Four questions for every manager to ask themselves

In case you dont' have access to the Economist I'll list the full four questions below. Significantly though, they are all related to hiring, retention, culture and automation. In short, people. Your people, your team.  We all know the job of a senior leader is relentless, pressure from all sides, long lists of tasks and not enough hours. You try to buy yourself time and resources by hiring. But this in itself is a challenge, then you have to train and retain (or fire) your hires, and most of all you need to create and monitor your company and your team culture. Getting that wrong can bring the whole house of cards down!  

Despite all of this, to lead is a privilege. But it's a privilege with a big responsibility. If you get it right though, there can't be a much more rewarding experience, certainly in the work domain.

So the task is, to make the time (it won't happen if you don't make it), and ask yourself good questions, and give yourself uninterrupted time to answer them.

By far the best resource for this I have ever come across is the book ‘The road less stupid’ by Keith Cunningham. Buy it. you'll thank me.  But from the article, the four questions are….

“Would I hire this person again?”

“How often am I hearing dissent?”

“What should we automate?” 

“How many people are leaving my team?”

How often do you sit and ask yourself such questions? When it comes to your greatest asset, people, it's important to do so, and if you ever want to talk hiring, retention or team culture, I'm all ears.

David