Speaker A
[Music]
An investigative reporter explores Jack McGregor's unique management style where employees make decisions and he listens.
Key Takeaways
- Effective management can involve empowering employees to make decisions independently.
- Leaders can foster collaboration by stepping back and listening rather than directing.
- Regular structured meetings can facilitate problem-solving and accountability.
- Assigning leadership roles within teams encourages peer support and knowledge sharing.
- Success can come from working smarter by enabling others rather than micromanaging.
What the video covers
- An investigative reporter interviews top managers for a business magazine story.
- Jack McGregor, a plant manager, stands out by answering his own phone and being accessible.
- Unlike other managers, McGregor does not practice participative decision making.
- He holds weekly meetings where subordinates report on problems and decisions they've made.
- McGregor does not make decisions himself; his team members do.
- He appoints a 'Thursday man' to lead discussions during meetings.
- The 'Thursday man' is usually an experienced employee who helps others solve problems.
- Employees help and compete with each other to find solutions without McGregor's direct input.
- McGregor listens and gives credit but refrains from influencing operational decisions.
- This approach fosters teamwork and autonomy among the production team.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and reporter's mission
- 01:18Contacting Jack McGregor
- 02:27McGregor's accessibility and interview setup
- 03:41Initial impressions and meeting schedule
- 04:18Discussion of decision making style
- 05:46McGregor's unique management approach
- 08:26Interview with Jim Mitchell, the Thursday man
- 11:01Team dynamics and McGregor's role
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
All for. I'm an investigative reporter for a business magazine. I was doing a story on the most successful managers in the country. No surprises really, until I called the last name on my list.
Speaker A
Hello, uh, Jack McGregor's office, please.
Speaker A
This is McGregor.
Speaker A
Oh, um, uh, this is Tom.
Speaker A
This McGregor answered his own phone. That should have told me something. I gave him my pitch and tried to wangle an interview.
Speaker A
Can I set up an interview?
Speaker A
Not necessary. Come over anytime except on Thursdays between 10 and 12.
Speaker A
Okay, that's great. I was curious. I must have interviewed 50 managers for the story. They were all hard to get hold of and all frantically busy.
Speaker A
All that is except McGregor. You must be Tom Copeland.
Speaker A
All right. All the managers I'd talked to prided themselves on the extent to which they invited their subordinates to participate in organizational decision making.
Speaker A
I expected pretty much the same for McGregor. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Speaker A
Do you, um, have regular meetings with your subordinates?
Speaker A
Yes, I do.
Speaker A
How often?
Speaker A
Once a week, on Thursdays between 10 and 12.
Speaker A
That's why I couldn't meet you then. What sorts of things do you discuss?
Speaker A
What my subordinates tell me about the problems they've had and the decisions they've made past week.
Speaker A
So you believe in participative decision making?
Speaker A
No, as a matter of fact, I don't.
Speaker A
You mean, uh, you don't share decision-making with your subordinates?
Speaker A
No, I don't.
Speaker A
You mean you tell them everything to do?
Speaker A
No, quite the opposite. They tell me what they've done.
Speaker A
What do you mean?
Speaker A
Well, you see, I don't make the decisions. They do. I just listen.
Speaker A
Excuse me, but I, um, find that a little difficult to believe.
Speaker A
Well, why don't you ask them?
Speaker A
You would mind?
Speaker A
No, not at all.
Speaker A
Quite frankly, I didn't know what to think. If McGregor wasn't running the show, who was? Gremlins?
Speaker A
I took McGregor's offer and went to see one of his production people, Jim Mitchell. I asked him what he thought of McGregor.
Speaker A
He's been working for him two years now, right?
Speaker A
Now I'm the Thursday man.
Speaker A
The what?
Speaker A
The Thursday man, discussion leader at the Thursday meetings.
Speaker A
Let me get this straight. McGregor is a plant manager?
Speaker A
Oh, yeah.
Speaker A
And when he meets with his production people, somebody else leads a discussion?
Speaker A
Right. He doesn't want to influence our solutions and decisions. He just wants to hear about them, so he appoints one of us to act as a discussion leader, a Thursday man.
Speaker A
Right now it's me.
Speaker A
Why you?
Speaker A
Well, I notice that when one of the others got stuck in a problem they were trying to work out, they tend to come to me to get help. I've been around longer than the others, and I guess I know the ropes a little bit better.
Speaker A
Without Mac to lean on, we help each other a lot. In fact, we kind of compete at helping each other because we know Mac will give us credit for it at the Thursday meeting.
Speaker A
He really doesn't make any operating decisions himself?
Topics:managementleadershipemployee empowermentdecision makingteamworkbusiness managementorganizational behaviorwork smarterautonomy1980s management
