If a system doesn’t make life easier – for you, your team, or your customer, then it’s the wrong system.

There aren’t five different ways to cook fries at McDonald’s; there is one way. There aren’t seven different ways to open up the restaurant and get everything set up for the day, there is one way. Everybody at McDonald’s at every level, knows ‘the way we do things around here’ and everything that is done, is simple, logical and repeatable.

Contrary to what they might tell you, McDonald’s franchisees have a great life. They have freedom to choose when they’ll work and when they won’t; when they’ll go to the golf course, or on holiday, or simply stay in bed. They have that freedom because their business has systems, because everybody that works in their business knows exactly the way things work, so they can trust their team to perform consistently every single day.

Freedom, Trust and Consistency – business nirvana!

And the only difference between them and you, is that they have effective systems.

So what are you going to do about it?

Do one thing: Draw a line in the sand and take small simple steps towards a more consistent and profitable business:

• make a list of your routine, daily, weekly and monthly tasks
• make a plan to take just one of those tasks each week and ask yourself if it’s simple, logical and repeatable as outlined above
• then make it so. Involve your team to make this an even more powerful exercise

Do that every week, and you’ll have 52 systems in your business this time next year! 
Thanks for reading.

75% of the reasons people leave jobs come down to things that managers can influence. According to recent research these are the things that make people want to stay:

1. Having opportunities to grow
One of the best predictors of turnover is whether an employee has had opportunities at work to learn, grown and advance.
‘I am listened to; my opinion counts for something.’
‘My manager discusses my development with me.’
‘I receive training and coaching on the job’
are typical responses of happy employees
It was also found that 92% of these workers also said they planned to be with their companies a year later.

2. Pay and benefits
According to Gallup research, ‘engaged employees are far more likely to perceive that they are paid appropriately for the work they do (43%), compared to employees who aren’t (15%).’ Another factor that can boost satisfaction with pay is when employees feel their pay is fair in comparison to their co-workers. Nothing creates bad feeling as much as when someone in the team is not pulling his or her weight and it’s not being addressed.

3. Good fit for the business and the role
If people have been recruited who match the values of the business they have more chance of being emotionally connected to their work. If they’re then put into roles that maximise their talents and strengths, and give scope for development they are more likely to be efficient, effective and fulfilled.

4. A well-organised workplace
People benefit from knowing, not only what’s expected of them, but also how they fit into the bigger picture. Regular communication from a manager about how the team and business are doing keeps people in the loop and makes them feel involved and valued. Better still when they are asked for input and ideas.
People want to work in a well run workplace. No one enjoys that feeling of lurching from one crisis to another on a regular basis. Working for someone who is passionate but clear headed helps too. Having a systemised business, a one right way to do every task, and thorough training can provide employees with the independence and responsibility on which they thrive.

5. Work life balance
51% of employees would switch to a job that allows them flexitime and 37% to a job that allows them to work at home some of the time, according to research. Flexible working can be good for employees and for business; if people are less stressed and energised, it’s usually good news for productivity and retention. It also sends a clear message of trust, a great morale boost in itself.

6. Job security
People want to feel they’re working in a solid business with a promising future. One way to address this is to share the ‘back story’ of the business and your goose-bump-giving vision for its future. Employees want to feel they’re on that journey with you.  And of course the business has to walk the talk; to get results and keep the team updated and inspired by performance.

7. Relationships and culture
When people are involved, encouraged to ‘fail forwards’ and work as part of a happy team, who they socialise with, they are more inclined to stay. Research  reveals that if you have good friends at work you’re more inclined to stay. But key too is a good relationship with your manager. You don’t have to be best buddies but since your manager is responsible for so many of the fore-going points it’s essential for a good working relationship. 

When you reflect on the above it shows how important it is to have the right manager in your business. They set the tone of the workplace; have responsibility for developing plans and people and for all important communication. They are pivotal, not just for performance, but for employee retention. A bad manager is the number one reason cited for people leaving their jobs. And I don’t imagine that by ‘bad’, people always mean unkind or grumpy. I imagine for many it means ‘well-intentioned but ineffectual’. And I know we’ve spoken many times about accidental managers; those chucked in at the deep end with little training or ongoing development. 

And if you think how costly it may be to train your managers (or yourself as a business owner) just add up how much it costs your business every time someone leaves. 

Do one thing: If 75% of the reasons people leave jobs come down to things that managers can influence, consider what you’re doing to develop your managers?

It’s that time again. The time of year we all look forward to. Lambs leaping; skylarks singing, daffodils dancing and rabbits doing… what rabbits do!

Spring is in the air!

And for many of us that means being overcome by a strange urge to spring clean; to de-clutter and spruce up every area of our home and garden; maybe even to decorate - hoping we’ll keep it that way for twelve months (or twelve days if we have children or pets!). 

So, what about your business? Any plans for a makeover?

Maybe you’ve had a successful year. Maybe you’ve worked your socks off and done ok, but you’ve lost a bit of your mojo. Maybe you feel like you’re just repeating the same year over and over; doing good, but not really evolving, not taking that big leap forward

We all know it’s difficult to grow a business and still have a life. 

Success undoubtedly means more money, but it can all too often mean less time - sometimes no time, to enjoy it; you’ve heard the expression ‘cash rich but time poor’.

Success means a bigger team, bigger challenges, more sleepless nights.

Success it seems, is not all it’s cracked up to be.

But it could be, if only we took the leap. If only we realised that we had all the right ingredients in our business, to make that leap - to spring forward to success - to be time and cash rich - to have a team that performs brilliantly whether we’re there or not.

We have the money. We have the people. What we don’t have are the systems; they are the springboard to success. And by systems I mean a simple logical repeatable way to do every task in your business. I learned that at McDonald's, where systems run the business and people run the systems.

Get your planning system focused on your destination, develop a plan with your people to take you there, and you have a route map to follow.  Create Simple Logical and Repeatable systems, and train your people to use them, and you have a team who can work independently, consistently every day to your high standards. Set up a performance management system that keeps them on track, inspires and motivates them, and you free yourself to work ‘on’ your business, to concentrate on those key elements, like strategy, which will take you to the next level.

​As your business grows you cannot sustain managing it as you used to. As your business evolves so you need to evolve as a business owner. Spring is a perfect time for a new start; so are you ready to spring forward?


Do one thing: visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk for more information on how MPL can help.

’You can dream, create, draw and come up with the best ideas in the world, but you need people to help you turn your dreams into reality.’

As business owners, we rightly focus a heck of a lot of attention on our external customers and what we can do to give them a great experience. We can often forget that our people are our customers too, and without them, we can’t provide a great service, or grow a successful business.

We want our team to be full of ‘go-to’ people, leaders and high performers. We want them to support us in our vision, to be loyal to the business, to work hard for us; but what do they want in return?

If you had to choose one thing that has the most positive impact on your team what would it be? ‘Communication?’ ‘Involvement?’ ‘Trust?’ What would you be looking for if you were in their shoes?

Below is a list of the top 20 answers to the question, ‘What makes you feel valued at work?’

Take 5 minutes now to think about how your team would rate your ‘delivery’ in each of these areas, and rate yourself from 1-5 (1=unsatisfactory, 2=needs improvement, 3=satisfactory, 4=good, 5=excellent)

1. Knowing where the business is going
2. Knowing the ‘roots’ of the business - where it came from and why
3. Being involved in the planning process
4. Knowing what’s expected of me and how I’ll be judged
5. Being told when I’m doing well, and what I need to improve
6. Having simple consistent ways of doing things
7. Having time invested in my development
8. Having the opportunity to progress
9. Being trusted to do my job and left to get on with it
10. Being encouraged to have ideas
11. Knowing how my role supports the business/ customers/ the rest of the team
12. Working in a no-blame culture, where mistakes are seen as opportunities to learn
13. Being appreciated and thanked for a good day’s work or a job well done
14. Having calm, consistent leadership with no mood swings!
15. Having regular ‘formal’ feedback sessions
16. Being paid fairly
17. Celebrating success with the team
18. Being kept up to date with how the business is doing
19. Being listened to and heard when there are blocks to my performing well
20. Not being in a ‘long hours prove your worth’ culture

How did you do?

Are there a few there that might get rated ‘needs improvement’ or ‘unsatisfactory’? How would you say that affects your people’s performance or your reputation as an employer?

If you’re unhappy with the results, there is no better time to act than now, because as Walt Disney said,

‘You can dream, create, draw and come up with the best ideas in the world, but you need people to help you turn your dreams into reality.’

Value your people, turn YOUR dreams into reality.


Do one thing: We've created a questionnaire for your team members ready to use and a ‘How to' guide of how to use it (please download below).
If you do use it we'd welcome any feedback about how it went and any improvements we can make.

If you feel on a roll our Business Efficiency Test will give you further insight into how each of the key systems in your business is operating - including your customer experience system - and will give you strategies for improving them in a pdf report. Take the test now, to see how you measure up.

As a business owner you know that a high-performing team is essential for a successful business. But how do you start building a team from the group of individuals who currently work for you with all of their different personalities and egos? Any of these sound familiar?

• The cat - ‘hmm, good idea eh? I’ll be the judge of that.’
• The Labrador  - ‘that’s a great idea, let’s get started’
• The meerkat - ‘let’s see what our competitors are doing first’
• The white rabbit - ‘I’m sorry…what have I missed?’

Of course we’re all different - we all have different strengths and different experience, so what can you do, as the leader, to get all of these people to gel as a team?

Well, you can start by viewing individual personality traits in a positive way, and playing to strengths:

• Your cat’s circumspection may avoid ‘groupthink’ and give much-needed ‘paws’ for thought
• Your Labrador’s enthusiasm could be contagious and keep team spirits up
• Your meerkat could be tasked with being your ‘lookout,’ keeping you up to date with your competition and bringing in ideas
• Your white rabbit might keep everyone succinct at meetings to get their points agreed before he arrives! Of course he might just be late because he’s bringing you coffee!

But if you’re serious about building a High Performing Team, then here are my top 10 tips:

1. Get clear about your Vision for the business, and the Values that you want to live by and work to. Sounds easy, but have you actually done it? Don’t start to build your team until you have.
2. Ensure you employ people who share your Values. (I don’t mean clones or a ‘mini me’) 
3. Share your story and your big ‘Why’ with your team - let them buy into your dream. Share your Vision - the ultimate goal for the business with the team - and work with them on having a clear route map to take you all there.
4. Establish simple, logical and repeatable ways of working (systems) and train your team to follow them. Adopt a cycle of review and improvement.
5. Get to know every team member as an individual; identify their strengths and weaknesses and work out their development plans together.
6. Look for everyday opportunities to coach, say well done and give ‘specific’ praise.
7. Communicate progress towards your goals, and celebrate every small win.
8. Review their progress formally at least every 6 months. Don’t forget to ask what the main thing is they want from you as their manager. 
9. Take them out to meet suppliers and clients, let them see first hand how their role fits in to the bigger picture.
10. Share your business success with the team, both verbally and financially.  Let them feel how much you value their contribution.

‘The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.’  - Phil Jackson


Do one thing: Take a close look at your team, and use our checklist to see how you fare.

And if you or a manager in your business could use some help then check out our MPL ‘Managers' Development Programme.’ Our structured 6-month online programme is aimed at developing the mindset and the skill set of business owners and their managers. 

Details and testimonials here: 
https://www.mariannepage.co.uk/mpl-managers-development-programme.html
Thanks for reading.

’Development can help great people be even better - but if you have a pound to spend, spend 70p getting the right person in the door.’

In a recent blog I recommended having your ‘aces in their places’ when it comes to peopling your customer journey. And conversely there will be times when you need to part company with someone who, despite yours and perhaps their best efforts, isn’t improving. In these cases the sooner you realise they’re not the right fit and have an honest conversation with them, the better for both of you. 

I’m sure we all know people who’ve had a career change who said, ‘Blimey, wish I’d done this years ago’. 

The truth is though, that while effective performance management is easier if you’re giving informal feedback throughout the year, it’s much, much easier if you’ve recruited the right person for you and your business in the first place.

So what do I mean by the right person for you? 

I mean the person whose values match your own; who has all of the personal attributes that will see them easily fit into the way you and your team work; their work ethic, their energy, their positive view of life - that sort of thing. Their CV will only tell you what they have experience of, not how they did it, or whether they were any good at it.

Of course, if you’re going to hire to your values, then you have to be really clear about what they are, and that brings me back to two of the most important questions for any business owner to be able to answer:

1. Where are you going?
and
2. What do you stand for?

If you picked up a pen and paper now to jot down your values, what would you write? Integrity? A passion for Customer service? Continuous learning? Consistency? Having fun…? 

And how do those values show up in your business?  How do you demonstrate through your every day actions that these are your values? How obvious are they to your team, and what about to your customers?

Once you’re really clear about what you stand for, your values, then you can use them to recruit the right people; the people who stand for the same things. 

So, if your core value is integrity and passion for Customers, you won’t want to hire a salesperson who focuses on getting a sale at all costs. If you’re all about making business fun, then you’re not going to take on someone who struggles to find their personality every morning. You get my drift. 

A great way to get the right people to interview is to put together a job description that shares the following three pieces of information:

1. The purpose of the business. Why you exist, who you serve, and your long-term vision.
2. The purpose of the job. How the role fits into the business, what value it adds to the whole, what success looks like in the role.
3. A pen portrait of the person who is the perfect fit, which gives any potential candidates, a clear picture of the type of person you’re looking for.

You want this person to fit into your team and hit the ground running, so it’s vital that they know in advance what that means, whether they can see themselves in the portrait you’ve given them. It’s not about hiring Mini Me – you may be an ideas person needing to hire a detail person, for example – it’s about being a good match. Hiring and training cost a lot of money, and you want to get it right first time. 

Yes, of course, you’ll have a probation period, but you really don’t want to have to let someone go because you didn’t suss out up front that they didn’t share your values, or that they don’t have the right skills, and then pay to go through the whole process again. 

The world is full of businesses who have the ‘wrong’ employees – people with the wrong skills, the wrong values, the wrong attitude, for the business they are in.

I don’t know much about Paul Russell, but he was right on the mark when he said,

‘Development can help great people be even better - but if I had a dollar to spend, I'd spend 70 cents getting the right person in the door.’

Do one thing: Review your hiring system and ask, ‘Am I hiring to my values?

​In my business I often come across managers with one thing in common; they are flying by the seat of their pants! People who are ‘accidental managers’. You know, the great team member who is plucked from their team and given a management role or the talented business owner who finds themselves managing people as their business grows. They have little or no training or development and rely on what they’ve learned along the way from managers around them, good or bad. And if you need a great management role model, we can learn some really crucial lessons from Ole at Man Utd.

Lesson 1 - Nurture your Culture
Many clients say to me, ‘I really want to improve the culture of my business. I want to get it right.’ So what can we learn from Ole? First of all, he had a really clear idea of what he wanted the culture of Man U to be. The thing with culture is that it starts with values; it starts with the values of the person at the top. Ole clearly is a man who has strong values, a really clear idea of how he wants to operate. And how quickly did he get those players to buy in. Despite the massive egos and the big superstar baggage everyone came on board. 

It’s always easier to instil a culture from scratch than turn an existing one around. Yet that’s just what he did in a remarkably short space of time. 

So great first lesson, nurture the culture you want to build. Think about your values; what do you stand for? Then act them every day.


Lesson  2 - Build Unity 
Prior to Ole it seemed to be ‘the staff and the players’ or at least ‘the manager and the players’. You only had to look at the body language and eye contact, or lack of it. This was reinforced by the manager’s public criticism of his players and team selection. Then the rumour mill started about bust ups and personality clashes. Ole immediately started to build unity in his language and actions;
it’s always, ‘We, the team,’ ‘We, the squad,’ ‘We, the club’.  I absolutely love that he’s brilliant at sharing praise, shouldering blame and reinforcing the positives. Just look at the individuals within that team and how well he brought them together and instilled ‘we are one team; we are united.’

So the second lesson is unity. Make your business one team.


Lesson 3 - Inspire and Motivate
One of the common questions I get asked by people on our Managers’ Development Programme is, ’What's the difference between a manager and leader?’  

There'll be books written on how managers are the logistic experts, they keep things ticking along. A big part of a management role is making sure that the attention to detail is there, that mistakes aren’t made and if they are, that they're learned from and so on.

But these days in any business, you have to be a leader as well. You have to inspire and motivate the team, and modest as his media persona is, Ole is clearly a very inspiring and motivating guy. He didn't immediately crack the whip. I’ll bet when he first met with the squad, he took them into a room and shared his vision of what it was like to be a Man U player and how privileged they were to wear the shirt. That would be his style. 

That is something I find that a lot of managers and business owners miss. They miss sharing their vision. ‘Where is this all headed? Where are we all going together as a team and why?’ He inspired and motivated them so well. 

He clearly showed them how much he believed in them, and as a result, they believed in themselves. He’s also been great at supporting those who were having a hard time. Look at the difference in confidence in young Rashford who played with his eyes on the ground unable to hit a barn door and then look at the difference under Ole, confidence and self-belief is oozing from his pores. Yes, he recognised this was crucial for success but also just because this was in line with his values, that he would look after his people. He would keep each individual feeling confident and part of the team.

He also treated them like adults. Sometimes, particularly new/young managers feel their role is to be the boss, to talk at people, to tell them what to do. When you have adults or adult conversations with people in your team, when you give them the training and development and support that they need, when you really believe in them and remember that you have a responsibility to help them to fulfil their potential, that's when you get your team to take ownership. That's when people start to step up and go, ‘All right. I'm responsible for this. This is my job.’ And you can see that now at United, the team are taking ownership. They are taking responsibility, and they’re acting like adults. 

Third lesson - look to inspire and motivate your team to build ownership and belief.


Lesson 4 - Have fun!
It’s become obvious over the last few months that Man U players are enjoying their football again. It’s like a huge weight has been lifted off them and they’re playing with the swagger of teams of old. And Ole himself is chilled and smiling, setting the tone.

We are lucky with what we do, a lot of us, and why not have fun doing it? Why not encourage our teams to have fun? People are at work for so many hours of the day, it's part of our responsibility as managers to help people enjoy it, not dread coming into work and be managed by us.

Fourth lesson - create an enjoyable workplace. This goes back to culture and values as well.


Lesson 5 - Learn, learn, and then learn some more! 
The final thing that I really wanted to bring up as a lesson from Ole is his desire to learn, his desire to be the best possible manager he can be. And one of the things that stops us learning is our ego. Not for Ole. Instead of Alex Ferguson being the ghost of Christmas past or the old guys in the balcony criticising their fellow Muppets, Ole’s got him in giving talks to the players. He’s brought back Mike Phelan, Utd through and through and gaining from his years of ‘been there, done that’. And you get the impression that Ole is like a sponge soaking up knowledge and experience so he can do the best for the club, the fans and the players. ​

That's really what I want for each of you. I want you to be the best possible people managers that you can be; the best leaders. So think about the lessons from Ole. Think about your values and your culture. Think about how you can create unity in your team. Think about the development and support that you're giving, not to the team as a whole, not just to the stars, but to every single individual, however minor their role is in the team.

Think about how much you're inspiring and motivating the team who work with you. Think about how you're going to become a better manager, a better leader; what you need to do and the skills you need to develop. Explore where you can learn the lessons you need to learn to keep improving, keep developing, and be the best manager that you can be.

Fifth lesson - keep on learning.

Do one thing: do your team members know how you started and where you’re heading? If not, start by sharing with them the story of your business.

And if you or a manager in your business could use some help then check out our MPL ‘Managers' Development Programme’. Our structured 6-month online programme is aimed at developing the mindset and the skill set of business owners and their managers. 

Details and testimonials here:
​https://www.mariannepage.co.uk/mpl-managers-development-programme.html

Thanks for reading.