Managers have a big role in creating a space where their people can function, as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls it, in flow. This thought struck home on a recent drive while thinking about the performance management conversations I needed to have and the song: RIVER by Emeli Sande came on the radio. The song got me thinking.
In today’s world the line between management and leadership is blurred and needs to be thus. As Henry Mintzberg in his book ‘Managing’  describes it, today’s good leaders are managers and good managers are leaders. So when it comes to performance and enabling our people, we need a paradigm shift from process management towards a leadership focus. As good managers we need to direct and help and as good leaders we need to proactively engage and listen to move barriers and enable flow.
Performance Management is getting work done through people. Performance Leadership is about getting work done by the powerful flow achieved when streams join together; when business goals align with individual career aspirations.
We all know that performance management requires thinking and acting beyond the ‘it’s that time of year again’ appraisal process. So how do we know if ‘our individual approach’ to the process is working? We know it’s working if….
- It’s less about process and more about people and connection. Connecting the individual’s hopes and career aspirations to the organisations objectives.
- We, as people managers, recognise our role in ensuring that these streams connect and join forces.
- It feels less like management and more like leadership.
- Our people are thinking about ‘my future, with this organisation’.
I challenge you to consider, plan out and deliver your next performance management conversation so that it leads toward ‘connecting the streams,’ enabling both your people and your business to reach their ‘Sea of Potential!’
