Closing down a memory

In the sad-but-true category, I saw today that Joe's place in downtown Raleigh is closing down for good after 29 years in business. When I moved down to Raleigh back in 1984 from Maryland, one of my fraternity brothers took me to Joe's several times. It was my first foray into Southern Cuisine. My favorite was their vegetable plate. What a thought - a meal without a meat. How could I!? Upon urging from my fraternity brother, I ordered collards, black-eye peas, sweet potatoes, and cornbread. I entered a whole new world of eating. I think it was the first time I felt at home in Raleigh.

Times change and may new restaurants have opened in Raleigh. Unfortunately, the marching of time also sees the transition of many, older, and established places. Although I haven't been there in ages, the closing of this restaurant triggered several memories of the Raleigh downtime 25 years ago and the fact that I was a new student in a new town. I think we all have these "moments" where a restaurant or club or ball-park triggers a flood of good memories about our station in life. What places trigger your memories? Home, a school, an annual event?

Leaders vs. Managers

The link to this question addresses some good differences between leaders and managers. I think it's clear why we need leaders but why do we need managers? Managers tend to get the brunt of many company jokes (aka Dilbert) but this layer of corporate labor continues to thrive. Why and more importantly, what are good measurements of effective management? I think there are as many answers to this question as there are people trying to answer it.

Let me take a shot at it from a layman's perspective.

Managers add value to the company when, as a result of their management actions, make their team more efficient through one of three ways:

1. Productivity (through training, coaching, administrative coverage)
2. Motivation/Coaching (getting more from each individual)
3. Influence (removing obstacles that are preventing your team from achieving its goals)

Seems simple enough. Managers are put in place to help their teams realize their full potential. Unfortunately, egos and power-plays distract a high percentage of people from these targets. When a company is grooming a new supervisor or coach, they need to make sure the person has the emotional intelligence required to stay focused on the three targets mentioned above. One misplaced supervisor/coach can weaken the entire team.