He was in his early thirties, an Engineer by profession and the Technical Manager of a large service organisation. We met in my office. He had just completed one of our executive development courses at the Business School and his mind was still all fired up by what he had just learnt from the foreign lecturer. The two-day programme had been on principles of management ? in particular, on what makes up a successful manager or supervisor. In the morning, he recalled, they had undergone an interesting exercise. ?The trainer asked each one of us,? he said, ?to review our life and think of a time that we had been successful as a manager or a supervisor, school or on the sports field. Once we had done so, we had to tell the story to someone else in the room. Next, we were asked to reflect what had made us successful. At the end of the day, two characteristics stood up ? what Vivek jokingly referred to as ?pompe caoutchoux? and ?teigne dife?. Essentially, if we want to be successful as managers we have to be able to do two things: know how to motivate others when they are feeling down and how to put off crises before they start spreading. And the most amazing thing is that we have been doing it for so long without really knowing that we were doing it!?

?Pompe caoutchoux? and ?teigne dife? ? nothing can beat Creole as a means of communicating vividly and simply one of the most fundamental messages of successful management! Think about it: How many times have found your subordinate ?deflated?, uninspired ? How many times have you asked your team to perform a task only for them to produce a half-baked effort? How many times have you sensed the beginnings of a crisis ? a ?fire? that, if left unattended, could rapidly spread throughout the organisation and cause untold damage? Space here prevents us from tackling both characteristics ? I?ll focus on the ?caoutchoux? aspect.

• Motivating Others

Many years ago in South Africa, I worked for an exceptional boss ? a man who naturally, easily, effortlessly excelled at motivating others. I was in awe by this man and whenever I think back over what he did so well, this is what I come up with:

Ask others for advice. First and foremost, he knew how to ask people for their opinions, advice and suggestions. He had neither fears nor compunction in this regard ? and ended up making you feel important and valued. And motivated!

He kept you informed. In those days, we had no e-mails or cell phones ? and yet this man made absolutely certain that every single decision taken was religiously circulated to all concerned. He excelled at sharing his vision and values with us ? and had no hesitation in communicating sensitive information like the company?s financial performance.

He lavished praise. He was always on the lookout for opportunities to praise you and your work ? and did so naturally and easily. He knew that praise can add meaning to any job. Six weeks after he started, this large, conservative and bureaucratic company had for the first time in its history, an ? Employee of the Month? award.

He could empower you. He did so using two techniques: by focusing on your strengths and by using action learning. He spent much time thinking about his subordinates? performance ? as the Human Resources person, I would often be called into his office (...) and whenever I mentioned negative matters about the one employee, he would brush them aside impatiently and say, ?But what are they good at?? To him strengths were more important than weaknesses. This man was a trained action learning person ? he provided you with plenty of opportunities to solve problems and was a master at asking thought-provoking questions.

I still remember how on the one occasion, he ?paralysed? the whole company for one day, forcing us to analyse why our products were not being delivered on time. The solutions we proposed were all implemented. I also remember how on the one occasion, he closed one of our in-house seminars by stating to the managers present: ?If there is something I have learnt over the years, it?s that you have to give your people as much responsibility as they can handle ? but without overdoing it. Learn to stretch ? but not to break, them. And once you have given them this responsibility, stand by to coach and support them as needed.?

He could crap on you. Make no mistake here: This man was not some kind of softy, wishy-washy individual too scared to confront problems or take disciplinary action. No. He could reprimand you easily ? but always with care. One day he called me because I had failed to produce the salary schedule he was after. I was at fault. He handled the whole thing magnificently, stating : ?I must start by apologizing ? I should have made it clear to you that I needed this schedule urgently.? I felt very embarrassed and needless to say, the schedule was ready on that same day.

The days of the control and command mode, when one person at the top issues edicts and others below follow them, are gone. In today?s fast-changing environment, decisions are being pushed downwards in organisations ? there, at the interface with the customer, where it all happens. This new way of managing often leads to taking risks and making mistakes ? and to discouragement. This is why it is so important to ensure that you become a master at ?pompe caoutchoux.? This is my last column for this year ? I wish you all well for 2004 and thank you for your comments and suggestions during the past twelve months.

Prof Eric Charoux; feedback : [email protected]