Stephen Johnson > Stephen's Quotes

“If I could teach aspiring managers only one concept, without question I would pick accumulating personal credibility. Credibility is something we earn. How? It’s amassed by successfully accomplishing tasks we’re assigned or which we volunteer to perform.”
― Ronald Harris, Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards

“Learn the value of introducing proposals over time using masterful technique.... Deliver the message when the listener isn’t rushed or in an emotionally charged state.... Don’t unnerve your boss by dropping a crisis in their lap last-minute when you’ve had some warning yourself.”
― Ronald Harris, Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards

“...don’t confuse managing your interactions with your superior (i.e., planting seeds) with manipulating them.... if you gain approval to proceed with an initiative and things don’t go as planned, deliver bad news in person. This permits you to respond to questions, assess how the message is perceived, provide clarification, obtain any direction, and most importantly to provide your well-conceived plan to correct the situation”
― Ronald Harris, Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards

“If we want to be irreplaceable, we have to do our very best to make sure our contribution exceeds our pay by as much as possible. Seeking to understand what explicit impact our boss values about us can be part of the equation.... we should carry out the intent of our position which encompasses performing the job we’ve been hired to do and not just the portion of it we enjoy doing”
― Ronald Harris, Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards

“You don’t want to be in a situation where you can’t justify your compensation.”
― Ronald Harris, Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards

“When your manager is conducting a meeting or conference call and presents an idea or goal, they’re looking for commitment to tackle the task. If you start listing all of the reasons why it won’t work or argue unimportant details, your boss will see your effort as adversarial. You become a roadblock preventing everyone in the group from moving forward.... If you have a small concern or issue you want heard, save it for a personal moment later.”
― Ronald Harris, Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards

“When faced with difficult decisions, painstakingly analyze the situation. Do your homework and be careful not to understate or overstate the impact of pertinent conditions. This includes researching possible consequences and deciding if the department, division, and company can live with them.”
― Ronald Harris, Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards

“Don’t let life take you somewhere you’re not prepared or don’t want to go, purely because you neglected to research and plan.”
― Ronald Harris, Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards

“If upper management wants an issue to go away, they’ll allow us the opportunity to fix it. If we have a reputation for rectifying difficulties, they’ll want us to continue these efforts.”
― Ronald Harris, Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards

“If we don’t have all of the facts at hand, we still need to let the interested parties know that we’re on top of the research but that it will take time. When that information is gathered, inform them in an expedient manner. If employing the solution falls within our authority, implement it as soon as possible. If approval is required, document a request swiftly so any lag time won’t be attributed to our inattention.”
― Ronald Harris, Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards