Short audio preview

“Welcome to the Revolution” exclaimed Jo Owen as he took to the stage at the Lewis Media Centre. His premise: that the world of management is changing and it is now more important than ever to expand your skill set to keep ahead.

Jo defines management as “the art of making things happen through other people” and, with this in mind, set about providing a history of management thinking, taking us up to the present day. He argued that, to begin with, IQ was regarded as the key determinant of being a good manager. These were the times of Sir Isaac Newton, Adam Smith and Henry Ford. Later, Psychotherapists such as Freud and Jung added Emotional Quotient to the mix. The most recent addition has been the Political Quotient. In modern business, Jo argued, managers have ‘”responsibilities in excess of authority” which makes it less viable to directly control people. Therefore, the ability to build trust is more important than ever before.

So…

Management Quotient = IQ+ EQ+ PQ

The good news, Jo claimed, is that these skills can all be taught, and he was here to do just that.

Aqcuiring IQ

• Numeracy and spreadsheets. This is not about maths. Managers need to consider how the spreadsheets were constructed and challenge the assumptions they make.
• Decision making. Business judgement is about pattern recognition.
• Reading. Managers need to read in a way that adds value to their team. The way to do this is to note down your own point of view, the points you expect to see covered, and one coaching item for the creators of the document.

EQ

Searching for excellence here is futile as EQ is culturally constrained. The key here is to emphasise each person’s role in the vision you have.

PQ

This aspect of management is becoming more important because of:

• Flat organisations
• The new generation
• The recession

Over the course of a career the relative importance of technical skills to people skills falls. To illustrate, a great engineer does not necessarily become a great leader in his/her organisation without developing the requisite EQ and PQ skills.

Ten Laws of Power

1. Build your network

• Create an open network - shallow and collaborative
• Include Influencers, gatekeepers, technicians, a sponsor, a coach and contributors
• Remember power networks weaken when you move
• Networks are based on trust
• Trust = (value x credibility)/ risk
• Prove you can deliver
• Show that the risk of doing nothing is greater than the risk of doing something

2. Take control

3. Pick your battles

• Only when the prize is worth fighting for
• Only when you know you can win
• Only when it is the lone way to achieve an objective

4. Go where the power is

• You need a powerful sponsor

5. Strike early

• Set and manage expectations

6. Act the part

• Act as a peer and partner to those above
• Professionalism

7. Be selectively unreasonable

• Don’t accept excuses

8. Embrace ambiguity

• Accelerate your career
• Succeed fast or fail fast

9. Focus on outcomes

10. Use it or lose it

• Use your power!