The Manager as Orchestra Leader

The Manager as Orchestra Leader

© 2008 Larry D. Braley & Ray D. Gragg

Published by Larry D. Braley & Ray D. Gragg at Smashwords

Table of Contents

1. Conducting the Process

Managing without Appearing to Manage

Defining Success Factor

Discerning Success Factors

Developing Career Mindedness

Setting and Maintaining Standards

Vigilance

Observation Book

Anarchists

Observing Politics, Personalities, and Territories

2. Starting Up a Department

Building the Box

Observing the Land

Plowing the Field

Planting the Crops

Building the Proper Foundation

Hiring My People

Training

Dollar Farming – Harvesting the Crop

Managing the Interval

Beware the Camelot Experience

3. Inheriting an Established Department

Reconstructing the Box

Observing the Culture

Open-Staff Meeting

Thirty-Day Meeting

After the 30 day meeting

Putting the I in TEAM!!!

Putting together a staff that has ownership

Politics, Personalities, and Territories

4. Maintenance of an Established Department

No More Boxes to Build

Observing as an Art Form

Servicing Staff’s Needs

Protecting My Staff

Dealing with Interdepartmental rivalry / animosity

Dealing with Upper-management who Oppose Change

Remote Managing

Preface

Consider a manager as the conductor of an orchestra. Each staff member is a finely tuned instrument designed to deliver the precise effect at just the appropriate moment. Without drums, the woodwinds would have no power. Without violins, the horns would have no finesse. It is the conductor’s purpose to align each instrument and note to create a harmony of music. If one instrument falters, they aren’t discarded – they are tuned and given direction.

Each member works individually to collectively produce a masterpiece. Each relies on the direction of the conductor who coordinates the individual talents to produce the desired result. Sitting in the horn section, one hears mostly horns. Sitting in the drum section, one hears mostly drums. By enabling each member to do what he or she does best, the conductor oversees the process, directing overall effectivity. This creates a finished product that becomes infinitely more than the sum of its parts.

Constant observation of staff, atmosphere, and character of the department is needed if orchestration is to be effective. Each member must not only understand standards but must also be engaged in the process. With this, staff supervises and motivates themselves. By monitoring the pulse of the department, a manager is able to affect direction and harmony within the department. To accomplish this, all a manager needs is eyes and ears – NO SPIES!

Historically, managers direct both staff and operations. They are more concerned with their position than they are with staff. This is a logistical philosophy in which the manager’s primary concern is his own corporate success. These individuals can make a huge difference on a company’s bottom line, but they will work much harder than they really need to and they will step on and hurt a lot of people along the way.

More concerned with quality than quantity, a person who manages from the heart diligently, but lovingly, conducts the entire orchestra to synchronize each instrument in harmony to reach a concert pitch.

Chapter 1

Conducting the Process

Managing without Appearing to Manage

Defining Success Factor

Discerning Success Factor

Developing Career Mindedness

Setting and Maintaining Standards

Vigilance

Observation Book

Anarchists

Observing Politics, Personalities, and Territories

Managing without appearing to manage

If I break one of my own rules or do something wrong the entire staff will know about it before the end of the workday. But if I do my job right, no one will even know I was there. This is just one of the realities of Managing from the Heart. If you are a person who needs recognition for a job well done then this book is not for you.

Recognition is not the reason a person manages from their heart; neither is adoration, ego, or pride. A person Manages from the Heart simply because treating others with understanding, respect, and dignity is the right thing to do. The best way to honor one’s self is to honor others. My reward comes from watching others overcome difficulties, develop their potential, and excel, and knowing that I had some small helping part in their growth as a human being. To be of service, to make a difference, to matter; this is the true reward of Managing from the Heart.

In Managing from the Heart, we learn to utilize the power which comes from conducting the process, not directing the process. The manager who directs the process will continually be required to oversee his or her personnel. But the manager who conducts the process establishes an atmosphere in which inspired and self-motivated personnel perpetuate the process.

Definition: Direct vs. Conduct

Direct:

1) to give authoritative instructions to; command; order or ordain; 2) to regulate the course of; control. 3) to channel or focus toward a given result, object, or end. (Logistical)

Conduct:

1) personal behavior; way of acting; bearing or deportment; 2) the act of conducting; guidance; escort; 3) to behave or manage (oneself); 4) to lead or guide; escort. (Transformative)

Historically, managers direct both staff and operations. They are more concerned with their position than they are with staff. This is a logistical philosophy in which the manager’s primary concern is his own corporate success. These individuals can make a huge difference on a company’s bottom line, but they will work much harder than they really need to and they will step on and hurt a lot of people along the way.

(concept)

If you want to be a manager – then direct.

If you want to manage – then conduct.

Managers from the Heart don’t direct – they conduct. More concerned with the process than their position, they view their staff as a finely tuned orchestra and themselves as the conductor. Each staff member is a finely tuned instrument designed to deliver the precise effect at just the appropriate moment. A conductor doesn’t punish, reprimand, or replace and instrument when it gets out of tune. They help the musician fine tune the instrument and recapture the melody. The musician will then accomplish the desired result at just the right moment.

More concerned with quality than quantity, a Manager from the Heart diligently, but lovingly, conducts the entire orchestra to synchronize each instrument in harmony to produce a unique creation. By enabling each member to do what they do best, the conductor oversees the process, conducting overall effectivity to reach concert pitch.

Definition:

Concert: agreement of two or more individuals in a design or plan; combined action; to plan or act together in accord or harmony.

Concert pitch: a high state of fitness, eagerness, tension, or readiness.

Each member of the orchestra, or staff, works individually to collectively produce a masterpiece. This creates a finished product, which becomes infinitely greater than the sum of its parts.

Each instrument relies on the direction of the conductor, who coordinates the individual talents to produce the desired result. Sitting in the horn section, one hears mostly horns. Sitting in the drum section, one hears mostly drums. Only the conductor, standing in front of all, can effectively hear, evaluate, and refine the quality, which will create a masterpiece. This is transformative and this is what Managing from the Heart is all about.

If you want to manage – then conduct.

As the definition states, to conduct is to manage oneself in bearing, behavior, and deportment in an effort to lead or guide with effectivity. A conductor is a leader, a guide, but most of all, a conductor is an example. When personnel embrace the concept of Open Heaven, they discover potential within themselves and develop a desire to manage themselves. They do this only when they feel safe to trust their leadership.

Defining Success Factor

Success Factor pertains to the elements involved in a process that are critical in achieving a goal. In any process, there are a number of steps necessary to align a goal, keep it on track, evaluate the goal, and see it through to fruition. Some steps are compulsory, some are obligatory, and some are critical.

Critical steps are Success Factors. These are steps that are essential and must be present if a goal is to be achieved. They cannot be forgotten, set aside, or manipulated. Without these steps, success cannot happen.

Example: If my goal is to drive my car, I must have:

my car (critical) I can’t drive it if I don’t have it.

keys (compulsory) I could hotwire it.

gasoline (critical) It won’t even turn on, let alone move, without fuel.

wheels (critical) Without wheels, it can’t move.

properly inflated tires (compulsory) Poorly inflated tires will still move.

automobile insurance (obligatory) Unfortunately, we all know this isn’t critical.

Although the compulsory and obligatory steps do