There Is No Magic Management Formula

Margaret Morford

According to Margaret Morford in a special Two Part Leadership Channel podcast on Total Picture Radio, "Today’s workplace is in serious crisis. Thanks to management strategies that dangerously lag behind the times, workplaces are demoralized, under-performing, and failing to attract and retain the outstanding employees necessary for success."

Margaret N. Morford is President for The HR Edge, Inc., an international management consulting and training company. Her presentation at the SHRM Annual Conference titled: Management Courage — Having the Heart of a Lion Workplace Application: is the title of Margaret Morford’s session at SHRM where she presented concepts that exceptional managers must possess: “Management Courage.” Many of the principles Margaret discussed in New Orleans are from her book Management Courage: Having the Heart of a Lion published in 2006.

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Margaret Morford's podcast from SHRM is sponsored by Careers at Deloitte. Who's behind some of the world's biggest companies? Maybe you.

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Six principles of management courage :
1. Be painfully honest.
2. Never treat identically.
3. Don't use individuals or policies as crutches.
4. Ask for and give real feedback.
5. Take the blame
6. Leave soul-sucking situations.

Courageous mangers ask the following questions in a manner that clearly communicates they are looking to learn, not to locate a scapegoat:
What seems to be wrong with the project or situation?
Should we continue this course of action?
How can we anticipate these problems in the future?
What should we do differently in the future to make sure this does not happen again?

Questions We Asked:

From your presentation "treat people equitably, not identically - I think managers really struggle with this - can you expand on this concept?
A lot of executives are in hiding or making excuses. Neither one of these approaches works very well.
Let’s say I’m trying to get people to buy-in to your Management Courage ideas, and as a result, I’m starting to get some very negative feedback on my performance. The natural tendency is to become defensive, isn’t it?
What did you hear at the SHRM conference that -- inspired you?
depressed you?
challenged you?
One thing I’ve heard from many executives... people are nailed to their chairs. They’re terrified to go anywhere. What are some strategies for dealing with the constant stress at work?
You use the term “soul-sucking” situations. Advising people to leave jobs when the culture isn’t right. In this economy, How?
For those currently in transition, do you have any advice when interviewing?

Margaret N. Morford is President for The HR Edge, Inc., an international management consulting and training company. Her clients have included Lockheed Martin, Chevron, Time Warner, Sara Lee Foods, Home and Garden Television, Nationwide Insurance, NAPA Auto Parts, New York Presbyterian Hospital (Cornell & Columbia Medical Centers), U.S. Marine Corps, Deloitte, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Vanderbilt University, and many more.

Previous to owning her own company, Margaret was Sr. Vice President, Human Resources Consulting for a national consulting firm out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She has a BS degree from the University of Alabama and a JD degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. She has worked as an attorney, specializing in employment law as well as been Vice President of Human Resources for three large companies. She is often quoted as a business expert in newspapers and magazines across the country including Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today and Entrepreneur and appears regularly on local ABC, CBS and Fox television affiliates. She is the author of the videos Running with the Big Dogs - How to Make HR a Strategic Player and The Confident Supervisor as well as the business book, Management Courage - Having the Heart of a Lion."