Catalyst Manager

Be a Catalyst Manager

Being a liberal arts major and a non-scientific thinker, I nearly failed Chemistry at Annapolis in the first semester of my junior year. But during the second semester, I was put in the "special" Chemistry class for the scientifically challenged. It was just me and the football team. I felt right at home.

I don't remember much of the curriculum of that class but I did learn what a catalyst was. A catalyst is a type of compound or chemical that when added to other chemicals initiates a measurable change in the properties of those chemicals, resulting in a reaction with a visible color change, smell, or even an explosion. Without this catalyst, the compounds and energy attributes of the chemicals remain dormant and unchanging.

As a manager, your job is to manage the chemistry of your team, specifically the four types of energy that your employees bring to work with them everyday. Each person brings mental energy, emotional energy, physical energy, and commitment energy into your workplace. This is the energy capital that you have to manage. It is your job to manage the flow of these four attributes and work with them in a way that solves your problems. Or better yet, develop a culture that causes your team to intentionally and willingly manage their own energy in the accomplishment of the desired objectives.

In some organizations, employees do the minimum just to get by. If minimum wasn't good enough, it wouldn't be minimum, they say to themselves. But it is this fourth energy, the commitment energy, that is the catalyst for the other three. Separate the other three and focus on the fourth. If you learn how to foster the growth of this commitment energy, you will see a chain reaction and a combustion of excitement and enthusiasm within your organization in the emotional, mental, and physical energy areas of your staff.

Here are three ways to incite this growth of commitment energy:

First, become the type of leader who is followable. There is no such thing as professional leadership. There is only personal leadership. Leadership is intensely personal and it all starts with you. Success in this area does not rely on chance, but instead is deliberate. Start by reading two pages a day from a leadership book. Begin with Instrinsic Motivation at Work by Dr. Kenneth Thomas which explains this energy model in greater detail. It is an easy and pithy read, full of solid nuts and bolts about leadership that offers insight and potent take-home value.

Second, ask questions. Ask questions of your staff and listen. Listen with authentic empathy and repeat their answers back to them to make sure you understood what they said.

Third, set up accountabilities between co-workers. Instead of holding an employee accountable for all of his or her tasks, delegate some of those accountabilities to one of his or her peers. This not only clears your mind from just one more thing to think about, but also develops leadership among your employees in its purest form: peer leadership. Peer leadership thrives on legitimate influence and the careful balance of political capital because of the nature of how we want to be seen and treated by our colleagues. If you're a bad peer leader then no one will invite you to the party. This system of peer accountability is not just more effective, but also keeps you from having to act like a boss all the time. Plus, it's more fun for your employees when they take an interest in trying to solve each others' problems instead of hearing you rant and rave once again about their performance.

By fanning the flames on the fire of commitment energy in your team, you will achieve explosive results, better morale, and tighter relationships among peers. And you use this catalyst without ever having to open a Chemistry textbook again.

Scott Love shows managers and sales people how to manage their risk and win the game of business. He is a professional speaker and can be reached at 828-225-7700 or on his website at www.nolimitachievement.com