59 seconds Employee and Practice

Author: Dai Huan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: A new and sharp management approach
In recent years, Dr. Blanchard, an American management doctorate, and Dr. Johnson, a medical doctor, launched the book One-Minute Manager, which stunned the American business world, became a bestseller in the international market, and "one-minute management" became a popular new trend in management. Soon after, Dr. Blanchard collaborated with Dr. Loeb, a doctorate in organizational behavior, to release another bestseller, One-Minute Manager Solutions, further propelling this trend. Although it is a new management trend, it is undeniable that one-minute management still emphasizes the traditional concept of "top-down" and "manager to employee." The responsibility of employees seems to be nothing more than accepting management. The 59-Second Employee, on the other hand, proposes a completely opposite concept—"upward management." This perspective not only reveals the fact that "every manager needs to be managed" but also attempts to provide a feasible path for outstanding employees on how to "upward manage."
Why must employees upward manage? The reason is simple—managers are also human, and all human-related issues can happen to them. In other words, a manager's opinions are not always right. Under this premise, the author believes that for the sake of their own career prospects, to foster teamwork among colleagues, and for the overall benefit of the company, employees should feel obligated to take responsibility for upward management rather than passively submitting to their managers.
But how can employees at the grassroots level of a company's organization upward manage? As the title of The 59-Second Employee implies: "One second faster than your one-minute manager." For example, while a one-minute manager emphasizes one-minute goal setting, a 59-second employee should take one second ahead by setting their own goals first, then pay attention to the goals set by the manager, and strive to make the manager also listen to their opinions, and then move forward toward the goals agreed upon by both parties.
When a manager gives one-minute praise, the smart 59-second employee will seize the opportunity to timely request a raise, a promotion, or attendance at a training session, turning one-minute praise into a meaningful reward. Upward management includes managing your boss and managing the company. Managing your boss is certainly not as direct as a boss managing subordinates, because the boss directly controls employees' salaries, promotions, transfers, or even dismissals. However, employees are not completely powerless. The strategy of a 59-second employee is to first understand their boss: understand his goals, personality, management style, etc., and use various opportunities and occasions to gather relevant information, then develop a way to manage the boss step by step based on their own goals and needs.
Managing the company first requires understanding the company, and then influencing it. Here, the author of this book provides three approaches: 1) Join a group and influence the company's direction together with the group; 2) If you are a replaceable small role in the company, you must find a way to break out of this position and become an indispensable role; 3) Risk being fired to directly express your true thoughts.
The author of The 59-Second Employee breaks the traditional concept of "downward management" and uses vivid and striking examples to illustrate how employees can break free from passive roles and play a more active and proactive role in the company organization.