Over the course of a career, a ballet dancer will have dedicated literally, tens of thousands of hours practising and performing leaps, jumps, lifts, scales, whirls, and pirouettes. Eventually, the body succumbs to the compounding and debilitating effect of injuries, pain and fatigue. The dancer is forced into retirement and moves on to establish a second career. In this career transition, many dancers will use their knowledge and experience to teach young aspiring ballet dancers, whereas some others might become choreographers.As a choreographer, the former ballet dancer must evolve from a performing mode to a directing and influencing mode – getting other dancers to execute the ballet in a particular manner. The choreographer dreams the ballet and sees every motion and movement as frozen frames. The choreographer needs to articulate this imagination with sufficient scope, detail and texture, in order that the entire ensemble shares a common understanding and interpretation, thereby delivering a harmonious presentation. The choreographer builds upon this process of illumination, by patiently and persistently coaching the ballet dancers to achieve the desired performance.Managers are somewhat like this image of a dancer-turned-choreographer. Their role is to lead their team to a desired level of performance. They do this by:* setting goals and planning activities,
* securing the necessary resources,
* defining expectations and establishing consequences,
* training and coaching to enhance skills and competencies,
* describing and modelling appropriate behaviours, and
* providing the requisite supporting environment.This can be a daunting task, especially for the new supervisor or manager. A better understanding of what might constrain a new manager will help to establish a foundation for enhancing their effectiveness.Let’s deconstruct the usual chain of events. Generally, we take an outstanding performer on a Friday and make them a new supervisor or manager on Monday. I’m always intrigued with what transpired over the weekend. Did they catch some “magic dust” and suddenly experience deep insight into what it means to be a manager? Most likely, they did a little celebrating about the promotion. That’s all.As a new manager, how are they supposed to know what to do? What their new role requires and how to manage employees, some of whom may be close friends, in what is now a reporting relationship? How is the manager supported in this transition by the organization? Far too often, not very well. We seem to have a proud tradition of stranding people in new roles without training or coaching them. So the manager essentially is abandoned – left on her/his own to sink or swim.Immersed in a new portfolio and consumed with a myriad of unfamiliar demands, the manager struggles to establish order and achieve results. The manager seeks performance from the team, but suffers from lack of expertise in directing staff and assigning tasks, resulting in ever-increasing frustration and stress. In some instances, the manager’s behaviour will become erratic, as feelings of inadequacy and loss of control are magnified.Against this backdrop, the manager may default to the familiarity and comfort of what they know well and become task focused. They take on the work that their staff should be performing and, in turn, the staff becomes marginalized and demoralized. Allowed to continue, the outcome is that we lose a good performer and gain a lousy manager.In the case of the choreographer, the body is so worn out that it prohibits a return to actually performing the ballet. The manager, similarly, needs to impose a metaphorical restriction on her/himself in terms of resorting back to fulfilling tasks that should be performed by the staff. To evolve from doer to delegator, the manager will require personal discipline and organizational reinforcement and support.The first step in this maturation is thoughtful consideration of their new role. Having been so task focused, the new manager often is inclined to see their responsibility simply as accomplishing many more tasks. Even though at first it may appear counter-intuitive, their true function is fundamentally different.The manager needs to achieve the desired outcomes by working through people. S/he needs to orchestrate the actions and performance of the staff. The paramount objective, therefore, becomes a focused approach to developing their people. Tasks get accomplished and goals are achieved by getting people to perform.Just as the choreographer needed to envision the ballet in order to coach the ensemble to achieve the desired performance, it is essential that the manager first scopes-out the objectives for the portfolio, the expected deliverables and a plan of action to guide the staff. The objectives, deliverables and action plan become the framework for ongoing discussions with staff. In this way, the manager establishes a series of goals and activities that are consistent and in alignment.For instance, it is unreasonable to hold an expectation for a standard of performance from someone who is not competent in undertaking the assignment. The manager, therefore, needs to assess and confirm the skills and competencies of the staff. Where there are gaps, training interventions are warranted. The manager also must provide consistent coaching to support employees in their development. Fulfilment of these pre-conditions must be verified, before the manager can delegate responsibilities to the staff.Most managers struggle with delegating tasks and assignments. Very clear and explicit communication is required to establish goals, expectations, standards, and operating procedures. This takes time and attention, particularly when the employee is new to the task. The manager needs to be deliberate and methodical in this process of delegation. (See also the article, “The Art of Delegating”.)As the manager makes the difficult transition from doer to delegator, new dimensions of experiences become available. The manager, no longer being task focused, develops a broadened and enriched perspective. In this process, they learn to appreciate much more the integrative nature of work. They derive satisfaction and fulfilment from helping their staff to develop greater competencies and to assume ever-greater responsibilities.With the development of competent staff, the workload can be shared more equitably; resulting in significantly enhanced overall performance. The manager will have more time available for reflection and planning, all the while coordinating the activities of the staff. And like the seasoned choreographer, the effective manager also will be able to delight in enjoying the performance of others in this grand ballet.

Manufacturing marketers shifted gears in a big way this year, turning their attention toward sales as a primary goal for content marketing, according to a recent article in Content Marketing Institute (via Joe Pulizzi, @JoePulizzi), featuring research from Fathom. The article explains some of the changes that B2B manufacturers are making in their marketing programs, and the results may be surprising to you! They were to us, which is why we’re detailing out 9 of what we think are the most important findings in this report and sharing them with you in an easy-to-read blog:

82% of B2B Manufacturers Use Content Marketing
The report details that only 18% of B2B manufacturing marketers do not use content marketing. Wow, that’s a low percentage, meaning that 82% do use content marketing, which is defined by the article as: “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”If 82% of B2B manufacturing marketers are using content marketing as part of their strategy, there must be a reason, right?

26% of B2B Manufacturers Say that “Content Marketing is Effective”
According to the report, last year, 30% of B2B manufacturing marketers said they were effective at content marketing. More importantly, 53% of those B2B manufacturing marketers that have a documented content marketing strategy say they are effective. So what’s the key here? Having a strategy and a plan, and executing against the plan.

37% of B2B Manufacturers Have a Dedicated Content Marketing Group
And not only 37% already have a dedicated group of marketers that focus on content marketing, but 19% plan to have one in the future. This number, according to the report, is growing rapidly. The most effective among them are much more likely to have a dedicated group (67% vs. 37%).

89% of B2B Manufacturers Say that Brand Awareness is the Ultimate Goal
The report shows that in comparison with other B2B peers overall, manufacturing marketers are much more focused on sales as a goal (85% vs. 75% overall). In addition, far more manufacturing marketers cited sales as a goal this year than they did last year (up to 85% this year vs. 56% last year).

65% of B2B Manufacturers Are Creating More Content
According to the report, the percentage of marketers creating “more” content is down 4% from last year, but still remains high. 21% of respondents are creating “significantly more” content and 44% are creating “more” content than years past. If 65% are creating more content than ever before, then something must be working for these marketers.

87% of B2B Manufacturers Use Video
The report shows that an overwhelming amount of content marketing for this industry is focus on video production. Other important tactics include eNewsletters (85%), Social Media Content (85%), Website Articles (84%) and Illustrations/Photos (82%). The use of videos increased from 80% last year to 87% this year moving up to the #1 tactic from it’s spot in 3rd last year.

89% of B2B Manufacturers Use LinkedIn
The article shows a breakdown of how these marketers use social media platforms. While 89% use LinkedIn, 83% use YouTube (which makes sense as, according to our last stat, 87% use video). “Even though more manufacturers are using YouTube this year (83% vs. 81% last year), LinkedIn has surpassed it as the most often used platform, over a 16% increase from last year.”

27% of B2B Manufacturers Post Daily or Multiple Times Per Week
For B2B Manufacturing Marketers, frequency is important (at least for 27% of the respondents)! But comparatively, these marketers are behind other peers in differing industries where 42% post daily or multiple times per day. Only 14% of B2B Manufacturing Marketers said that they post “less than once per month”.

47% of B2B Manufacturers Plan to Increase Spending
Something must be going write for these marketers! According to the article, 47% of these marketers plan to increase their spending on content marketing within the next 12 months. While peers plan to increase 55%, this is still a high number for the industry. Last year, 46% of manufacturing marketers said they planned to increase spending, so the trend continues.Manufacturers, while in the past more traditional in terms of marketing using tactics like print and direct mail, have upped their digital marketing and content marketing efforts in almost every way.