Welcome to Mandator Tools. I'm Mark Horsman, one of the co-founders here. Due to coronavirus, we thought it would be helpful for us to re-release some

casts that address problems that you may now be facing in your professional or managerial life.

We have topics like phone one-on-ones and distance management, for those of you who are being

asked or encouraged to

telecommute and much more.

What's more, we're releasing these casts daily

over the next several days.

We didn't want you to have to go back through our archive and find things that might be relevant. We've already done that search for you. We hope this helps and if you need help, reach out to us. Good luck in the days, weeks and months ahead. We're rooting for you.

Welcome to Manager Tools. Today's show, The Steel Cage Death Match meetings. Part 2. Here we go. Now most folks I think you know 90% of the folks they go into these Steelcage

death match meetings and what they rely on is relationships right that that's the

goodwill they built with their peer managers and their boss.

That's how they think they're going to win the day.

And in fact, that's not where to start, is it?

No, no. The classic failure that happens is the manager who turns their peer or their boss and says well but you know John you you know how good my guy Robert is right on the surface that's fine. I mean it really is. Yeah, but I got somebody just as good. Yeah, he's a good man and I got somebody is good or better.

That's a cackle. That's a cackle right there. The problem is those other managers have their own people to recommend.

And when I hear that, and I've sat in a few of these meetings, that kind of thinking reveals a manager who's thinking in a vacuum without

considering other people's perspectives. I mean look if Mike said to me if we

weren't good friends if we didn't trust each other Mike said to me well Mark you know Joe is really really good don't you I said oh yeah

definitely Joe's good but it's irrelevant I don't care I happen to think Bob who works for me is

better than Joe I don't mind mentioning to Mike that Joe's good because I'm

about to prove that Bob is better and so I can make Mike feel good that I said to

him yeah Joe's good totally dude and then at the end of the meeting, he goes,

...