It’S People

By George Cameron

All organizations consist of people. The more seamlessly they work together, the more efficient and effective they will become, thereby producing a more productive organization.

I have tried to put together an eclectic collection of thoughts and practices that will enable aspiring executives, middle management, and the CEO to move toward a more positive understanding of how they can improve the inter personal skills needed to make an organization run more effectively

These suggestions may seem somewhat random, but each attempts to contribute to building an organization based on trust and consideration of the needs of the individual that allows effort to be focused on productive effort rather than concern over how misbehavior may adversely affect each individual

What I am trying to achieve with this book is an acceptance by managers and leaders that a failure to recognize and deal with people as individuals and deal with their idiosyncratic ways will result in sub-optimal performance of your organization.

Have courage. People admire honest effort and integrity

I hope that reading this book will encourage everyone to be more adventurous in dealing with others, to be more sensitive to the individual and above all, to enjoy and have some fun in whatever you undertake.

This book also tries to highlight that there is very little which new knowledge is. I have included ideas of a number philosophers and writers over the centuries.

In fact I would argue that too many management books focus on esoteric theories of behaviour without ever really understanding how real people react.

There is no magic!

Many of these ideas and suggestions may seem eccentric, difficult to undertake, or even embarrassing. Relax and go with the flow. In seeking to put many of these interpersonal skills into action, an excessive amount of dignity is a barrier!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Aug 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503509061

George Cameron

The author has spent over thirty years working in a broad range of companies, from small Australian-owned businesses to multinational offshoots to publicly listed companies. His roles have s varied from first level clerical roles up to CEO management roles. This has given him the chance to both experience the impacts of management and leadership on his own work experience through to having the flexibility at senior management levels to actually implement many of the themes and suggestions for action contained within the book. The author has no ambitions to present a serious academic tome. But after experiencing these issues first hand, he has developed a desire to pass on and share many of the things tried during his working life and some of which worked well and others that were unsuccessful. Failure has been a great teacher.

Book preview

It’s People

Assertiveness

Means putting a point of view positively, clearly, and without fear.

Does not mean aggression.

Focus on the issue.

Aggression implies a personal, emotional, and basically negative approach to someone rather than a focus on the issue.

Most managers are scared of assertive people. Particularly because assertive people tend to ask questions to which the manager will often not know the answer.

A progressive leader will encourage this assertive behaviour. To his advantage, he will find out more often what people really think and be pushed more often to the edge of his current knowledge. This is an uncomfortable place for many people, but it is the place where change and progress can be made. Progress is not made by passively repeating past experience without challenge.

We particularly need female colleagues to be assertive and not be cowered by the strong male presence. More of that later.

We want inputs delivered clearly and decisively so that we get the best outcomes based upon everyone’s best knowledge and creative discussion.

Authority and Knowledge

Authority to change process and knowledge of process.

There is an absolute inverse relationship between the people who have the authority to change a process and the people with the detailed knowledge of how that process works.

People at the top of the management tree, whether it be the CEO or the supervisor of a small team, rarely have the knowledge or time to make changes or even to know what to change. (This applies even when their egos do not get in the way.) However it is in the nature of all organisations that any process can only be changed with the authority of the manager. But the more authority that is bestowed, the less knowledge of minute detail is possible. This occurs because more time is devoted to management activities and less time to actually inputting into the