ANSWER KEY

1) FALSE- An effective manager works from an adult perspective, gathering information and making decisions based on that information. Being too positive makes you look plastic to your people. When this happens, their trust level in the manager decreases. Deal from facts and information rather than the mood of the moment.

2) FALSE- People that need to change the most will change the least. It’s the manager who probably believes that he or she needs to change the least who must make the most adjustments.

3) FALSE- Never leave a meeting feeling good. Before you leave either a group or a one-on-one meeting you feel good about, ask “If there were one reason why you could not accomplish this goal, what would it be?”

4) FALSE- When people come to you for answers, they usually have a hidden agenda. They are really looking for strokes or trying to get you to take the responsibility of the outcome. Your job is to become good at deflection and asking good questions to find out what is going on behind the scenes.

5) FALSE- When you hire a person, you need an initial period where you take their mind away. A new hire must give up their right to fail. Your system should force them to perform the desired activities at your expectation level until they are ready to stand on their own two feet. Otherwise, they will perform at the level their self-esteem dictates.

6) FALSE- You cannot motivate anyone. If you are investing time, energy, and effort trying to figure out ways to get your group to perform, you are working on the wrong end of the problem. People must motivate themselves. What you can do is check your personnel to see if you have the right job match for this person. You can also influence the environment in which your people motivate themselves.

7) FALSE- Mission Statements are not for the clients. Their perception of your Mission is based on how you treat them. Mission Statements are for you and your team to gain a focus on your core business and reestablish your priorities. When your Mission Statement is written for your clients, there is too much focus on the words and not the content.

8) FALSE- An effective manager controls their own schedule. Having your door open all the time leaves you vulnerable to your people laying their responsibilities on you. You become the bottleneck in the decision making process. You also become a hostage to your team. Crisis management becomes a way of life. Schedule time behind closed doors to work on preventative maintenance projects.

9) FALSE- Management should always communicate in the first person so they can avoid communicating critical parent messages which in turn push a rebellious child response in your people. The “I” language enhances cooperation and understanding because you avoid the blame concept often involved in the word “you.”

10) FALSE- An effective manager communicates to his or her people that there is no good news or bad news only information and feedback. Remember the problems that people bring you are never the real problems. If you constantly kill the messenger, the flow of vital information stops.

11) FALSE- You can’t make a pig sing. Selection errors come back to constantly haunt managers with employee turnover, stress-induced illness, rising health care costs, dishonesty, job dissatisfaction, apathy, lack of commitment, and employees suing their employers.

12) FALSE- Effective managers focus on the specific activities that are required to get to the end result. If you can’t control it, you can’t manage it and if you don’t track it, you won’t do it.

13) FALSE- Philosophers may well argue that one’s reach should exceed one’s grasp. But if performance goals are set so high that no one can reach them, frustration is inevitable. Most people will simply give up.

14) FALSE- The best investment a manager can make is in his or her key people. A focus on the result-producing asset can pay substantial dividends. Remember people can take a lot but relationships cannot. You cannot buy someone’s loyalty or commitment.

15) FALSE- Most management issues you deal with are not problems because they do not have easy quick-fix answers. The majority of the time, most situations are conditions that exist to which there is no one answer. These situations must be treated on an on-going basis.

16) FALSE- Although money is certainly always an issue, surveys tell us that most people do not leave or perform at an optimal level because of money. Environment, schedule, and recognition or lack of such head the top of the list.

17) FALSE- Deadlines are a success trap. Lines in the sand force people to prioritize and accomplish more than they ever thought they could.

18) FALSE- Most people tell you what they think you want to hear. Never take anything at face value. Always ask follow-up questions. Keep people comfortable as you cut through the smoke and get to the real issue.

19) FALSE- The chances are only 14% that you will make the right choice when a personal interview is used only. The more layers you add, the better the chance of a good hire. A reference check, second interviews, values and interest evaluation, job match, personality and skills evaluations all enhance your possibility of success.

20) FALSE- Work with winners. Too much time is invested in trying to force people to perform at an acceptable level. Spend more time on the selection process, reassign them, or replace them. Your top people need your attention, recognition and support.

21) FALSE- An effective manager sets up a return and report system to put the responsibility where it should be -- on the employee. If you are feeling pressure, you are doing something wrong.

22) FALSE- You cannot be efficient with people. You can only be effective with them. People are messy. Their needs cannot be put into a structured environment. An effective manager keeps the most important thing the most important thing.

23) FALSE- Meetings should be held to make decisions only.

24) FALSE- Nothing happens until people take personal responsibility. If you jump in and rescue, you will find the tables quickly turn and you will soon be victim of this process.

25) FALSE- Never defend your position because this is the starting point for all arguments and misunderstandings.


SCORE CARD

Score	Rating	Training Need

23-25	Thriving	Duplicate yourself
16-22	Surviving	Slight upgrade
11-15	Ineffective	Upgrade
Below 10	Clueless	Major Upgrade