Slacker Manager

An Interview with Phil “Slacker Manager” Gerbyshak

by David Zinger on August 17th, 2007

Phil Gerbyshak one of the new Slacker partners is interviewed by David Zinger, the other slacker manager partner. This interview gives you the opportunity to learn a little more about Phil and his thoughts about Slacker Manager.

I am delighted to have you as a Slacker Manager partner. You have done some guest posts for Slacker Manager and you are a blogging veteran. You are so well known for your Make It Great blog and I consider you the master of relationship and network building. I’d like the readers of Slacker Manager to get an idea of who you are and why you have taken Slacker Manager on in conjunction with myself.

1. What have you learned about blogging so far?

Blogging is all about relationships.

First, it’s a relationship with yourself. If you don’t build this first, and don’t understand who you are, then it’s tough to blog. You have to write for yourself first and foremost.

Second, it’s a relationship with your readers and others who are writing on your topic. If you find other great management blogs, then you need to comment on their blogs, share them with your readers, and respond when folks respond to you on the blog.

Lastly, relationship involves others who think differently from you. Finding new ways of thinking of things that relate to your topic is a great way to blog.

Other things I’ve learned:

Consistency is key: 1 post a week isn’t enough. You have to publish something at least every 3 days to keep your readers engaged (that’s 2 articles a week if you’re scoring at home, because I don’t count weekends).

Link out frequently: The more you share, the more you get, so share with reckless abandon those smarter than you (hint: if you’re not sure who’s smarter than you, the answer is EVERYBODY!)

Smile when you write: Really, it helps. You’ve heard it when you take phone calls, or when you talk. Smile when you write. It’ll help keep your perspective fresh.

2. What qualifies you to be a slacker? What did you like about Slacker Manager as a reader? Why did you put yourself forward to carry on this blog from Bren?

Great question David. I’m a slacker because I am always looking for the easiest way to do things. Sometimes the easy way requires the most work, at least in the short term. Long term, being a slacker looking for easy ways to do management and sharing them with folks who are aspiring slackers is a fun way to live.

I’d been reading Slacker Manager for quite a while, and I enjoyed Bren’s ability to break things down in simple form, be they tools, tips, or books he enjoyed. I’ve adopted that simple philosophy, and I look forward to being as simple as possible (and no more) with my management writings here.

I wanted to be part of Slacker Manager for a number of reasons. First, it’s a fun community. Folks seem to respond to the writing, and I am a big fan of community. Secondly, as a geek manager, I feel I have an unusual perspective on management, and I can add my style here in a new way, and yet still be a slacker. Last is I love to manage, and I wanted a place to share that love. What better place than Slacker Manager?

3. What are two or three tips or suggestions you have for readers who want to be better slacker managers

Tip 1: Quit taking it so personally (whatever IT is) - Management is not all about you, so don’t act that way.

Tip 2:  Delegate everything you can (and then follow-up to be sure it’s completed) - The power of WE is way more than the power of ME, so focus on utilizing your team’s unique talents to the best of their ability by giving up the power and instead empowering them to do what they do best. EMpower is the opposite of MEpower

Tip 3:  Surround yourself with people smarter than you by asking for help - Along the same lines as #2, this is a critical slacker tip. Take a few minutes right now and look around your organization and the rest of your world. Who do you see that’s more successful than you? Ask them to help you out, so you don’t have to do it alone.

4. What do you see as the benefit of having two bloggers contribute to this blog?

Two bloggers offer two different points of view - there’s no one way to best manage. Two authors = 2 points points of view sharing their tips, which means more insight for the readers. The blog will be constantly updated - 2 authors means you’ll see fresh articles almost every day here at Slacker Manager. We come from two different generations - (the Geek and the Geezer if you will), we’ll attack things from two different angles, and the generational difference will ensure most managers are well represented here.

5. Where do you see Slacker Manager heading in the short term and long term?

Great question! Short term, I think we’ll see focus on the existing topics of productivity tips and tools, and a lot of feeling out to see what works and what doesn’t. Long term, I think we’ll see a lot of collaboration and yet a lot of difference of opinions.

At the same time, I think we’ll see a lot of interactions between you and I, and between us and our readers. If there’s something we’re not covering on management that you want to see covered, just leave us a note and we’ll make it happen. I can confidently speak for both of us when I say feedback will be key to the long term success of Slacker Manager.

Thanks Phil.

Share This

Related Stories

Ability, motivation, or attitude? What have you got?Labor Day ManagementSlacker Manager Ranked #15 Career Blog by RiseSmartSlacker Manager Survey: Tell us what you want!Welcome Phil and David!

POSTED IN: management