Tough-Minded Management
Joe D. Batten
Key Summary Notes
Contents of this Summary
Chapter 1: Management Today
The True Meaning of Vitality; The Search for Security; Opportunity – Yesterday and Today; The Pursuit of Ease; The Need for Purpose; Leadership Must be Positive; The Fundamental Truths
Chapter 2: The Productivity Climate
Some Do’s and Don’ts; Top Management Lays the Keel; The Taut Ship
Chapter 3: Performance Is All That Matters
Making Things Happen; “Nice Guy” Management; Court of Appeal
Chapter 4: What Is Development?
What It Adds Up to; Opportunity to Stretch; The Elusive Essential
Chapter 5: Plan for Accomplishment
To Get Participation and Cooperation; The Importance of Being Consistent; Don’t Listen to “Activity”; What Do We Do About It?
Chapter 6: Organize for Results
Get Operational; The “We” Feeling; Clear-Cut Assignments; The Delegating Executive
Chapter 7: Motivate Your People
Basic Needs and Personal Goals; Communication – Still Arid; The Role of the Individual Manager; The Common Denominator; Decisions Must Be Made!; When Emotion Is an Asset
Chapter 8: Control and Insure Progress
Blind Dedication Can Be Costly; To Measure Performance
Chapter 9: Stressing Positives for Tough-Minded Results
Fear Can Kill; Let Yourself Go
Chapter 10: Action Words and Concepts
Overcoming Resistance to Change; Reports: Get to the Point; Memoranda – Why?; Effective Interviewing; How to Sell with Words
Chapter 11: The Ultimate Price of Deception
Why Dignity?; Build on Granite
Chapter 12: The Essential Lubricant
Committees and Candour; Counsel, Don’t Advise; Rough Going for Politics; The Prevalence of Yes Men
Chapter 13: Courage and Logic
New Styles in Bossism; The Course of Least Resistance; Don’t Fetter Your Imagination; Problem Solving in the Productivity Climate
Chapter 14: Work, Warmth, and Wisdom
Elementary Common Sense; Prescription for Longevity; Drudgery Depends on Attitude; The “Clean Desk” Executive; The “Stuff” of Management; A System of Values; Work is Life; Warmth and Empathy
Chapter 15: The Electronic Age: Problems and Blessings
Automation – Servant or Master?; Mathematical Parameters
Chapter 16: The Free Enterprise Way
Ideas That Build and Strengthen
Chapter 17: Management in the World Arena
Multiple Obligations
Chapter 18: Above All, Integrity
A Working Definition; “The Young Sophisticate”; Community Impact
Summary: Profile of a Tough-Minded Manager
Chapter 1: Management Today
Where do we go from here?
The True Meaning of Vitality
A vital awareness of the basic purposes of life, and an awareness of the relationship between these purposes and productive work, are essential.
A man simply cannot fulfil his potential if he lacks worthwhile personal jobs, and he cannot make his optimum contribution to his company’s goals if he fails to know them and identify his own with them.
The Search for Security
Security is about 20 per cent financial and 80 per cent emotional.
Important to securing emotional security: (Rudyard Kipling’s “six honest serving men”)
Know what you want and have.
Know where you have been and where you want to go.
Know when you want to go – have a timetable.
Know why you want to go.
Know how you will use your own resources and the talents of others.
Know who will be involved.
Regarding security: Self-confidence, self-knowledge, and an awareness of what you stand for will do much to insure it.
Opportunity – Yesterday and Today
Lawrence A. Appley, president of the American Management Association: “Management is the development of people, not the direction of things.”
… an enlightened, tough-minded approach to management requires a thorough knowledge of how to develop and motivate people.
The Pursuit of Ease
The realisation that productive work is one of life’s greatest pleasures is not just desirable – it is absolutely essential to the maintenance of our democratic free enterprise system.
The Need for Purpose
It is imperative that we cease to regard work as a means to an end – a chore to be disposed of so we can enjoy ourselves. Productive, results-oriented work should be viewed in its proper perspective as an integrated, essential, and pleasant part of living.
Leadership Must Be Positive
True self-confidence is necessarily a product of self-discipline. The man who cannot control his yearnings for leisure and the easy way will seldom feel pleased with what he sees when he examines himself.
The Fundamental Truths
The manipulative approach largely overlooked two things which are basic to human nature, and which are being asserted more and more:
People want a hand in determining the direction to be taken in their jobs or departments. They cannot be “led” by the supervisor who makes a meaningless habit of asking about the wife and kids or administering a pat on the back when the employee knows it was not genuinely earned.
People are basically happier when their work provides them with stretch, pull, and challenge. Most employers, surprising as it seems, do not expect enough from their people.
Chapter 2: The Productivity Climate
The effective executive doesn’t wait for things to happen – he makes them happen.
The productivity climate is that atmosphere in which your people work hard and productively because they want to. Here are the ten essential steps in achieving it:
Lay out clear over-all company objectives and direct the energies and aspirations of all the company’s people towards objectives or goals in harmony with them.
Select the best people for appropriate jobs. This means using suitable screening and hiring tools – including, if necessary, tests tailored to job requirements. The ability to screen and hire good men systematically for key positions is a talent pathetically lacking in many of our present management personnel.
Define job duties and performance requirements. Ensure that every employee knows the what, where, when, who, how, and – above all – why of his job.
Establish accountability for results in key jobs throughout the organisation and provide for the necessary feedback.
Regularly evaluate the worth of every department, job, and person in the company in terms of contribution to a company goals.
Establish the philosophy that good management is the development of people, not the direction of things. Aim at developing the whole team.
Teach key personnel the management techniques of research, planning, organisation, direction, coordination, and control.
Motivate people by:
Fulfilling basic needs for security, opportunity, recognition, and belonging.
Keeping the lines of communication open.
Displaying candour and a positive mental attitude.
Using action words and concepts.
Develop the realisation that work can and should be a pleasant and rewarding part of life.
Establish the belief that integrity is the most important ingredient in all human activity.
Some Do’s and Don’ts
Don’t talk about yourself – ever. The feeling among your people that you have a “we” team is important. Far from making you a weaker executive, it strengthens your position in every way. You service notice that you are a big enough man not to overuse the word “I” just to bolster a sagging sense of confidence.
Don’t be negative.
Don’t knock your subordinates.
Don’t be overly diplomatic or sugary. A phony will always be spotted. If you acquire a reputation as a boss who wants to make everybody feel good no matter what happens, your potential effectiveness begins to decrease and will continue to decrease until you decide to face up to people and talk problems through.
Don’t try to “manipulate” people. Who wants to be “manipulated”?
Don’t say anything to a subordinate you can’t say sincerely. The top man sets the tone for his entire organisation; if he’s not sincere, he’s asking for a group of yes men around him, people with neuroses, and for high executive turnover.
Don’t yield to the temptation to be a yes man yourself.
Don’t be an appeaser. This is only a stopgap measure; usually you find yourself behind the eight ball if you don’t meet a problem head on.
Don’t be sarcastic.
Don’t forget the other fellow’s point of view.
Don’t confuse activity with results.
Don’t react unwisely when you encounter apathy. It is disturbing, but there is usually a reason for it, and you may be that reason.
Make the other person see the benefit – to him – of your order or suggestion.
Discuss performance, not personality, when you counsel subordinates.
Be positive but not dogmatic; candid but not blunt.
Aim at consistency. Don’t play any favourites.
Be objective.
Know your subordinates’ strongest motivations.
Reflect honesty and sincerity in all your dealings.
Practice human kindness as well as tough-mindedness.
Demonstrate those virtues you advocate.
Let your enthusiasm show.
Top Management Lays the Keel
Following the development and refinement of over-all company objectives, a new organisation alignment is sometimes necessary. Each major function must be required to accomplish certain specific results on both a short- and long-term basis. For example: Function, 1st Year, 3rd Year, 5th Year
In activating the productivity climate, the end results required in connection with each major objective should be set forth in clear statements of performance requirements.
… each department head himself should prepare the essence of such a statement in full awareness that he must justify its contents to his superior in terms of both the department’s contribution to the company and the weekly, monthly, or quarterly control procedures which will normally be set up. The department head should then carry out this same process with key personnel all the way down in his organisation. The considerations to be used as guides should always include:
Men, Money, Materials, Time, and Space
and
What, Where, When, Who, How, and Why.
It cannot be emphasized too often that the only reason for being on a payroll is to contribute to company objectives.
The man must be getting something done that directly or indirectly is moving the company towards its goals. Without this, the rest is window dressing.
Accountability for results: … the hard, cold understanding that a man does his job or gets out of it. This policy is in no way harsh or unjust if these self-evident conditions have been met.
Does he have a clear-cut position description which spells out the results he must achieve?
Do you know what his personal goals and ambitions are?
Has he been told about your goals for the company (or department) and, to some extent, your own personal goals?
Does he have a definite part in determining or revising company goals, particularly in his own area – marketing, production, finance, or the like?
Have you taken the time to become well-acquainted with him personally?
Have you told him privately just what you feel his strengths and weaknesses are – with emphasis on his strengths?
In short, does he know the what, where, when, who, how, and why of his job?
And, finally, does he receive all the operating data he needs – on costs, scrap, turnover, absenteeism, and so on?
If you can answer yes to all these questions, you are not only justified in holding him accountable for real accomplishment but obligated to do so.
Following up the companywide dissemination of a thoughtfully prepared philosophy, it is obviously necessary to establish development procedures to teach the fundamentals of the productivity climate. The general skeleton of a development program should be built around the six steps in the management process:
Research
Plan
Organise
Direct
Coordinate
Control
Key personnel should understand further how communication pervades every facet of business. In the productivity climate, nobody can assume that he is understood.
Here are some pointers on this vital ingredient of the productivity climate:
Proper grammar, good vocabulary, and pear-shaped tones do not ensure communication (though everyone realises the negative effect of a hopelessly illiterate memo). They only accomplish satisfactory transmission of an idea, thought, or order.
Communication is complete only when the recipient knows what you mean and reacts in the way you desire.
If the recipient does not react in this way, you must assume that you did not communicate well and blame yourself instead of the other person. Consider carefully the ramifications of this approach as applied to an entire department or company. It is not easy. It requires a kind of tough-mindedness and self-discipline that quickly shows whether you are a big or a little person. The big man quickly perceives that this is an excellent, although arduous way, to:
Eliminate buck passing. Pointing your finger at the other man just isn’t done in the productivity climate.
Eliminate politics.
Clear up jealousies.
The Taut Ship
All employees should understand:
What
The job is all about
Is right – or wrong
Should be done
Shouldn’t be done
Where
The company has been
The company is going
New markets, products, and processes are coming from
The work should be done
When
Goals must be met
Who
Works for whom
Does what for whom
Should be contracted
Should be informed
How
Best to do the job
Why
The company is in business
The department is in operation
The job is required
The present method is used
Plus many other what’s, where’s, when’s, who’s, how’s, and why’s as appropriate.
Chapter 3: Performance Is All That Matters
Decide what you want!
Making Things Happen
What does it take, then, to make things happen?
Each staff member summoned to a meeting should receive a copy of the tentative agenda and should himself determine the contribution he can make to the meeting’s objectives and decide what results he would like to see achieved.
This information should be collated into a master agenda.
At the beginning of the meeting, the chairman or senior executive should clearly lay out the end results that are generally felt to be desirable.
An atmosphere of candour is essential; however, it must stress not what is wrong with an idea but what could be more right.
When a criticism is expressed, it should be accompanied by an alternative recommendation.
Evasive or meaningless conversation which does not bear on the subject at hand should be discouraged.
The problem-solving process should be used extensively:
Define the problem. Precisely where are we now?
Establish objectives. What do we want to do?
Get the facts. Consider men, money, materials, time, and space.
Weigh and decide. Look at the whole picture.
Take action. Otherwise, all else is futile.
Evaluate the action. Was it effective? How could it have been improved?
Place time and quantity controls on all assignments.
Hold each man accountable for end results.
A highly useful tool for individual planning and control is a simple sheet with the following headings:
Specific Objectives
Personnel Requirements
Financial Requirements
Material, Equipment, and Facilities Requirements
Policy and Procedural Requirements
External Conditioning Factors
Action Required
Target Dates (Beginning and Completion
“Nice Guy” Management
Dealing evasively and nicely with a man when frankness is needed is downright dishonest; you are failing to give him credit for basic dignity. This kind of management is selfish; you are sparing your own feelings at the other man’s expense.
It goes without saying that the need for candour in the productivity climate should never be construed as a licence for harshness or brutality. … directness and truthfulness should never be anything but constructive.
Court of Appeal
The board of directors should implement tough-minded management by:
Determining what stockholders really want.
Fulfilling these wants if feasible.
Giving the chief operating executive full cooperation but…
Holding him accountable for results.
Using return on investment as a performance yardstick but demanding information on how performance is achieved.
Chapter 4: What Is Development?
Where from? Where to?
What It Adds Up to
For true effectiveness, people must know where they are going and why.
Opportunity to Stretch
The components of a lean and pointed approach to management development:
The top executive, in articulating his fundamental beliefs, must stress the fact that the most important responsibility of all managerial and supervisory personnel is the development of people to better achieve the company’s objectives.
There should be no question that key personnel are thoroughly aware of overall-all company objectives.
The specific objectives of the management development function should be studied for agreement with company objectives.
It is obvious, to coin another phrase, that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
Outside recruitment is of course necessary if jobs cannot be filled from within the company. Probably, in any case, it is good to have an injection of new blood now and then.
Organisation planning must many times precede the initial awareness of the need for management development.
Organisation planning also forces the determination, clarification, and revision of objectives, where appropriate, whether for company, division, department, section, or individual.
Because it is important that each person know how he is doing – not just from the standpoint of meeting performance requirements, but to improve strengths and eradicate weaknesses – the construction of rating scales and sheets used in the appraisal process is far less crucial than the counselling which follows.
Similarly, accountability must be viewed as the gadfly in the productivity climate. It should not and cannot be properly installed and enforced unless preceded by two main essentials:
Performance requirements which provide stretch
Fulfilment of people’s basic needs
These give you pull and substance; with accountability added you have push.
A sound scheme of executive compensation is not properly an integral part of management development, but it certainly is essential to building and maintaining an effective management team and it is a widely discussed aspect of good management.
The Elusive Essential
When you tie in your suggestions or criticisms with reminders about how much better he can do, you begin to tap the deep well of potential that the average man seldom discovers in his lifetime.
Lack of self-esteem is at the bottom of the majority of business problems. The tough-minded manager learns that one of the most challenging and thrilling experiences in life is to develop ordinary men into extraordinary men. Here is a true fine test of professionalism and stature in management.
How many men have you helped build?
Chapter 5: Plan for Accomplishment
Much lip service, little action.
To Get Participation and Cooperation
One approach to long-term planning is to determine what you want to accomplish over the next five or ten years in the following eight areas:
Innovation
Market standing
Manager performance and development
Worker performance and attitude
Physical and financial resources
Productivity
Public responsibility
Profitability
These are the areas in which Peter Drucker states objectives of performance and results must be set.
To do this brings the following sequence into play:
To begin with, all personnel down through the first level of supervision are asked to submit the results of their best thinking about the needs and goals of the company for the coming five years.
A time limit is set, and a real effort is made to convince people that their ideas will really be welcomed and that their opinions and front-line observations will be valuable.
In smaller companies, it is sometimes possible to include every employee in this process.
Amazingly positive results can accrue from the feeling of participation and identification which is thereby encouraged.
Next the accumulated data must be studied.
If he is wise, he will set up a series of convenient worksheets, several for each of the eight areas.
Then, after careful analysis with the help of these sheets, candid discussion takes place among the staff, with the senior executive extracting synthesising comments, criticism, and recommendations.
From this crucible comes the distilled wisdom of the business.
The top man should now have sufficient information to chart some definite goals.
These objectives represent the best composite thinking of his management team – which, in itself, is more than most companies achieve.
The role of each division or department head must of course be clarified.
Finally, all secondary-level executives are given a definite blueprint for planning.
The Importance of Being Consistent
Perhaps the most important element of this scheme is that all personnel have a thorough understanding of why planning is so vital, why you are doing certain things, and why certain results are required of them.
As each of your subordinates moves into his particular area of planning responsibility, you must take care to maintain tough-minded, consistent controls. Otherwise, he may develop a tendency to “put it off until I get my work done.” Each man must realise that planning is an essential part of his work and that you are going to require periodic reports on progress – what the Department of the Air Force terms “well-documented, objective accounts of accomplishment.”
Don’t Listen to “Activity”
The top man of tomorrow:
Impatience for results.
A sense of purpose. He knows what he stands for.
A positive approach to problems.
The feeling that a problem can be solved until it has been proven otherwise.
Practical judgement. He sees the balance among men, money, materials, time, and space.
Familiarity with the “six honest serving men”: what, where, when, who, how, and why.
Courage and candour.
A knowledge that all people need recognition, belonging, security, and opportunity.
Acceptance of the fact that all projects of any significance involve planning, organisation, coordination, direction, and control.
A tough, durable mind that refuses to dissipate mental, physical, and emotional energy on negative thinking.
What Do We Do About It?
You need to condition your plans heavily with a thoroughly fortified knowledge of your consumer.
Base all your plans directly or indirectly on a well-researched fund of data about what the consumer wants, where he wants it, when he wants it, who he is, how he wants it, and – above all – why he wants it.
Chapter 6: Organize for Results
How do you energise the team?
Get Operational
A few things which could help breathe new life into a team or organisation withering or drifting towards death:
Re-think the basic purposes and objectives of the company and its people.
Determine where they are now – and why.
Set new goals: company, departmental, individual.
Take a fresh look at existing talent; use special abilities.
Ensure efficient manpower balance; reduce where needed and staff up where needed.
Make certain that there is a mutual understanding of roles.
Examine the need for, and the usability of, available manpower tools: budgets, market research, procedures manuals, job descriptions, psychological testing, and the like.
The “We” Feeling
Intense competition among workers towards clearly defined targets fosters both individuality and total business success.
Clear-Cut Assignments
Examples of Good vs. Bad work assignments:
Bill, find out what’s causing that scrap and tell me how much you can reduce it and when.
Bill, we’ve got to reduce the scrap rate.
You aren’t meeting your commitment to hold the line on costs. Tell me why, and we’ll see if we can figure out what needs to be done.
The costs in your department are out of line. Let’s get on the ball.
This correspondence should be done by tomorrow noon – and remember, we can’t send our customers any letters with errors, misspellings, or erasures.
Your speed and accuracy are down – you’ve got to improve.
Schedule a meeting of the Production Planning Committee in Conference Room B at 03:00pm. The meeting will last until we get that delivery problem solved.
Better hold a meeting about that delivery problem.
The Delegating Executive
The delegating executive must do four things:
Make sure that the written statement of the subordinate’s responsibility, authority, and accountability is a product of thorough discussion with him.
Grant authority commensurate with the results required.
See that the man is accountable to one person only and knows well the performance criteria by which he will be judged.
Ensure that he has a full understanding of how to plan, organise, coordinate, and, even more especially, control. Your own controls will be ineffective from the standpoint of “stretch” if his are weak.
Chapter 7: Motivate Your People
We spend most of our lives doing things. The problem is to make sure these “things” will yield their maximum value to ourselves or to others.
Literally millions of people are leaving their jobs every evening with much of their energy and productivity still unused. They throw themselves into bowling, Little League baseball, and other activities with a kind of enthusiasm and identification that management has not even tapped.
The task is to bring this unused energy and enthusiasm to bear on the job.
Basic Needs and Personal Goals
The assumption that people want something for nothing simply isn’t true of the vast majority of employees. People approach their optimum motivation only when they see a realistic blending of personal, departmental, and company goals.
21 specific suggestions on this topic:
Let each worker know where he stands; do not fail to discuss his performance with him periodically.
Give credit where credit is due – commensurate with accomplishments.
Inform workers of changes in advance. Informed workers are more effective.
Let workers participate in plans and decisions affecting them.
Gain your workers’ confidence; earn their loyalty and trust.
Know all your workers personally. Find out their interests, habits, and touchy points and capitalise on your knowledge of them.
Listen to your subordinates’ proposals – they have good ideas too.
If a man’s behaviour is unusual for him, find out why. There’s always a reason.
Try to make your wishes known by suggestion or request, whenever possible. People generally don’t like to be pushed.
Explain the why of things that are to be done. Workers do a better job then.
When you make a mistake, admit it and apologise. Others will resent your blaming someone else.
Show workers the importance of every job, thus satisfying the need for security.
Criticise constructively; give reasons for your criticisms and suggest ways in which performance can be improved.
Precede criticisms with mention of a man’s good points; show him you are trying to help him.
Do as you would have your people do. The supervisor sets the style.
Be consistent in your actions; let your workers be in no doubt as to what is expected of them.
Take every opportunity to demonstrate pride in the group. This will bring out the best in them.
If one man gripes, find out his grievance. One man’s gripe may be the gripe of many.
Settle every grievance if at all possible; otherwise, the whole group will be affected.
Set short- and long-range goals by which people can measure their progress.
Back up your workers. Authority must accompany responsibility.
Communication – Still Arid
Here, vastly oversimplified, is a pattern of approach that can be truly meaningful when applied at every organisational level from the top down:
What? > The requirements
Where? > Where from? Where to?
When? > Past, present, future
Who? > The person(s) involved
How? > Methods, techniques, tools
Why? > Company, plan, actions
For all these aspects, the following must be considered: Men, Money, Materials, Time, Space
The Role of the Individual Manager
Basic rules regarding the functional role of the individual manager:
Know thyself.
Know how to listen.
Unless you develop a clear understanding of what you stand for and believe confidently that what you stand for is worthwhile, you may become a scared, uncertain person who finds it expedient to resort to defensive attitudes and protective practices.
The Common Denominator
The one common denominator in every successful sales situation is the ability to make the other person see the benefit, to him, of your product, service, or idea.
The tough-minded executive realises that he must be an excellent salesman.
Decisions Must Be Made!
… wean the subordinate of relying on the superior at every stage of an assignment for advice and decision making. In return for relieving the superior of much non-essential detail, it imposes a number of responsibilities on the executive making an assignment:
Before you assign a problem to anyone, be sure you can define the problem. There are no solutions to unknown problems.
When you discuss a problem at a staff meeting, make it plain who is carrying the ball.
Tell the ball carrier what the problem is and what you expect him to do about it.
Contribute your experience.
When you give an assignment, set a target date.
Be accessible for legitimate progress reports.
Steadfastly resist the temptation to do your staff’s thinking for them. Give guidance and background information but make them do their own thinking.
When Emotion Is an Asset
In our subordinates, emotions can be a tremendous help or a distinct liability. Taking advantage of them presupposes certain basic requirements:
You must recognise that learning implies a change in behaviour, not just polite absorption of knowledge, and make the subordinate see how that change will benefit him.
Chapter 8: Control and Insure Progress
Lean, taut performance is the goal.
First of all, control may be defined as information provided to measure the performance of men, money, materials, time, and space in achieving predetermined objectives.
Blind Dedication Can Be Costly
The tough-minded manager must check back to see that:
Overall objectives are sound.
All key personnel understand them.
The end results required of each major function are set up in the way most conducive to accomplishing these objectives.
Communication is effective – and reciprocal.
Other components of the productivity climate are present.
The tough mind is a disciplined mind, not bound by rigid parameters but trained and drilled in the impatient search for further growth, further contributions, further achievements. Enlightened purpose, rather than blind dedication, is the thing.
To Measure Performance
The following program can be truly meaningful and is still relatively unique:
A performance standards sheet is prepared for each of several factors. For example:
Ratio of direct to indirect labour.
Scrap loss.
Turnover.
Absenteeism.
Safety.
Consumer complaints.
Vendor complaints.
Ratio of net profit to sales.
Ratio of selling expense to sales volume.
A set of these sheets, or an appropriate master sheet, is given to each executive.
Each executive is counselled on how to get his department in order.
Each man then makes commitments for each factor by month, quarter, or year as applicable.
Extenuating circumstances are worked out in advance and agreed upon.
You, the top executive, maintain a record of all commitments and keep an eye on them.
Each month, or as often as agreed upon, your subordinates furnish activity reports which provide information on their progress towards meeting commitments and any other data which may be desirable.
These periodic results-oriented activity reports are regularly reviewed, offering you a valuable opportunity for objective appraisal and systematic development.
Chapter 9: Stressing Positives for Tough-Minded Results
The big man is the one who gets worthwhile things done.
Fear Can Kill
Fears can multiply rapidly if we let them. But fears are destructive largely because of the ignorance of the people involved – and this statement in no way excludes highly educated people.
Let Yourself Go
An executive who wants more ideas from his organisation first has to create a feeling of safety – of freedom to fail.
Chapter 10: Action Words and Concepts
The top-notch manager marshals language to his aid.
Overcoming Resistance to Change
We have said that to bring about a change in basic attitudes it is necessary to:
Make the other person see the benefit to him of the change.
Establish an emotional context.
Reports: Get to the Point
“If it can be misunderstood, it will be misunderstood.” A premium is to be placed on simplicity. The tough-minded administrator tolerates nothing less; fat, juicy words and phrases are labelled as the work of the immature.
Memoranda – Why?
Down-to-earth, results-getting memos should usually consist of:
A clear statement of purpose.
A single listing of pertinent findings.
A recommended, or directed, course of action – depending on who the writer is and whether he is addressing himself to a superior or a subordinate.
Only words or phrases directly related to some form of positive accomplishment.
Control dates and quantities which provide stretch.
Effective Interviewing
Here are some rambling, but seasoned, observations:
The skilful use of words often does more harm than good unless you believe in, feel, and are what you say.
A contrived or insincere interest in the other person rarely yields the best results. Such insincerity is usually sensed even when it is not consciously realised.
There are words which make the other person feel a quickening of the pulse. All relatively normal people want to live long, and they want to be healthy. So – try words which are morbid, turbid, sordid, sickly, silly, or moribund and note both the conscious and unconscious pulling-away which results. On the other hand, watch the reaction to words which smack of growth, zest, pep, sprightliness, expansion, health, and sparkle.
How to Sell with Words
One of the great examples of what selling with words can accomplish is the U.S. Marine Corps. The new recruit learns quickly that he is a member of a select, disciplined, tough outfit that gets things done. … He is made to feel, through both words and actions, that discipline, hardship, and even suffering are things to be proud of, to look forward to, that virtually nothing is impossible.
Chapter 11: The Ultimate Price of Deception
Phonies finish last.
Important qualities to possess:
Determination to do a job rather than simply pursue pleasure.
A desire to avoid the easy, if need be, for sound accomplishment.
The habit of living one’s beliefs, making them real convictions rather than merely giving them lip service.
The rare quality of courage.
Additionally:
A clear understanding of integrity.
A feeling of purpose and dignity.
A desire to help others grow.
The ability and willingness to practice candour.
A readiness to focus on what is good about a person or thing.
Capacity for thinking and acting as an individual – but using this strong individuality for corporate or group accomplishment.
Why Dignity?
According to the dictionary, “dignity” implies elevation of character, intrinsic worth, excellence. It is what you are. It includes many of the qualities we have seen are vital to success that is based on more than a foundation of sand:
A full measure of individuality – the guts to be yourself.
An unwillingness to compromise with half-truths and foggy interpretations of morality.
A genuine concern for the growth, development, and happiness of others.
Humbleness in connection with the Almighty but no such humbleness towards your fellow man. It was never part of nature’s plan – nor should it be any part of the business environment – for one man to feel humility in the presence of another. Respect and obedience, yes, but no more.
A real desire to accomplish something; the recognition that actions without results are not only unbusinesslike but downright disillusioning.
Build on Granite
Tough-minded administrators must make it clear that the manoeuvrings of those lacking integrity will not be tolerated. This in turn requires that top executives exemplify dignity and integrity in their personal conduct. They will need keen perception and astuteness, backed by a coordinated, cohesive approach – not one that is structured or segmented. Clear definition of company and departmental objectives, of individual goals and purpose; an honest effort at sound communications; an atmosphere in which candour and empathy flourish – all the components of the productivity climate are, in fact, the blocks of granite needed by the tough-minded executive.
Chapter 12: The Essential Lubricant
Candour: applied honesty.
Committees and Candour
Put substance and meaning into the use of committees by:
Painstakingly clarifying the purpose of the committee.
Making sure all members understand the what, where, when, who, how, and why of the committee.
Scheduling meetings so that the members will not have their minds on bread-and-butter activities or be fatigued or otherwise muddled.
Conditioning all conversation and plans with a strong flavour of results desired, not just actions involved.
Securing full participation and identification by all members.
Guarding against trivial outside distractions.
Using the problem-solving technique as a general guide to a flexible modus operandi.
Setting control dates and quantities to provide stretch in achieving committee objectives.
Avoiding banal attempts on the part of members to play to the gallery or simply to please each other.
Placing a premium on simplicity and end results.
A committee can be effective only if it is interacting dynamically and candidly, and a man can perform properly only if management will make its expectations known beyond any possible doubt.
Counsel, Don’t Advise
Rough Going for Politics
It is a basic tenet of tough-minded management that we face up to every situation, no matter how tenuous, and talk it out.
Political manoeuvring has rough going in a climate where management by objectives, or results, is operative; where candour and clear communication are practiced; and where a clear understanding of individual role and purpose exists. It is vital, however, that candour become “the thing” and that the reasons why be communicated from above.
The Prevalence of Yes Men
It is a mark of wisdom to recognise that failure to face an issue squarely never solves anything – it only buys time.
Chapter 13: Courage and Logic
Concentration on self-development will help insure wiser use of authority.
When the smoke blows away, we find two characteristics that almost always present in the successful manager. These are courage and logic. Courage can often be equated in a broad sense with honesty and integrity, and logic with the decision-making process. They are both necessary parts of the tough-minded executive’s modus operandi.
New Styles in Bossism
One of the great fallacies of modern times is that people do not want to work.
The Course of Least Resistance
Courage and logic are at a premium because it can be so easy to follow the course of least resistance. For example:
Dealing with a subordinate on the basis of what he did wrong rather than what he should do that is more nearly right.
Telling others your problems rather than your solutions. Buck passing requires no courage whatsoever and certainly doesn’t meet the requirements of logic.
Evading a particular discussion or action because it is painful to you. Candour is often avoided for this reason rather than a genuine desire to spare the other person. The cold facts are that the other person will almost always benefit from candour if it is genuinely intended in his best interests and tailored to fulfil his individual needs for recognition, security, opportunity, and belonging.
Don’t Fetter Your Imagination
Individual talents must have specific targets within a climate of totally targeted activity. Individuals must see some real relationship between their own yearnings and the accomplishments of their department and company.
Problem Solving in the Productivity Climate
“Tomorrow-Mindedness”
Chapter 14: Work, Warmth, and Wisdom
Create an awareness, or develop a philosophy, that work can and should be a pleasant part of total productivity.
Building a team that works hard and loves it is one of the most challenging and worthwhile jobs the executive can ever undertake. And it can be done. A pivotal concept in achieving this much-to-be-desired goal is a better understanding of two of life’s fundamentals:
Good health is to be sought and cherished as an important part of the good life.
Satisfying, productive work is an important, even essential, part of good health.
Elementary Common Sense
It is just good, basic, down-to-earth, tough-minded procedure for you (and each of your employees) to maintain a proper regard for your physical and, hence, mental fitness. Healthy, orderly, and vigorous objectives are conceived by healthy, orderly, and vigorous people.
Prescription for Longevity
To sum up: For work to be conducive to long life, certain components of the productivity climate are manifestly imperative. These are:
A clear understanding of individual purposes and goals.
A clear understanding of the relationship between these goals and company goals.
The consistent application of integrity in all phases of living.
The understanding that while the job is part of the whole man, it is just a job unless the whole man applies himself to it.
Drudgery Depends on Attitude
A tendency to view the job as a tedious and necessary evil is primarily caused by the worker’s failure to understand its why.
The “Clean Desk” Executive
Recognise the value of human warmth to help ensure the following:
Good communication
Good employee performance
Good control: Documents and records alone are inadequate; the best control is enlightened, motivated people who want to produce.
Good planning: Without the participation of the people on the firing line, the potential value of short- and long-range planning will be short-circuited.
The “Stuff” of Management
The executive must know how to plan, organise, execute, coordinate, and control.
But the real “stuff” of management is less tangible and less measurable. It is courage, firmness, and candour.
The elusive quality, trait, or attribute is wisdom.
A System of Values
Wisdom can be defined as a quality which must be developed to a substantial extent in the fiery furnace of experience – although quite a number of young men have it. Wisdom must include an understanding of – even develop because of – certain basic facts that are true of all so-called normal people. These basic facts include the following:
People differ from one another.
People have a need for spiritual guidance and belief.
People will usually do the thing that promises benefit to them, but human judgement often errs in determining what actions will yield this result.
To savour life, you must work hard and towards real accomplishment. Unused iron becomes rusty – stagnant water becomes murky.
True happiness comes only through giving to others – of knowledge, of encouragement, of guidance, of constructive criticism, of faith, of some material things.
Over the long pull it is impossible to give away more than you receive.
Dignity is a way of life, not a convenient façade.
Intelligence expressed within a framework of self-interest alone is almost always futile when the end of the story is reached.
Untapped potential lies dormant in just about everyone.
Sacrificing individual liberty for collective “security” never has produced real happiness.
Self-interest is normal and natural but can be fully realised only through and by the development of others.
We all have strengths and weaknesses, but concentration in increasing the strengths will usually correct the weaknesses.
Education is a not a destination but a continuing journey.
Work Is Life
Work is not and cannot be separated from life – work is life, and life is work.
Talent is going to waste at a pitiful rate among our retired population.
Warmth and Empathy
Warmth emanates from a person only when he has certain positive beliefs and purposes, and he can transmit this feeling to a subordinate best when they both know what the subordinate is working towards and why. Warmth is impossible without empathy. You must be projecting and thinking in terms of the other person’s feelings and needs to be truly warm.
The productivity climate engenders these qualities. It provides for the establishment of both personal and job goals for all personnel. It clearly stipulates accountability for failure to measure up. It provides for counsel, for need fulfilment, for rewards commensurate with performance, for freedom of personality, and for a oneness and communality of purpose which will very likely become the management wave of tomorrow.
Chapter 15: The Electronic Age: Problems and Blessings
The forces shaping the world of tomorrow are already in motion.
Automation – Servant or Master?
You produce goods or services to meet reasonably well-known consumer needs, rather than create a product and then wonder how to sell it.
Mathematical Parameters
Whether it is an orchestra or a machining or credit department, the best way to achieve end results is to determine what they should be and then develop a climate to achieve them.
Chapter 16: The Free Enterprise Way
Tough-minded management is needed as never before in our history as a nation.
Ideas That Build and Strengthen
We must make it clear by our everyday actions and reactions that we believe in the dignity of the individual and that the positive approach is not a catchphrase or a passing fad but vital a way of life. It is amazing how little this is really understood by the bulk of the employees in the average company. The process of encouraging each one to determine what he is most concerned about as a person and what he really wants from life, and of clearly explaining the relationship between these and the goals of the department and company, is not easy. But then, as we have said repeatedly, the easy way isn’t always the best way, and the tough-minded man is dedicated to the best.
Chapter 17: Management in the World Arena
The management statesman relates his philosophy to the entire world around him.
Multiple Obligations
Who is a management statesman? He is the one who sees the big picture, who weighs and assesses the alternatives, and who conditions his actions with both wisdom and a tough-minded drive towards positive objectives.
To qualify as a business statesman, it is necessary to determine, as part of your total philosophy, your obligations to and your plans for stockholders, employees, government, consumers, competitors, and the public.
Chapter 18: Above All, Integrity
Rights are ours only if we qualify to maintain them.
A Working Definition
Integrity does not lend itself to compromise. It is not grey; it is either all black or all white. It must not be worn on one’s sleeve but must be a way of life. Perhaps the following definition will be of help:
Integrity is that quality of a man which requires that the only real purpose of any thought, word, or deed be to build persons or things, in order to accomplish positive and ethical results.
“The Young Sophisticate”
Whoever presents an artificial veneer of sophistication – whoever does not seek to sell himself on his real merits – is unrealistic, lacking in judgement, and insincere. And realism, judgement, and sincerity all are qualities one must have to merit hire or promotion in the well-managed company.
Community Impact
… management by integrity
Summary: Profile of a Tough-Minded Manager
As an Individual
A man must take a periodic, detailed inventory of himself in terms of what he stands for, what he believes, what he can accomplish, what his strengths and weaknesses are, and what he puts into life. Here are some qualities of the ideal tough-minded executive as an individual:
He practices self-discipline in terms of legal and ethical rules of conduct.
He recognises that developing and maintaining maximum physical fitness is an important requisite of mental health and acuity; that such fitness is not self-indulgence but part of an executive’s obligation to his business, his employees, and his family.
He enjoys life – and people know it!
His interests and activities may range widely or may centre in certain worthwhile areas.
He has either developed or is moving towards a personal faith. He feels that religion is a personal thing, a way of living, and is tolerant of the views of others. (Usually, such beliefs and a zest for life are closely related.)
He never apologies for a thing before doing it; he apologises only when he knows he has not done his best.
He takes the stand that negativism is never justified.
He always wants to know the why of a happening and supplies the why conscientiously to others.
He predicates his actions on facts but, knowing that the variables often exceed the constants, is not hemmed in by them.
He is his own man and does not practice humility with any other mortal.
He retains a healthy dissatisfaction with his abilities as a communicator.
He is impatient with old wives’ sayings like, “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.” He resolves to learn new things until the day he dies, and he knows he can.
He slices right to the heart of problems and does something about them.
He knows life without work is a short cut to deterioration.
He feels that a broad and eclectic fund of knowledge makes not only for a better generalist but also for a better specialist.
He is proud of his way of life.
He does not confuse wit or intelligence with wisdom and strives steadily for greater wisdom.
He aims for a balanced existence in the full knowledge that wholesome recreation and rest habits enable him to do a better job.
He is impatient with the type of people who feel a harried expression and an ulcer are signs of success. He knows these people must grow up.
He is satisfied with nothing less than full success as a whole man.
As a Manager
In his role within his own company, the tough-minded man exemplifies all the principles of management by integrity as they have been set forth in these pages:
He takes steps to ensure that the company’s philosophy and objectives are researched, developed, and clearly stated.
He ensures that all employees know the what, where, when, who, how, and – above all – why of their jobs and the company.
He knows that people are more efficient and happier when they understand clearly what results are expected of them.
He ensures that tailored procedures and techniques are installed to measure the contributions of all people and units to achieving the company’s objectives.
He believes and lives the concept that the development of people, as a whole and in-depth, pays real dividends to both the business and the individual.
He believes that everybody on the payroll should be held accountable for accomplishment, that he must do the job or get out of it.
He makes certain that the statement, “Management is the development of people, not the direction of things”, moves briskly beyond the lip-service stage and becomes completely understood and operational.
He knows that all personnel will contribute and receive more if they are helped to develop a clear feeling of purpose, direction, and dignity.
He knows that optimum results cannot be expected unless each employee receives all information appropriate to the results required of him.
He strives to develop in all personnel an awareness of the value of work to them.
He believes in utilising all the modern management tools fully when appropriate, but he insists that they pay their way.
He knows that management by integrity is realistic and workable; that, in reality, there is no fit substitute for it.
He knows that changes in business and the world in general are inevitable, but he doesn’t resist them. He anticipates the unfolding of the future, plans for it, and sets trends.
He requires and encourages a climate conducive to innovation in all facets of the business.
He cultivates a curiosity for new dimensions of knowledge and resists efforts to predicate plans on past and present knowledge only.
He believes our country is on the verge of increasingly dramatic breakthroughs in both technology and human understanding and wants to play a positive role in them.
He does not look to others to charge his battery but takes the necessary action to build in perpetuating values, inspiration, and intellectual enrichment.
He realises that pressures in the work environment and within the person are caused almost completely by negativism, pessimism, and ungrounded fears. Accordingly, he makes sure that his own beliefs, energy, and positiveness flow out steadily to the extremities of the business. This calls for tough-mindedness of the highest order and is a never-ending challenge.
He increasingly relegates tools and techniques to their proper secondary role as he moves towards mature conceptual management. For concepts are part of the stuff of wisdom, and wisdom is the stuff of management.
Last – and far from least – he is not deterred by small men. He knows what he wants and what the company needs, secures maximum participation from his key people, and moves ahead relentlessly towards the actual practice of management by integrity.