The Hands-Off Manager by Steve Chandler Page A

an e-mail to a team member whose actions upset you. Do you feel a sense of satisfaction? Do you feel a sense of fulfillment? Could you say to someone, “I loved doing that. That was fun for me.” Or do you feel a sense of guilt and dissatisfaction?
    Just listen to that feeling, whatever it is. With a little practice and discipline, it’s not hard to find a way to test all your actions against this inner knowing. To tune your instrument for excellence and efficiency. Soon your e-mails and other communications will be both compassionate and powerful. You will tune in to ways of communicating that are clear and satisfying.
    I was talking to a manager named George about slowing down and listening to his inner, higher wisdom, when he finally said, “You mean I should love everything I do?”
    “That would be ideal.”
    “If I wanted to do that, all I would do is play golf!”
    Very funny, George. But golf is your entertainment, not your work. And entertainment has its place in our world. But unless you’re a pro sports figure or an actor (and even those people work very hard at accomplishing what they do), entertainment will not bring you true joy and fulfillment. It will not give you a sense of satisfaction and well-being. Those kinds of feelings only come from what you accomplish, what you contribute, or what you do to make a difference.
    Your work will provide you these feelings. Your true feeling of success will only come from what you give to the world through your work and love, while entertainment is based on what you can get from the world.
    Jack Nicolaus worked incredibly hard on his golf game, and he actually gave a lot. A professional sports figure, he had millions of people follow him and gain pleasure from watching him play. That’s what he was getting paid for. So his level of play was a gift to sports fans.
    He also worked at golf in a different way than we do. We just go out and play at golf, but it wasn’t play for him. It was a discipline, and he was only at his best when he transcended the play. The difference between Jack’s golf and our golf is that Jack’s golf was a gift to someone else, and our golf is only entertainment for ourselves. Giving versus getting—one of the deepest principles of hands-off professional success.
    The ultimate functional question is this: “How can I contribute?” or, “What can I give?”
    Most people in the workplace are focused on getting . They want to get instant results from their efforts. They are obsessed about the external and the negative. They fret about how much time off the guy next to them takes, and how much more pay the other person gets, and how much more time the other person spends on personal conversations. Their self-criticism turns outward all day.
    But then there’s a happier, more successful person in the workplace who is living inside a different mindset. A different set of questions, such as, “How can I do a better job? How can I contribute? How can I make a difference here? What can I do to make this a better company?”
    That darned person! She just keeps getting further and further ahead of the negative person next to her! The judgmental person next to her continues to become more and more resentful of her success. And for the life of him Mr. Judgmental cannot see what is causing Ms. Happy’s success—which is living with a different set of questions.
    Success comes from the questions you ask yourself.
    When negative people try to figure out other people’s success, they ask all the wrong questions. They ask, “Were they the first ones to work that morning and the last ones to leave?” Or, “Did they make sure they didn’t make a single personal call that day?” Or, “Did they make sure they didn’t take any breaks or greet people, visit people, and catch up in the break room?” Or, “Did they avoid making mistakes?”
    They don’t realize that the success occurred because that person came to contribute. Not to compare. Not