Heinz Siebenbrock - Fair Management

Heinz Siebenbrock

Fair Management

Heinz Siebenbrock

Fair Management

How to Stop Ruling

and Start Leading

Translated from German

by Tim Titchener

Tectum Verlag

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de

ISBN 978-3-8288-4565-7 (Print)

978-3-8288-7620-0 (ePDF)

978-3-8288-7621-7 (ePub)

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-3-8288-4565-7 (Print)

978-3-8288-7620-0 (ePDF)

978-3-8288-7621-7 (ePub)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Heinz Siebenbrock

Fair Management

How to Stop Ruling and Start Leading

Translated from German by Tim Titchener

374 pp.

Includes bibliographic references.

ISBN 978-3-8288-4565-7 (Print)

978-3-8288-7620-0 (ePDF)

978-3-8288-7621-7 (ePub)

Umschlaggestaltung: Tectum Verlag, unter Verwendung des Bildes # 740130493 von 300 librarians | www.shutterstock.com

Cover design: Tectum Verlag, using illustration # 740130493 by 300 librarians | www.shutterstock.com

1. Auflage 2021

© Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden 2021

Alle Rechte, auch die des Nachdrucks von Auszügen, der fotomechanischen Wiedergabe und der Übersetzung, vorbehalten.

This work is subject to copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Under § 54 of the German Copyright Law where copies are made for other than private use a fee is payable to “Verwertungsgesellschaft Wort”, Munich.

No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Nomos or the author.

Foreword to the English edition

“Your goal as a lead should be to become redundant”, – in fact to build such a strong team that they don’t even need you anymore. You will tell me: isn’t it a bit extreme to associate leadership with redundancy? How can a leader aim to be redundant?

It is quite a shift from the image you had in your head growing up when you overheard your parents talking about their work; their “boss” or “manager” certainly made sure they were visible and controlled their area of responsibility. This has been and to some extent still is the reality in most organisations, especially in the public sector.

Nowadays, more and more organisations are discouraging titles like “head of”, “director of” in favour of role descriptions such as “team lead”. This is definitely a step in the right direction because that’s what the role is supposed to be all about: the team.

So how should we go about leading then? At trivago, we assess leadership capability using four attributes: 1. business driven, 2. empowering, 3. strategic, and 4. team building.

“Empowering” is a word that is difficult to translate into other languages, yet it perfectly illustrates my vision of leadership. Being an empowering lead involves exposing your team to new experiences, topics, challenges, and people. The more you are exposed in this way, the more equipped you are to understand the bigger picture, to connect the dots and therefore to add greater value to your role.

So your role as a lead is to provide your team with this exposure; to give them the context, provide the tools, connect them to the right people so that the team can understand the challenges it faces and consider solutions creatively.

Whether you are aspiring to become a lead, are a lead in the making or have been leading for some time, this book will enable you to see the connection between business results and empowerment. It will provide you with an understanding of what good and fair management actually is and, last but not least, will give you examples of practices to put in place in your organisation so you can stop ruling and start leading.

Enjoy reading!

January 2021 Lucie Ledoyen

Foreword to the German edition

‘Are you meant to be for the company

or is the company for you?’

Are the employees meant to be for you

or is the company for the employees?

Are the customers meant to be for the company

or is the company for the customers?’

When I was a young businessman, a consultant asked me these three questions and added, ‘Depending on the attitude you consciously adopt you see the world differently, and that’s how you’ll respond to questions.’

Every manager has a certain attitude, which they act according to. The only question is whether they are conscious of doing this or not. Currently, too many managers are still unclear about the attitude they take towards their employees, their customers and their company. If you open the business section of a newspaper, you mostly get the impression that the people are there for the company.

But if we ask ourselves why we do what we do and what it’s all for, we will realise that the goal of it all is people. Without people there would be no economy. People, then, cannot be the means – people are the purpose of everything we do.

Who is meant to be for whom? – The company is meant to be for the people! A company is an arena for all those involved in it to help them to realise who they are and create their own biographies.

I warmly recommend this book to all managers. Reading this book allows you to become conscious of your own attitude and the way you treat your employees. This is more crucial today than ever. A manager cannot be successful for the long-term if he or she misses the mark in answering the question ‘Who is meant to be for whom?’

The most important job of those bearing executive responsibility is to mould the company in such a way that it attracts innovation – that means creating conditions that bring forth new initiatives. All those involved must have room to develop and contribute their own ideas.

The more the people at a company realise what needs doing themselves and take initiative on their own, the more entrepreneurial it will be. If you want to adopt this realisation for yourself, reading this book will be an important step on the path.

June 2013 Prof. Götz W. Werner

Inhalt

Foreword to the English edition Foreword to the English edition “Your goal as a lead should be to become redundant”, – in fact to build such a strong team that they don’t even need you anymore. You will tell me: isn’t it a bit extreme to associate leadership with redundancy? How can a leader aim to be redundant? It is quite a shift from the image you had in your head growing up when you overheard your parents talking about their work; their “boss” or “manager” certainly made sure they were visible and controlled their area of responsibility. This has been and to some extent still is the reality in most organisations, especially in the public sector. Nowadays, more and more organisations are discouraging titles like “head of”, “director of” in favour of role descriptions such as “team lead”. This is definitely a step in the right direction because that’s what the role is supposed to be all about: the team. So how should we go about leading then? At trivago, we assess leadership capability using four attributes: 1. business driven, 2. empowering, 3. strategic, and 4. team building. “Empowering” is a word that is difficult to translate into other languages, yet it perfectly illustrates my vision of leadership. Being an empowering lead involves exposing your team to new experiences, topics, challenges, and people. The more you are exposed in this way, the more equipped you are to understand the bigger picture, to connect the dots and therefore to add greater value to your role. So your role as a lead is to provide your team with this exposure; to give them the context, provide the tools, connect them to the right people so that the team can understand the challenges it faces and consider solutions creatively. Whether you are aspiring to become a lead, are a lead in the making or have been leading for some time, this book will enable you to see the connection between business results and empowerment. It will provide you with an understanding of what good and fair management actually is and, last but not least, will give you examples of practices to put in place in your organisation so you can stop ruling and start leading. Enjoy reading! January 2021 Lucie Ledoyen