“I said, ‘This is what I’m working on and these are the things I need to develop myself,’” Nook says. “What that did was it sent the message down through the organization that if I’m looking at ways to develop myself to improve what I’m doing here, other managers should, too. It helps contribute to the culture.”
Make it a point to have a regular time to meet with your direct reports to talk about the growth that both of you are achieving or the problems that you’re having.
“It’s not them standing at your door saying, ‘Hey, I have this issue,’” Nook says. “There’s a standing meeting on Thursdays, and we’re going to sit down and talk about anything. Here are the deals I’m working on, I need your help. This is how I want to develop myself, what do you think? If it’s a standing time, the pressure is off.”
Your goal is to show the value of these meetings and get your direct reports to do the same with their direct reports.
“If you have people reporting to you, then you should be getting together with them and talking about where they are,” Nook says. “The easiest question to ask is, ‘Hey, how am I doing for you as a manager? Am I giving you all the tools you need to do your job best?’ What that says is, you’re asking. But you’re also saying, ‘There is a chance I’m not and I want to know.’ It’s opening that door for feedback.”
It’s all about building a foundation that can support your business as it evolves along with the needs of your customers.
“Our organization is going to demand that I as a leader deliver certain things to them,” Nook says. “Mostly, it’s the skill to listen, develop and coach and deliver what the team and organization need in terms of assets to grow the business. If I’m not developing those skills, then I’m not growing either.”
How to reach: Nook Industries Inc., (800) 321-7800 or www.nookindustries.com
Stick with it
Chris Nook uses a personal coach to foster his own growth as a leader. The key to making it beneficial is having the discipline to keep the coach on his schedule.
“You’ve got to be organized enough to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to hire a coach and get together with them once a week or once a quarter for an hour over lunch,’” says Nook, CEO at Nook Industries Inc. “We can all find an hour in our day to commit to something like this.”
Nook uses the meetings to make sure he’s continuously becoming a better leader for his 135 employees at the manufacturing company he leads.
“That hour should be a conversation about where you are and what are the next steps we can identify to develop?” Nook says. “What are your takeaways from that meeting? … One of the things leaders need to master is understanding who you are as a company, where you’re going and what you need to do to get there. Preach it. Your employees want to know that you do know where you’re going and you do know how to get there. They need to hear it over and over again.
“Once you keep repeating that to your employees, you’ll start hearing it back from them. They’ll start buying in to it and you’ll know. Just assuming that they know where you’re going and you’re a widget manufacturer doesn’t do it.”