Gary Winters

Coach  Workshop Facilitator Author

A Good Time to Come in Last

Effective managers have a secret. It’s subtle and powerful.

When it comes to facilitating conversations with their team, they weigh in last. Whether the group is brainstorming how to change the schedule, approach a new project, modify a procedure, or introduce a new product, the process is the same.

As the manager, they share their thoughts last.

Effective managers keep in mind they’re in the “people development” business. When they’ve pulled the team together to discuss something, they make point to hear everyone’s ideas first. They know if they speak up too soon, they might never know what others really think. Instead, they might hear what people think the boss wants to hear.

Here’s how it works.

Start with something like this: “Let’s talk about how we should structure this proposal.”

Then bite your tongue and wait for them to start talking. During the dialogue, limit your input to asking for clarification or perhaps asking for input from another member of the team who hasn’t spoken in a while. Beyond that, do not offer your ideas until everyone has the opportunity to weigh in.

Here’s some huge benefits you can reap from this:

  • You’ll reinforce the idea that we’re all in this together.
  • You’ll be able to gauge everyone’s ability to think about an issue. (Who needs more coaching, who’s coming along nicely?
  • There’s a good chance you’ll hear ideas that hadn’t occurred to you before.
  • You’ll encourage your staff to “speak their truth” rather than regurgitating what the boss has already said.
  • Last but not least, your team will appreciate the approach. They’ll come to realize that you believe in them and value their judgment.

Next staff meeting, instead of saying, “We need to talk about (fill in the blank). Here’s some of my thoughts. (Blah, blah, blah) What do you folks think?” say:

“We need to talk about (fill in the blank). What are your ideas?”

Then bite your tongue for a few minutes. Gather their thoughts and then share yours. You will build a stronger team, earn their respect, and maybe get a fresh notion or two.

“What ELSE Your Boss Never Told You” is the sequel to the very popular “What Your Boss Never Told You.” Packed inside are more tips, techniques, and insights about the challenging, but rewarding leadership position.

“What ELSE Your Boss Never Told You” is written in a conversational tone, as though you and the author were enjoying a cup of coffee and talking about the issues that emerge for new leaders. It stands alone, and/or could be read before or after the first volume, “What Your Boss Never Told You.” You can start with any chapter and read in any order you like.

if you search for a book on management, you’ll find a staggering 600,000+ books currently available. How can you narrow that down? “What Your Boss Never Told You” is the best place to start.

No textbook here – this book is short and sweet. It’s designed to help you “unpack” your new job and be effective from the first day with your new team. It contains twenty-one chapters filled with the wisdom Winters has gathered from real managers – effective, successful leaders in organizations much like yours.

Leaders make decisions every day – big and small. Most know that if they include others in the decision-making process, the quality of those decisions – and the commitment to them – will likely improve. That said, they also know it’s impractical, if not impossible, to include others in every decision they confront.

“To Do or Not To Do” tackles the question of when to make decisions on your own, and when to involve your team. It gives you a deceptively simple but proven method to determine, when you are facing a difficult decision, how to decide how to decide.

Far too many meetings are dreadful, mind-numbing, energy-draining, productivity-sapping, colossal wastes of time. As someone once said, “To kill time, a meeting is the perfect weapon.”

Here’s the deal: if you’re willing to learn and apply the techniques in “So, How Was Your Meeting?”, you’ll call fewer meetings, while vastly improving the ones you do lead. They’ll take less time, have more balanced participation, produce better decisions, and result in concrete action items for follow-up afterwards.

While there are thousands of books written for people about to retire, this may be the only book for people who manage soon-to-retire employees. Written in a casual, conversational style, “Managing the Soon To Retire Employee” will give you everything you need to know to move forward with confidence and grace.

You can be successful with Sooners. It won’t happen by chance, and it’s not a matter of pulling some management “trick” out of your hat. But you can learn how to do it, and you can apply what you’ve learned right away.

Managing friends or former peers can be awkward. When you become the boss, everything about these relationships can suddenly be uncomfortable. There’s a new set of ground rules to establish – as manager, you are going be accountable for the work performance of friends or former co-workers on the team, and they are going to have to adjust to the fact that they now report to you. Everyone involved can feel awkward and hesitant about the future. 

Have you been approached by management with an offer to promote you to supervision? Or, are you mulling over the possibility for the future? Find yourself not sure whether to accept the promotion?

If so, you’ve come to the right place. Help! They Want to Make ME a Supervisor will help you sort out a very big question: Should you accept the offer to become a supervisor? Once you’ve read this book, you’ll be confident that you’ve made the best decision for you and for your organization.