By Roger Pang

I wrote a piece the other day discussing bad hires. Some people were offended by the personal examples I used from my six years as a manager. My apologies to them. In hindsight, it was not a good decision to publish it. I took the piece down. What I was trying to get across are the challenges a manager faces in hiring and managing people.

I remember sitting in a manager training class over five years ago and the instructor said, “Being a middle manager is doing crisis management everyday.”

There are those days (and we’ve all had them) when the pressure is building to finish a project or make a goal, and someone from your team throws a wrench into it. So, you have to figure out how to deal with it and move one. Additionally, you have to keep your team focused. You still have to keep an open door policy because they are employees, but first and foremost they are people; and they have feelings. Of course, you (the manager) are human, too, and you care about their livelihood. But, you have a business to run. And then, as always, there are those above you, asking for more (input, productivity, goals, etc.).

It is not an easy job. I am sure there are other jobs that are more difficult. Okay, so maybe brain surgeons have a tough job. But, is it really that tough?

It is important as a Manager to assemble a team that is going to work with you, not against you. This is so easy to say but, in reality, it is no small task.

Last night, I attended the Black Recruiter’s Network Association’s Total Access Conference. Ken Coleman, Chairman of Accelrys, Inc. and founder and former Chairman/CEO of ITM Software, said during an interview that when he hires people, “I want to hire people and get out of the way. I am there to help them break down the barriers. ” During my career, I’ve heard that line numerous times, numerous ways and it is absolutely true.

I had a debate one day with a former co-worker about the type of staff they wanted to assemble. They said they wanted all sharks for salespeople. I had a different view. I said I wanted a combination of sharks and people who could grow enterprise accounts. Why? Because if you have too many sharks, they start feeding off each other. It’s a challenge to make a farmer hungry.

I believe getting the chemistry correct in a team is a crucial element. A successful manager may not know everything, but they will know how to make a team work together to produce the desired results.

A paradigm would be an orchestra. All the instruments sound different but when you put them together they create a single, harmonious piece of music. Max Frankel, former executive editor of the New York Times and Pulitzer Prize winner, used to make this analogy when his news team covered a major news story.

So how do you work with, and lead, a successful team? You need everyone to be honest. Raised voices, differing opinions, and arguments are good. You don’t have to always agree, but you do need to always respect each other. Focusing on the goal and the milestones are required. You need to communicate clearly about what you expect of your team.

Yes, so easy to write; so challenging to execute.