Confidence, Consistency, Communication

Recently, The Women’s Collaborative had an event called Leading & Managing in a Changing Workplace at their headquarters in Melville. Bernadine (Bernie) Han, Vice President of News & Local Programming at Time Warner Cable Inc., was the keynote speaker.   

Bernie discussed the changing environment in journalism and at Time Warner; and that she felt she had become a good manager by concentrating on the Three Cs: 

1. Be Confident. As a manager, when you are confident, your direct reports will respect your decisions. When you go to meetings, never go in cold. Be prepared; do your research. Find out about the background of the people you are meeting with, or learn more about the topics under discussion. You can find anything on Google these days! 
2. Stay Consistent. When you are consistent with your expectations with projects, your direct reports will know what to expect, and there will be no questions about your expectations. When managers are inconsistent, this causes anxiety within the staff. When anxiety kicks in, the projects can turn to chaos, and nothing gets done. Anxiety in your direct reports leads to inefficiency and ineffectiveness. 
3. Communicate. Communicate with your direct reports. Walk out into the staff room, and chat with them. This will let them know that you are open to their thoughts, ideas, and questions. They will likely feel free to speak to you about that firm-wide email that just got sent, or tell you about their ongoing projects. This allows for open communication between you and them; creating less anxiety and more productivity. 

As a Manager in the Consulting Group at EisnerAmper, what really hit home for me was the part about staying consistent. I use her three Cs on a daily basis but I’ve also had to work with employees that were a bit anxious when it came to deadlines. I maintained my consistency throughout the project which allowed them to stay on track and be disciplined. When I was sensing the anxiety, I referred them to the key objectives that needed to be met, as stated earlier in the project, which helps them get back on track.