For 28 years I’ve been reading business books, print publications and business information I find on the Internet. Over the years I have seen many management theories that have obviously been written by university professors or solo consultants who have never managed a single day in their lives. It’s like getting relationship advice from someone who’s not in one.
I don’t profess to be a management expert. Managing others is probably the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. Believe it or not, managing attorney-clients and annual NACLNC® Conferences with 1,000+ people and celebrity speakers are a piece of cake compared to managing my staff of 22.
I never expected to find myself involved in management. In fact, when I worked in the hospital as an RN, management was not one of my ambitions. What I’ve learned from my experiences is that managing a business is like being in a giant laboratory. Sometimes your experiments work, sometimes they catch fire and sometimes they blow up in your face. Anyone in management will tell you that we are all constantly discovering, learning, screwing up and responding. There’s no nursing care plan that applies to management. You get the picture. Ask any manager what they think of the comic strip Dilbert® and they’ll tell you that yes, it’s funny and that their boss’s version of “Bossbert” is even funnier.
While I don’t know everything there is to know about management theory, here’s what I do know. I’ve got 5 executive managers and every one of them is different. Their differences make for a stronger company, but also demand that I be different in the way that I manage. I am called all day, every day to flex my agility muscles and interface differently with each one. Some of my executive managers perform at their best when I am totally hands-off. Some perform best when I am very hands-on and at least one performs best when I’m somewhere in the middle (one hand on, one hand off).
If I tried to manage each one the same way, the outcome would be disastrous. This is why I struggle with many of the management theories that are tossed out there and treated like gospel truths. The reality is, you have to manage on the fly and sometimes that involves mashing up any number of different theories to obtain a coherent response.
As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, you may not automatically think of yourself as a manager, but you are. You manage your CLNC® subcontractors. Flex your agility muscles and seek out CLNC® subcontractors who can bring different legal nurse consulting talents to your CLNC® business. One of my favorite CLNC® subcontractors cannot write to save her soul, but her clinical insights more than make for up her poor writing skills. She can see and grasp the most difficult issues with ease. I use her differently than I do a CLNC® subcontractor who is an awesome writer. Both are important assets to my legal nurse consulting business.
Focus and capitalize on the strengths of each of your CLNC® subcontractors and you will have a stronger, more diverse and more successful CLNC® business.
Success Is Inside!
P.S. Comment and share how your management style makes a positive influence for your CLNC® business.
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