Are You Breaking Enough Rules?

I'm reading First, Break All The Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Don Clifton. It's so, so good! There are some really crucial lessons but the one that is on my mind the most right now is - great managers do NOT follow the golden rule.

Because strong personal relationships are crucial for success, that typically means treating others as we want to be treated. But acting as if all employees have the same approach isn't realistic. In fact, the best managers reject the golden rule, and treat each person as they would like to be treated.

This allows people to be themselves, use their strengths (which is way more important than trying to coach weaknesses) and work toward outcomes in ways natural to them.

I also think it speaks more broadly to allowing people to be the fullest expression of themselves at work and that the hard lines between work and "life" are blurring. When we have friends at work and laugh and enjoy what we are doing, it shows in the results.

And as someone who sat through financial meetings dressed as Lucille Bluth from Arrested Development I can attest to the fact that you can have plenty of fun and get the job done.

Kathryn Frankson is a B2B event sales and marketing professional at UBM. A believer that 2018 communication means knowing how to get the markets attention through thumb stopping content, audience development and storytelling, she executes sales and marketing strategies in the catering, special event, cruise shipping and pharmaceutical space.

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