"The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided." -Casey Stengel Baseball was Casey Stengels passion and with the exception of two off seasons spent in dental school, little else was of interest. He was born in Kansas City (which provided the origin of his nicknameK. C. or Casey) and played his first pro season in Kankakee. He had a successful career as a player and appeared in three World Series. It was during this period that he developed a reputation for stories, stunts and all purpose clowning around. Over the years he would hone these skills as sharply as those applied to the game. His penchant for run-on, run away and strangely convoluted sentences became known as Stengelese. (One cant help but think Stengel saw more than a talent for baseball in his young protg, Yogi Berra.) Stengel made his greatest mark on baseball, however, as a manager. After some disappointing seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves, be began to hit his stride with the Class AAA Milwaukee Brewers. He led that team to a pennant and set a new club attendance record. But his big break came in 1948 when he was hired to manage the New York Yankees. Within 12 years he led the team to ten pennants, and seven World Series wins (five of those wins were consecutive). Stengel succeeded as a manager because he had an intuitive sense of the game. He could size up a situation and make a good decision almost spontaneously. Often, others couldnt see the logic in his moves, but the results ultimately spoke for themselves. Good managers in more mundane occupations do the same thing. Success depends on intuitively sizing up people and making good decisions about them. It isnt always easy. As Stengel rightly points out, no matter how highly your mom might esteem you, some folks just wont like you very much. That can present some problems. Some managers, in an effort to be liked, will overlook unprofessional conduct and even poor work performance. They might try to buy affection with perks or pay raises. It never works. They might also take an opposite tack. In this approach, they respond to an employees dislike by keeping their distance, or shutting the person out of activities or looking for confirmation that the employee isnt particularly likeable either. They make it personal. This doesnt work either. Stengel also points out that some employees will be undecided. This, too, presents a challenge because negativism can sap the life out of a team with the speed of light. At work, misery truly does love company and you can be sure the haters will do everything in their power to enlist the undecided. The answer is to engage the undecided and challenge the haters. You do this by having a common standard for conduct and performance. You enforce that standard equitably. You reward only exemplary effort. And you develop a thick skin. The truth is, we all want to be liked; but if the price of being liked is our integrity and dignity it just isnt worth it. If we dont give into the haters, the undecided will eventually come around. Its all in the game. |
