The Hands-Off Manager

THE HANDS - OFF MANAGER

THE HANDS - OFF MANAGER

How to Mentor People
and Allow Them
to Be Successful

STEVEN CHANDLER
best-selling author of
100 Ways to Motivate Others
and DUANE BLACK

Copyright © 2012 by Steve Chandler and Duane Black All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

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Cover design by Wes Youssi
Printed in the U.S.A.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Chandler, Steve, 1944-The hands-off manager : how to mentor people and allow them to be successful / by Steve Chandler and Duane Black.

p. cm.

Reprint. Originally published in hardback in 2007.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-60163223-4 -- ISBN 978-1-60163-592-1 (ebook) 1. Mentoring in business. 2. Employees--Coaching of. 3. Goal setting in personnel management. 4. Employee motivation. 5. Autonomy (Psychology) I. Black, Duane, 1952-II. Title.

HF5385.C465 2012

658.3’124--dc23

2011045931

DEDICATION

To George Addair

So much of what we call management consists of
making it difficult for people to work.

—Peter Drucker

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From Steve Chandler

I acknowledge Byron Katie for putting me through school and opening up the kindness of the universe that Einstein was puzzling over. Katie’s nine-day school was the most transformative experience of my adult life, and I recommend that anyone wondering how to live in peace and harmony check it out at
www.thework.com
.

I acknowledge Duane Black for providing in himself the ultimate role model for successful hands-off management and the full philosophy contained in this book. I also acknowledge him for applying this system so successfully at SunCor and getting the results year after year that verify every concept in this book.

I also acknowledge my wife and hands-on manager, Kathy, for professional and personal rescuing beyond one’s wildest expectations. I want to thank Fred Knipe, Steve Hardison, Terry Hill, Lindsay Brady, Michael Bassoff, Ken Wilber, Leonard Cohen, George Martin, Jessica Chandler, Stephanie Chandler, Mar Chandler, and Bobby Chandler, too.

From Duane Black

I have been fortunate to have many people in my life who have made a contribution, but George Addair has likely been the biggest influence on me of anyone I have ever known.

I would also like to acknowledge my friend and coworker Jim Adair, who has been an incredible friend and sounding board for ideas for nearly 30 years. We have worked together for so long that we have become like brothers. Another great friend and discussion partner of many years has been Bill Woodward. Then there are my favorite authors—Jim Carey, Neale Donald Walsch, David Hawkins, and Steve Chandler.

I must also acknowledge my wife and family. They are the ones who love you unconditionally and know you best. They can most easily push the buttons that help show you what judgments remain inside that you still have the opportunity to forgive, release, and let go of.

Duane Black acknowledges that the philosophies, opinions, and management techniques described in this book are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of SunCor Development Company, its subsidiary or parent corporations, or its leadership team.

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 /
Taking Your Power Back

Chapter 2 /
Redefining Success for Yourself

Chapter 3 /
Using the Power of Neutral

Chapter 4 /
Using Focus and Intention

Chapter 5 /
Questions Leading to Success

Chapter 6 /
Inspired Ideas Lead to Success

Chapter 7 /
Practice Finding an Inner Vision

Chapter 8 /
Reversing Your Process

Chapter 9 /
Tuning Your Instrument

Chapter 10 /
Becoming Available

Chapter 11 /
Letting Go of Judgment

Chapter 12 /
Creating Results

Chapter 13 /
Waking Up to the Whole System

Chapter 14 /
Deepening Your Desires

Chapter 15 /
Living in Three Worlds

Chapter 16 /
The Hands-Off Manager as Coach

Epilogue

Recommended Reading

Index

About the Authors

PREFACE

The secret of happiness lies in the ancient saying: “Become what you are.”

—Alan Watts

In my many years as a corporate trainer and personal success coach I have never met a leader as quietly powerful and effective as Duane Black.

The company he works for, SunCor Development, was always extremely successful in creating beautiful, aesthetically stunning housing communities throughout the southwestern United States, and the more I got to know Duane, the more I saw why.

Duane had a way of managing people that was both gentle and impactful. He had a way of inspiring and nurturing success in a totally hands-off, nonjudgmental way. It was amazing to see. Even though he almost never micromanaged anyone, success flourished all around him.

Whenever he would invite me to come in and conduct a workshop for his key leaders, or go to a remote development to work with a sales and administrative team, I would be the one who came away having learned something. I always learned more than I taught.

Duane’s practice of enlightened, hands-off management was so fascinating that I would jump at the chance to spend extra time with him. Once he flew me in his Beechcraft Bonanza, a single-engine airplane, to one of his developments in southern Utah. We were talking all the way about his theories of “allowing success” and seeing the greatness in his people.

And the best thing about Duane’s theories is that they aren’t just theories. They are practices. And they work. Over and over. They work in Utah, they work in Arizona, they work in New Mexico, and they will work anywhere for you.

How do I know they will work for you? Because over the years I have integrated many of them into my own work and teaching. I have taught other leaders and managers Duane’s way, and other leaders have benefited and experienced increased productivity when they used these practices and ideas.

They work.

Some of his practices found their way into some of my recent books; some were only hinted at. But now they are all here for you, laid out in ways you can use right away for management and leadership. And the beauty of Duane’s practices is that they can be applied to any form of leadership, at home or on the job, in the community or in the workplace.

I spent the better part of a year visiting with Duane at his home on early Sunday mornings, tape-recording his thoughts, discussing his concepts, and listening to his experiences. He and I worked from an outline he had meticulously prepared about his leadership principles and why they function as they do. This book is really his book, and I am very grateful to be along for the ride.

Duane is the one who is there on the job every day as chief operating officer of SunCor, overseeing and managing large numbers of people and projects. SunCor has grown and thrived over the years, and these methods have led the way.

—Steve Chandler

Duane Black lets his people know the deepest truth he knows: All you need to be successful is already in you.

—Steve Chandler

Steve Chandler is generous in his praise and passing along the credit to me for the success of the community development and homebuilding division at SunCor. But he has actually played a greater role in our success than he is taking credit for.

I attended seminars he taught many years ago that helped me form much of my hands-off philosophy and style. His ability to take my concepts and put them into words that bring them to life in numerous seminars and speaking engagements at our company has contributed greatly to our success.

The information in this book, should you choose to apply it, will help you create an organization that functions and performs in a way you never thought possible. Imagine a workplace environment that functions as well or better when you are not there.
You may think this is impossible. You may think that unless you are there to monitor and oversee every aspect of the work being done, it will not be done properly.

But what kind of life does this management style offer you?

If you are the kind of a leader who gets satisfaction from being so needed that your group can’t function without you, this book is probably not for you. But if you truly want to create a great independent team, read on. If you want a management system that empowers your people and allows them to grow and prosper, this book will serve you well.

Most managers today are so trapped in daily stressful details that they have no life.

This book was written to give you (and your people) a new life of freedom and real success.

You will find ideas, methods, practices, ways of thinking, and ways of
being
that will allow you to create a team that functions as well without you as it does when you are there.

You can get your life back.

And you can spend your time staying current on market trends. You can fine-tune the way you do business; you can create innovative new services and continuously improve the process in your systems. But mostly, you can become the inspiration behind your team’s success.

Ask yourself a simple question: Would you rather inspire your people or control them? Put another way: Would you rather facilitate and guide their success or would you prefer to force the results? You may think force will get you there more quickly, and it may, but it will never withstand the test of time, and your success will likely be short lived.

If you will learn to trust as I have that people already have greatness within them, and that you can help them unlock their potential, they will perform at a level they never imagined.

This has been my experience.

And so now in this book I share that experience with you so that you can learn to see that potential, learn to communicate what you see, and learn to help your people realize and experience the best of who they can be.

—Duane Black

INTRODUCTION

There are three simple words that come to mind when I think of how best to introduce this book, three words that describe the basis of a happy life as well as a successful career: acceptance, love, and freedom. The application of these words also best describes the basis of the hands-off management philosophy of this book.

When one comes from a place of acceptance, one is able to deal with the reality of what is and let go of the misconception of what should be. When one manages others, one simply must deal with who they really are and not who they think they should be. If someone loves analysis and is analytical by nature, why not put them into a role that is aligned with their true gifts? Why try to make them into what they are not? The best managers have quit judging people for what they are not
and are focused on how best to utilize the talents they have to serve the organization. They have learned to read people and see where they would best fit in. Employees who do what they are good at don’t need a lot of supervision; those who are doing what they are not good at can’t get enough supervision.