by Ron Perry

I recently saw an ad for a local gym that showed side by side two pictures of the same man. In the first picture, he was a small, feeble man; and in the other picture he was well-built and much more muscular. The caption under the pictures said, “We can take you from where you are to where you ought to be.” I smiled as I realized that between those two pictures were many long months of intense workouts. I have thought much about those pictures lately and what they illustrate about managing people. Managers are much like personal trainers. They take a team and try to help them reach their maximum potential. To do that, they carefully present the plan and where the workouts are going, provide coaching and accountability, and most importantly seek to stretch the team without breaking them. The following six things have been a tremendous help to me as I am seeking to stretch a team to its maximum potential but not break them!

Avoid popping the whole vision on your team in one moment. Surprises have a tendency to break people. Sometimes we cannot avoid surprising our team, but many times we could avoid it by doing the proper prep work. One thing that has been a help to me as I prepare to make a big announcement about where our team is headed is to test my thoughts and ideas on influential members of our team and get their input before a meeting with the entire team. In doing this, I am getting them ready for the news and finding out in private what their initial thoughts are toward the news. As they voice their concerns and present solutions, I am better equipped to work on some of those concerns before I present the whole picture to the whole team. People like to be a part of the inside track, and preparing them mentally in private makes the presentation in public go much smoother.

Figure out the limitations and present the vision with those things in mind. Half the battle is the presentation. I may know where we are headed and what it takes to get there. But I must also communicate those things in a way that does not ignore the concerns of the listeners, or my presentation may become a disaster. Considering limitations and presenting possible solutions are very helpful parts of my presentation. For instance, a person on our team may listen to the news of where we are headed and quickly think to himself, “I don’t have enough time to even do what I’m doing right now, let alone all the stuff he’s talking about in the future.” Anticipating that kind of response encourages me to present not only where we are headed but also what changes will need to take place for us to get there. When we are looking at a change for our team, we need to consider the time, tools, teaching, and money that will be required in order for the change to take place.

Remember that growing pains are real! When a team is stretching and growing, legitimate growing pains will occur. When we sit through meetings and listen to our team’s concerns, questions, and statements, we must keep in mind the discomfort that they are experiencing. Managers who fail to remember that these pains are legitimate risk the chance of breaking a team. However, wise managers anticipate some discomfort, prepare for it, and take it seriously when they see it. Just letting the team be honest can go a long way toward their willingness to be stretched. Doing our best to help them stretch through the pain is our job!

Give genuine praise when hurdles are jumped. Empty praise occurs when a manager praises everything. A manager that praises every task completed, no matter how small, is often doing so because he fears what his team thinks of him. But the result of constant praise is that his praise becomes meaningless. During the course of a team’s work, a manager should recognize significant hurdles—those that require great effort, extra time, and lots of sweat. When those kind of hurdles are jumped, they should be accompanied by heartfelt, meaningful praise. Good praise does not have to be a bonus or a day off; it could be as simple as a meaningful public acknowledgement or a handwritten note can go a long way.

Lead; do not pull. Both leading and pulling happen out in front; however, the difference is in the object behind. When I am pulling, the object is either resisting or being motionless. When I am leading, I am seeking to stay in front of something that is moving the same direction I am. The greatest challenge to managers is to learn how to get a team of people moving in the same direction. That happens by our communicating to our team their significant part in where we are headed, by explaining why it is good for us to go that direction, and by developing a rapport with those whom we lead. We experience breaking when we do not thoroughly address those things and continue to pull. The more I learn about managing people, the more I realize that a majority of my job as a manager is communicating where we are headed and why it is good for us to go that way. I must also operate in such a way that I earn my team’s trust by showing that I do have their interest in mind.

Many of us are in the midst of a team that is stretching. Wise managers listen carefully to the sounds of the stretch and control the pressure to avoid the resounding snap of a break! Remember, stretching is not a bad thing. In fact, stretching is essential to growth.