Leave me alone! management styles and paying for success - Business English vocabulary lesson

In part 2 of our series on management styles we're looking at transactional management and laissez faire management. We talk about the details of each style, the situations that you might find it useful to use each style, and some vocabulary, phrases, and words that you can use to communicate in these styles. So if you're a manager who speaks English at work and is a non-native English speaker, or maybe you speak English as a second language and you just want to understand your manager better, hopefully this podcast episode will help you.

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Today's examples:

- If you think you've got a good idea, feel free to run with it, don't worry about getting me to sign off on it.

- I want you to use your initiative and follow your gut. I'm here if you need anything.

- I'm going to take a step back on this project and I'll only step in if something goes wrong.

- I want to make this worth your while so there are extra vacation days up for grabs for anyone who hits all of their KPIs.

- If the floor as a whole is able to achieve a 93% sale we all get an additional 1.3 million dollars a piece.

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Transcript

Welcome to the Breakout Business English podcast, where I help you to communicate better at work in English. Hi everyone, my name is Chris and I've personally worked with over 1,000 international professionals just like you to improve the way that they communicate at work in English. Thank you so much for listening today and thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. And. Today is part two. Of our deep dive. Into management Styles. Last week, we took a look at two very common ways to think about and approach managing a team. These were... Democratic management and Autocratic Management. Today we're going to talk about some Maybe more interesting... And definitely less often discussed management styles. These are... Laissez-faire management? And... Transactional. Management. And if you can hear a dog snoring in the background, well, that's because there's a dog snoring somewhere. In the background, it is two o'clock in the morning here. This is me working through the night to try and get this podcast out at nine o'clock on Wednesday morning. I don't always work through the night to get this done. Usually I'm a little more organized, but it's been a slightly crazy week.So while I'm not sleeping, well, my dog definitely is. And you may be able to hear him. While I'm recording. Okay, so let's start with laissez-faire or laissez-faire. I don't think it's fair of me to start the podcast with such a big, heavy French phrase like this and not explain it. This is a piece of vocabulary. That you might be familiar with if you've studied economics. Or indeed if you work in the field of economics. This is a French phrase. Which basically means to allow someone to do something without monitoring or supervising them. To allow them to do whatever they want.So this is spelled 'lese' L-A-I-N. S-S-E-Z. Bear. F-A-I-L. All right. E. If you want to, search for it yourself. When we use it to talk about economics, then we're referring to governments choosing not to regulate or supervise companies and the way that they do business. When we apply this to management, we mean that you leave your staff to make their own decisions. You don't tell them exactly how to do their jobs and you trust them. To choose the best methods and strategies to achieve their goals, targets, and KPIs. There are actually two leadership quotes that come to mind when I think about this style of management. First, we have the often referenced, and very quotable late CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs once said, "It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do." We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. One more time, it doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do. We have the American military leader, General Patton, from many years ago, I think mainly from the First World War he's known. And he said, don't tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. And once again, don't tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. The word ingenuity. Refers to skill for inventing things. Or maybe finding new ways to achieve things. For instance, if your car breaks down and you find a way to fix it using only a plastic bag, your umbrella and a packet of chewing gum, then a mechanic might admire your ingenuity. Maybe you've heard a very smart person referred to as a genius. A genius. That's another noun form, so ingenuity is a noun, genius is a noun. Or maybe you've heard of a solution to a problem being referred to as ingenious. Ingenious. That's the adjective. What an ingenious idea. Just a quick note. A moment ago, I referred to Steve Jobs as the late CEO of Apple. The late CEO of Apple. Instead of former or ex. When we refer to someone as late in this way, it means that they have died.So. If I tell you that I'm very grateful to my late brother for his help. This means that he's not alive anymore. In this context, it has nothing to do with punctuality or timekeeping.So, in the spirit of Steve Jobs and General Patton, let's listen now. To some examples of managers leading in a laissez-faire style. If you think you've got a good idea, feel free to run with it. Don't worry about getting me to sign off on it. If you think you've got a good idea, Feel free to run with it. Don't worry about getting me to sign off on it. I want you to use your initiative and follow your gut. I'm here if you need anything. I want you to use your initiative. And follow your gut. I'm here if you need anything. I'm going to take a step back on this project, and I'll only step in if something goes wrong. I'm going to take a step back on this project and I'll only step in if something goes wrong. Now, here's a question for regular listeners of the podcast. Have you noticed how many times we end up talking about sports when we're discussing where words and phrases come from? There are a couple of themes that come back again and again when researching etymology, that's the study of where words come from. Maritime industries and shipping is definitely a common area. However, for this one, we're back to spots. In the first example, we heard: Feel free to run with it. Feel free to run with it. This one comes from American Football. If you know anything about American football, you likely know that the aim of the game is to get the ball and run toward the end zone. And if you're lucky, you'll score a touchdown. I'll admit that all of my knowledge of American football comes from movies and TV shows, but I'm pretty sure I know what the objective is.So. Around the mid 20th century, this phrase started to take on a more figurative and metaphorical meaning. If I run with something, I take an idea, suggestion, opportunity, or maybe a task, and I develop it further. With energy, initiative or maybe creativity. It suggests that I'm not just accepting what's been given to me. But I'm actively moving it forward. In a very similar way to carrying a ball down the field in a football game. For instance: I might say that a colleague had an idea and ran with it, eventually developing it into something much more. Bigger. In the third example, I used two phrasal verbs. These were to step back. And to step in. We heard... I'm going to take a step back on this project, and I'll only step in if something goes wrong. One more time, I'm going to take a step back on this project, and I'll only step in if something goes wrong. Let's start with the first one. I think this is maybe a little more familiar to the people I work with and coach. It's maybe a little more clear without further explanation. However, If I step back, then. I move further away from something. It's more difficult for me to control. Even if I want to. For instance: A manager might say that my stepping back from the project has allowed a couple of team members to really develop their leadership abilities. My stepping back from the project has allowed a couple of team members to really develop their leadership abilities. Another way to say this might be to be more hands-off. For instance. You've heard of hands-on, meaning to get engaged, to really get involved with a project.Well, To be hands-off is to step back. Step in is maybe a little less clear. If I step in, then I intervene. And get involved with something. If I see a fight starting when I'm out in public and walking down the street, then I have two choices. I can ignore it. And tell myself that it's none of my business. Or I can intervene. I can intervene, I can get involved, and I can step in and try to prevent what is happening from continuing. We see this word used to talk about the way that regulators deal with the companies that they are charged with supervising and monitoring. In most cases, the regulatory body responsible for your industry will leave you alone. For instance, the FTC or FDA in the United States, that's the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Hold on. Food and drug administration? Not quite. Food and drug administration? Or in Europe, we have the EBA, the European Banking Authority, which regulates banks and makes sure that they are stable.So, If you break the rules, or do something that you shouldn't, then regulators like this will often issue fines or other punishments. So. If your manager steps back and gives you the freedom and independence to make more of your own decisions, then you should hope that they don't have to step in later and fix the work that you've done. And if you want me to step in and help you to improve the way that you communicate in English at work, then I would love to meet you. My full-time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills.So. If you need English to do your job, But you don't speak it natively. Then. I'd really like to meet you. If you'd like to book some time to meet with me through one-to-one video calls, just you and me, then you can go to breakoutbusinessenglish.com. That's the title of the podcast, BreakoutBusinessEnglish.com, and find out more. Starting on our first call, we can focus on the specific opportunities that you personally have to improve your English and communication skills. And the mistakes that you make most often or cause the biggest problems with your communication. And right now, you can use the code PODCAST30. That's it. EOD. C-A-S-T-3-0. Check out: to get a 30% discount of your first booking of 30, 45 or 60 minutes.Sometimes my calendar gets a little busy, so if you have trouble finding a time that works for you can always send me a message through the contact page on the website and ask if I have any time to fit you in. I've worked with over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them to achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you. Let's now turn our attention to transactional management. Transactional Management. Let's take that adjective 'transactional' and turn it into a noun by removing the 'al' from the end.So. What is a From Zach. If I say that my colleague and I completed a transaction, or maybe that my colleague and I transacted Then, what am I talking about? A transaction is usually when one person buys something and the other person sells it to them. In other words, when two things are, exchanged. Usually money and a product.So let's add the AL back on at the end and ask, what do we mean by change? Transactional. If I describe someone's management style as transactional. What do I mean? Transactional management. Means that performance is rewarded. "If you succeed, or do what I want you to. Then I will give you something in return.Something beyond your regular salary or wages. By extension. This can mean that failure is punished. This kind of management style can be particularly useful for short-term projects with very specific goals and targets. I think that anyone who has worked in sales has experienced transactional management at some point in their career. Especially towards the end of a month or a quarter for instance. This type of management can be helpful in a crisis where the goal is specific and clearly defined and everyone has clear roles. It is, however, terrible for creativity and generally not great for long-term success either which in many ways makes it feel like the opposite of our first style today our laissez-faire management style I should say. Going back to that first one, laissez-faire and laissez-faire are both great pronunciations of this phrase. Laissez faire and laissez faire. Okay. To transactional management. Let's listen now. To a couple of examples of managers leading in a more transactional way. I want to make this worth your while.So. There are extra vacation days up for grabs to anyone who hits all of their KPIs. I want to make this worth your while, so there are extra vacation days up for grabs to anyone who hits all of their KPIs. If the floor as a whole is able to achieve a 93% sale, we all get an additional $1.3 million apiece. If the flaw as a whole is able to achieve a 93% sale we all get an additional $1.3 million apiece. Did you recognize that second example? That was from the fantastic movie Margin Call. Margin Call. Which told the story of the beginning. Of the 2007, 2008 Global financial crisis. That was a quote from Kevin Spacey's character. Offering an incentive. A bonus in what was definitely a crisis where the targets were very specific and short term. And the roles were clearly defined. In fact, a little later in that quote, he mentions that by lunchtime, the SEC will be in here, will be in the office. He was saying that the regulatory body, the SEC, would step in. In. They would step in. And try to control what they were doing. In the quote: He used the phrase, a piece. In the second example, We heard we get an additional 1.3 million dollars apiece. We all get an additional 1.3 million dollars apiece. If someone says that you get something A piece. They mean each. Or for each person. For instance: I could tell you that I've ordered two pizzas.So we should have three slices apiece. I've ordered two pizzas, so we should have three slices apiece. This means that we each get three slices of pizza. Admittedly Not quite as motivating as $1.3 million, but I think that's a little over the budget of this podcast.Plus, I haven't told you what's on the pizza yet. You'll be glad to know that the main topping is pineapple. In fact, there should be around 20 pineapple chunks apiece on these pizzas. Which indeed could mean that we all get 20 pineapple chunks or that each individual pizza has 20 pineapple chunks on it. And I'm sure that everyone can agree with me that pineapple... Is one of the best pizza Poppings. And if you disagree with me, then I welcome you to leave a review. Every review for this podcast really helps me out and helps to push the podcast to new listeners and to grow the show. If you found this podcast useful and you think that there are some valuable things in here, or maybe you just disagree with my choice of pizza topping and you want to let me know, then... Feel free to write a couple of words in your review and I thank you in advance. That's a great place to request a topic for a future podcast. Don't forget that if you would like to discuss any of the ideas, vocabulary or grammar, etc. In today's episode, then you can book a session with me to work on your English communication skills by going to www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com That's the title of the podcast. BreakoutBusinessEnglish.com Or you can click the link down in the show notes. And use the code PODCAST30. Check out to get a 30% discount off your first booking. As I mentioned, I've worked with well over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them to achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you. Between episodes of the podcast, you can get videos every couple of days on Instagram and TikTok and especially YouTube, especially if you're interested in some longer form videos that. Just search for breakout business English. If there's a topic you'd like to hear me talk about on the podcast, then I'd be excited to hear your ideas. Leave me a message or a comment on one of my YouTube videos and I look forward to hearing from you. If you want a free example of the kind of work that we can do together, then I'm looking for podcast listeners who want to be featured on the Breakout Business English YouTube channel. English will be analysed there. Alongside people like martial arts. Hollywood star Bruce Lee... And political leaders like Wlodomir Zelensky and Georgia Maloney.So. If you're interested in having your English analyzed on YouTube, then you can go to breakoutbusinessenglish.com. Forward Slack contact That's breakoutbusinessenglish.com forward slash contact. And let me know that you are interested. That is it for today. Thank you so much as always for listening and for your time. And I'll talk to you again next time on the Breakout Business English Podcast.