management psychology

a few months ago i was in a cafe when one of my employees came in. he is a friend, so rather than sitting across the restaurant and waving, he came over and sat with me. he had his sister with him and as we talked she mentioned her masters program, she is getting a degree in management psychology.  since that day i keep flashing to that moment and wondering if i need to look into the program to better understand my staff, my organization or the world.

the past two weeks have been about reviewing the previous 51. this weekend is the deadline to complete the documentation of those reviews. as i sit in a cafe typing this, i am waiting for the site we use for that documentation to return from scheduled maintenance. it is down during my daytime to ensure it impacts the fewest people. being on the opposite side of the world makes my impact acceptable. as i wait, i agree with that assessment, but the mounting frustration still remains.  thoughts on management linger.

wiki defines management as:

the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.

management is part of all of our lives, we do it within the family, in workplaces and within ourselves. to think of management as something that only true managers do is a narrow view that misses the universal nature of the act. the key to the above definition is "getting people together to accomplish desired goals". the first time i saw genuine management was in a locker room almost 30 years ago; a typical amercian setting with a typical american management style.

it was the night of my first varsity football game, and the excitement of being on the big field was what i remember.  i was a junior member of the team and would see no playing time that night, but i was there and i was happy. the fact that the team was not winning was not as important to me, i had made it onto the team and i was reveling in the experience.

coach toppa was last into the locker room at half time, he and the other coaches had stopped outside as the players filtered in and found spots to sit. some of the senior player removed their helmets and shoulder pads to be more comfortable, but those of us new to the team stayed in full uniform.  we kept our helmets on to show everyone we were ready to play; comfort be damned. as coach came into the room, he kicked an empty helmet that skittered across the room. this was the first time i witnessed this legendary leader of men use violence to get their attention.  everyone in the room was now looking at him.

coach allowed his frustration to flow as he spoke, he allowed every person in the room share his frustration, and fostered a feeling of guilt for forcing him to have this conversation. the team was not playing as well as he knew we could play, he may have been 60 years old, but he would have suited up and joined the game if he could.  he could not understand why those who could play were not. he did not understand how we allowed ourselves to fail. as he spoke, the excitement of being next to the field was replaced with a desire to be on the field. almost helping was not enough, i wanted to actively make a difference, i was a failure for just being there, i should have been helping us win. i was ashamed and angry at myself.

that was when coach changed the tone of his message, he turned to what we could each do to solve the issue, we could come together as a team, then we could go back out there and win the game. that is what would make him proud of us, and nothing else was going to help us feel better. 70 vikings rushed the field as one, some got to actually play, but we were all fully in the game during the second half. we rallied and won the game. together we proved to toppa and to ourselves that we could.  those moments set the tone for the rest of the season, and in many ways for every game i have played since.

i was awed that day, i knew coach was performing as he spoke, but it was a great performance that raised the team up. coach motivated us to win that day. he managed us, he brought us together to accomplish our goal. he used psychology to do it; the planning, organizing and staffing was over. he needed to go beyond the plan to give us the need to win.  being happy to be there was not enough, we needed to accomplish our goals as a team.

i have been thinking about this and wondering if those skills can really be taught. is being a leader something you go to graduate school to learn, or can you do by continuing to play? does it help to do it with different teams, each having different needs? does being forced to use non-amercian motivation help someone first awakened by the only in america sharp sound of a kicked helmet crashing into a locker?

toppa was a great coach. he taught three generations of players to be the better than they knew they could be. he did it with small players who learned to play big, making them proud to be on the field.  he did it by managing each team of individuals, to come together and share a goal. he taught us to care enough to work as a team.

being on the field mattered, but winning mattered more. that is a management psychology i will never forget.