As I sit here writing this post, I have just gotten back from being at the hospital when my nephew was born. New life puts a whole never meaning to your world, even when you’re just the aunt. This, along with some other things in my life, is changing how I think about being a manager, or more importantly an influencer, within my organization. I have to admit that I haven’t always been a good friend. I have not always been a good daughter, sister or other family member. Even so, I am human and as I get older I find myself changing for the better. I also find that I’m not always the best employee, especially when I don’t have a manager who can influence and motivate me. I still find myself dwelling on experiences from the past that have hurt me or I have felt some sort of regret about. Maybe all of this is why I don’t always feel like an influential person.
I want to write about the difficulties and successes of what happens in the workplace. I want to help others going through some sort of situation where they feel hurt, stuck, unappreciated or scared. I’ve been in these situations and I want to provide some sort of feedback to others as a warrior who has navigated through them. When I think about influence in the organization I am in today, it’s a difficult topic. It’s difficult because of the current company culture. The culture of my organization has been based on fear for the last 3+ years. We went through an acquisition 4 months ago where everyone thought major changes would come. We have an executive team that is not creating a vision of the future of the company that gives a warm fuzzy feeling. There is a big riff in the company and you’re either on one side or the other. If you are on the side where I am, you have to be careful how you step. But what I can tell you is how I influenced my two past direct reports through uncertainty and bad behavior.
Uncertainty is common in every organization at some point. One thing I did learn from my favorite boss was that protecting people from the political crap in an organization allows them to continue to move forward and be creative. My company has had many changes happening for the last 2 years so my goal with my employees was to create a feeling of openness and safety. I knew my employees pretty well because I worked with them for quite a while and want to get to know people on a more personal level at work.
I had worked with my graphic designer for many years as a peer and as an unofficial boss. I knew this person’s weaknesses and knew what kind of development he needed. My graphic designer needed to work on his technical skills and his leadership skills. We were being asked to function more like a small marketing agency within our company and that required a reboot of a mind-set for all of us. The place I started was asking him what he wanted his position to be seen as within the organization. He wanted to be seen as being creative and having good ideas.
I am a HUGE fan of investing in employees and I think its one of the best ways to use my budget. I pushed him to get some additional training on design programs he wasn’t as familiar with. Then I started working on his leadership skills. One of his biggest weaknesses was not standing up for an idea he had and trying to please everyone. But it’s not just my designer that needed to stand up for himself. As his manager, I needed to stand up for him in order to influence his mindset. And this is exactly what I did, even when it meant standing up to the biggest person (literally and figuratively) on the management team.
We had a situation where art was being changed at the last minute. As part of the transitional mindset to agency, we had meetings with stakeholders to agree upon a direction for a specific catalog project. The day the piece was going to print, an executive team member told my designer to use the file that someone else created for the cover. This new art had been being worked on for at least a few days prior to this so there was plenty of time to inform us of the change in direction. It didn’t fit the creative direction that was agreed upon for the last 3 months and didn’t follow our current branding. I was out of town as this was happening at a trade show so unfortunately there was little I could do except reassure him and tell him to send the piece to print with the revised art. I tried all day to get a hold of the exec team member to talk about it, but, as is normal with this one, he was avoiding my calls and emails. When I got back in the office, I sat down with my designer and he voiced his frustrations with the situation. I told him I would talk to my boss and the exec team member. Now this entire situation was pushing my designers leadership development back so far I had to do something about it. In the end, my graphic designer and I were issued an apology, but this also concreted the stall of my career with the company. That’s another conversation for another day, but I was proud that I stood up for my department and for what I felt was right. And I’m even more proud that by me doing this, my designer was able to come through this situation better than expected.
As a former manager and current influencer in my company, I strive to treat everyone kindly, even those I don’t agree with or like. I want to have a positive influence on myself and others. Bravery is a big part of influence. Bravery is standing up to people and being brave enough to have difficult conversations. It’s about walking away from the past to become better for the future. It’s about facing uncertainty with confidence and bringing people along for the fun.
All The Space In-Between 