Week 17, 2023—Issue #253
Affiliation Attraction, Dream Managers, and Organizational Infrastructure
Each week I share three ideas to help you build better organizations. Here’s one idea on value creation, another on people and fulfillment, and a third on organizational effectiveness:
1. Affiliation Attraction
“People, be they customers or team members, are not attracted to you per se — they are attracted to who they become as a result of dealing with you. They are attracted by affiliation — they’re asking, ‘Who else are you working with?’ Profile your customer base. What does that profile say about you?”
From Time’s Up by Dunn and Baker
2. Dream Managers
“In your first few one-on-one meetings, ask your reports the following questions to understand what their “dream manager” looks like. What did you and your past manager discuss that was most helpful to you? What are the ways in which you’d like to be supported? How do you like to be recognized for great work? What kind of feedback is most useful for you?”
From The Making of a Manager by Zhou
3. Organizational Infrastructure
“Just as an efficient city requires comprehensive and trustworthy systems to move its traffic, goods, and by-products, your company requires reliable systems to maintain its data and communications flow. Without a solid infrastructure, your brilliant and talented team members won’t be able to function to their full potential.”
From The Great CEO Within by Mochary et al
Questions to ponder:
- How do your customers reflect your image?
- Would your reports describe you as their dream manager?
- Does your organization have an efficient infrastructure?
That’s all for this week.
Until next time: Make it matter.
/Andreas
How can we build better organizations? That’s the question I’ve been trying to answer for the past 10 years. Each week, I share some of what I’ve learned in a weekly newsletter called WorkMatters. Back-issues are published to Medium after three months. Subscription is free. This article was originally published on Friday, May 5, 2023.
