3 Striking Similarities Between Santa and Great Managers

December 24, 2011

There is a man who should be on the cover of every management website and magazine. He serves a client base of over two billion. He receives thousands of pieces of correspondence from his customers around the world. He personally oversees his factory work, outsourcing nothing. His business has been in operation for over 100 years, yet he understands the latest technologies. He has local branches at nearly every mall in the world. And every year – come rain, shine, or snow – he makes his shipment deadline.

That man, of course, is Santa Claus.

And just because some claim he’s not real, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn a thing or two from his management techniques.

#1 – Santa knows how to work to a deadline.

Yes, Santa only launches the sleigh once a year, but you know that Santa doesn’t spend the rest of his time vacationing in the Caribbean. Perhaps once upon a time the elves could manufacture all their toys by hand, but these days if Santa’s going to ship a million iPhones, he has to source them like everyone else. This means Santa also has to understand proper time management, making sure everything arrives on time and is properly packaged for his joyous flight. He has been so successful at this that he has never missed a shipment, aside possibly from that unfortunate hostile takeover by Mr. Skellington. (And even that only set him back a few hours.)

Lesson: A good manager has to stay on top of every element of his or her organization. Even if your deadline is months away, there is still important work to be done today to make sure that deadline is met. Clear and constructive planning makes the final job easy.

#2 – Santa keeps in close contact with his workforce.

Santa is a hands-on manager, personally inspecting his assembly lines constantly, and making sure his workers are happy and well cared-for. After all, a happy elf is a productive elf, and his polar products have a reputation for quality to uphold. While he has never shared his secrets of employee motivation, every elf he employs clearly has high morale.  They will even sing while on the job. Perhaps one cause is Santa’s refusal to outsource. Even while others move their operations overseas, he keeps his factories at home in the North Pole, where they’ve always been. Or perhaps it’s because he promotes from within, moving elves up from the floor and into supervisory positions.

Lesson: A good manager stays visible as a symbol of support for the workforce and pride in the product. You should endeavor to keep employee morale high, and encourage them to enjoy their job. Having clear rewards for exceptional performance and a sense of being locally committed will help you keep them upbeat while working.

#3 – Santa understands his customers.

Despite the pressures of his job, Santa still takes time to personally evaluate each and every one of the people he provides his service to. He also deploys one of the most widespread customer polling bases in the world.   He makes sure that every year, one of his helpers is on site in every city, discovering what the people want from his North Pole factories this season. He realizes the importance of intelligence-gathering and accurate analytics in a major production operation.

Lesson: As a good manager, you should always stay focused on the customers and seek to learn everything about them. You cannot have too much information about your clients’ needs. They are what keeps your business in business.

SVP Marketing & Sales

<strong>Brian Zimmerman</strong> was a Partner at OpenView from 2006 until 2014. While at OpenView he worked with our portfolio executive teams to deliver the highest impact value-add consulting services, primarily focused on go-to-market strategies. Brian is currently the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at <a href="http://www.5nine.com/">5Nine Software</a>.