Sep 13, 2019 2 min read

On Management #38, P.S.

Happy fall! And welcome to new readers, long-time readers and supporters.

I’ve been sending these experimental PS issues for a few months. They feature a few (more) good things I’ve found to read, watch, or hear about the last issue’s theme.

Maybe it’s no longer an experiment.

Issue 38 focused on interventions.

An innovative study on workplace harassment, in Toronto Tech, via an audio conversation with project lead Jane Watson.
Other workplace interventions — like training, coaching, mentoring programs. What makes them effective? Or not?

This time, artist Jason Li has been busy, so read on for one of my signature (lol) memes.

Finally, scroll down to learn about an online briefing, Managers as Coaches.

Thank you for inviting me to your in-box.

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Links

Harassment is not simply perpetrated by Bad Apples.

“…what we began to glimpse is that this wasn't just about one predator — it was about an entire system. It was about the nature of complicity and why people go along with behavior like this and don't challenge it.” Jodi Kantor in 'New York Times' Reporters Explain How They United Women, Helping Trigger #MeToo on All Things Considered.
She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement, by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey (Library) (Indiebound) is definitely on my TBR.
And check Kantor on episode #269 of the Longform podcast in the early days of #MeToo.

“Managing out” happens when people aren’t being heard internally.

August 27, 2019: Professors rally behind MIT Media Lab director after Epstein funding scandal, by Mary Beth Griggs, at The Verge.
August 29, 2019: Why Joi Ito needs to resign, by Arwa Mboya, at The Tech.
September 4, 2019: MIT Media Lab founder: Taking Jeffrey Epstein’s money was justified, by Angela Chen and Karen Hao. MIT Technology Review reports on MIT.

Managing out is messy, risky, and not always a solid strategy. Sometimes it’s well-intentioned, and wrong.

Leaders in healthy organizations foster constructive disagreement. More on that down the road!

When you have questions, please do send me a note! I always answer my emails, and sometimes I spring into action (see below.)

Thank you so much for reading,

Anne Libby

ICYMI

P.P.S. Back to School: Managers as Coaches

After reading Always Be Coaching: On Management #36, reader Peter Imai asked me a question. I started to think more about how managers can become better coaches to their team members.

A few weeks ago, I saw someone in a Twitter thread recommending coach training as a vehicle for becoming a better manager.

Hard downvote.

Coach training is expensive. Time consuming. Highly variable in quality.

And, it’s “coach training,” not “manager training.” It’s the wrong intervention!

On October 7, I’m hosting a live-via-Zoom briefing, Manager as Coach. I’ll introduce: