Honest Management: Recent Episodes
S. Daniel Smith
Handling the Problem Child on your Team, Part I
Keith Stark, retired USAF E-8 and currently the pastor of a church in Exmouth, Australia. Keith has filled many roles since joining the air force, and since retirement he’s filled even more roles. In his 25 years in the air force, he led his first team of five at his five-year point, and by ten years in, he was averaging teams of around ten direct reports. At 20 years, he was a superintendent of over 20 people. He has also filled the role of the command first sergeant, which in the Navy we’d call the command master chief.
In retirement, Keith wears a whole mess of hats, including being a member of the Exmouth mental health planning team, a member of the Exmouth District High School Board, and being pastor of Exmouth Christian Fellowship.
In this episode, we talk about handling the problem child, how to recognize a bid for power in your work center or team, and the first steps in correcting the issue. The issue is framed by the Situational Leadership Model.
The Honest Management Show is supported by loyal listeners like you. To contribute to the show's success, and to help get the word out to as many young, developing managers as possible, please support at THIS LINK. Thank you!
Joining me today on the show is Jeremy Frisbey, a retired US Navy Chief Petty Officer and personal friend of mine. We got together to talk about growth mindset in the military context. We discussed fixed vs growth mindset, first steps in achieving growth mindset, and how to help your team members achieve it as well.
Some resources to investigate:
John Maxwell’s 15 valuable methods of growth
Fixed and Growht Mindset Carol Dewit’s growth mindset
Simon Sinek Everyone wins
To contact Jeremy with questions or to learn more about what he does to support veterans, contact him at the Veteran’s group of Iowa.
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The Honest Management Show is supported by loyal listeners like you. To contribute to the show's success, and to help get the word out to as many young, developing managers as possible, please support at THIS LINK. Thank you!
- Links in these show notes may be affiliate links. I may make a small percentage from your purchase. I would always want you to buy from a local, independent store, but if you are looking to use Amazon, I would appreciate you considering my links. Thank you!
Nichole Harrop is a leadership coach and the host of Future Female Leaders, a great podcast that I can't recommend enough. You'll get a ton from it, even if you're a guy, just like I do. Today, Nichole joined me to talk about what the future looks like for female leaders, and how they can make an impact in their organization.
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The Honest Management Show is supported by loyal listeners like you. To contribute to the show's success, and to help get the word out to as many young, developing managers as possible, please support at THIS LINK. Thank you!
- Links in these show notes may be affiliate links. I may make a small percentage from your purchase. I would always want you to buy from a local, independent store, but if you are looking to use Amazon, I would appreciate you considering my links. Thank you!
Rory Tyer is the Director of People Solutions at Horne, a professional services firm. He has also been involved in business startups, non-profits, and leadership coaching from first line supervisor to the C-Suite. I asked him to join me on this episode of The Honest Management Show to talk simply about the two things that are holding you back. We also talked about mentorship as it often goes hand in hand with overcoming the two things we’ll discuss shortly.
Normally, Rory is coaching executive level leaders through these two things, but as I read more about what he thought and believed about them, I realized just how often I’ve struggled with those same things at several points in my career of managing small and mid-sized teams. Oh, to have had a coach like Rory at those times!
Well, the good news is that you get a coach like him through this episode. I’m warning you, though, these points hit you right between the eyes. From his website:
Two things hold many people back: (1) We’re not clear on what we should do; (2) We know what we should do, but we don’t do it.
When trying to break through a vague directive at work, it’s best to go immediately to the individual giving the order and ask clarifying questions. If the person is too far up the chain from your management position, find an advocate to go for you. Finally, if they are unable/unwilling to go on your behalf, find out what your supervisor sees as success so you can follow your best known order.
In order not to deliver a directive that doesn’t clearly lay out your plans/desires, formulate your request before you give it.
Instead of: I need all work centers to get the monthly periodic maintenance done early!
Say: I need monthly periodic maintenance accomplished by the end of next week. I need this so we can focus the rest of the month on quarterly maintenance before the semi-annual inspection.
See how much clearer it was in the second telling? The first one is either an emergency (which will make them do it immediately and possibly overlook other important maintenance) or a complete lack of emergency, which won’t get the maintenance done before the inspection. Clear, concise, and with a purpose.
Point two focuses on knowing what to do, but not being willing/able to do it. The biggest takeaway from this section is how vital a mentor can be in figuring out your next step, especially in cases where you have too many options, or not enough options.
Sometimes we know what to do and we don’t because we just don’t want to. A mentor helps here too, and I’ve had times in my life where a mentor has had to break through my thick skull to make me take action. It isn’t fun, isn’t pretty, but it’s often necessary. In cases where that’s happened in my life, it’s always been for the best. I’ve become a much better manager because of it.
Books discussed in this Episode (Affiliate Links) *
EQ Applied
It’s your Ship
Connect with Rory:
At his website
On LinkedIn
On Twitter
The most important thing you can take from this episode is that good, honest management comes easiest by knowing and giving clear direction, and by acting on that direction even if you don’t want to.
Subscribe to the Honest Management Newsletter to get monthly updates directly to your inbox.
The Honest Management Show is supported by loyal listeners like you. To contribute to the show's success, and to help get the word out to as many young, developing managers as possible, please support at
Subscribe to the Honest Management Newsletter to get monthly updates directly to your inbox.
The Honest Management Show is supported by loyal listeners like you. To contribute to the show's success, and to help get the word out to as many young, developing managers as possible, please support at THIS LINK. Thank you!
Subscribe to the Honest Management Newsletter to get monthly updates directly to your inbox.
The Honest Management Show is supported by loyal listeners like you. To contribute to the show's success, and to help get the word out to as many young, developing managers as possible, please support at THIS LINK. Thank you!
- Links in these show notes may be affiliate links. I may make a small percentage from your purchase. I would always want you to buy from a local, independent store, but if you are looking to use Amazon, I would appreciate you considering my links. Thank you!
Managers matter...a whole lot. In fact, after 20+ years in managing teams of varying sizes, I've come to believe, truly and honestly, that managers are the fulcrum of an organization's success.
One of the best ways I can think of to explain my assertion is to talk about the production-to-production-capacity balance, as explained in Steven R. Covey's groundbreaking book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.* In Part one of the book, you'll read about the P/PC Balance and how it can make or break an organization.
Guess who's in charge of the P/PC Balance. You guessed it. It's the managers. Understanding your role in making this work will pay huge dividends for your personal growth as a manager and for your organization.
Subscribe to the Honest Management Newsletter to get monthly updates directly to your inbox.
The Honest Management Show is supported by loyal listeners like you. To contribute to the show's success, and to help get the word out to as many young, developing managers as possible, please support at THIS LINK. Thank you!
- Links in these show notes may be affiliate links. I may make a small percentage from your purchase. I would always want you to buy from a local, independent store, but if you are looking to use Amazon, I would appreciate you considering my links. Thank you!
Welcome to The Honest Management Show, where we have candid conversations about managing small to mid-sized teams. I'm so glad you're here!
Here at the Honest Management Show, we have candid conversations about leading small to mid-sized teams. Whether you’re a manager of one or a team of 25, you belong here at the Honest Management show. I’m Dan Smith and I’m your host.
I’m happy you’re here. Subscribe to the show on your favorite listening app and let’s get to work.