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As Beth’s story illustrates, for managers and directors the journey into a ROWE is just as transformative as it is for the rank-and-file employee. But because bosses have power, their experience is a little different.

For starters, most managers realize how poorly they were treating people. Even if they were a “good boss” they were still guilty of Sludge. We’ve heard managers confess that they didn’t realize what kind of pain and heartache they were causing their people, even with what they saw as innocent comments. They don’t know that even a little dig like “nice of you to join us” could really hurt not only someone’s health and well-being, but also their loyalty, engagement, and productivity. So the first thing managers experience is something akin to grief. They thought they were doing their job. They thought they were even helping people. But then managers realize that they have been parenting adults. And they feel terrible.

As managers migrate into a ROWE the next step usually involves a certain amount of fear. They get scared when they realize they haven’t been abundantly clear to people about what they are supposed to be doing. Now that they are in a ROWE the only thing they have to focus on is results. Before they were protected by title and power, but now any flaws in their management style are exposed. So they have to stop hiding and really figure out what their employees are supposed to be doing and how that connects to the bigger goals of the organization.

But once they start to figure out how to go from parent to mentor, from boss to leader, they emerge with a richer relationship with their people. They have a more human relationship with their employees and their work relationship is stronger too. That focus on results can really work wonders on communication, planning, and execution.

We’ve even seen people who came out of a military background change their thinking. People who were literally schooled in the command-and-control model realize that it wasn’t good for their employees, it wasn’t good for business, and it wasn’t good for them. We’ve also seen chronic management-by-walking-around types stop walking around and trust their employees to do their jobs. People used to cringe when they saw these kinds of bosses because they knew they were in for an unnecessary interruption. Now those bosses are appreciated.

We know from experience that a lot of managers already practice an under-the-radar, modified ROWE. We now challenge those leaders to take it a step further. Or maybe you’ve undergone a management conversion while reading this book. Maybe you realize you’ve been a bit of a control freak and you’d like to change. If you’re a manager and this sounds good to you, then there are a handful of tips we can give so you can start exploring a ROWE with your team.

How to Focus on Results with Your Team

Stop relying on human resources to do the “people” part of your job—get clear about performance goals, communicate often, and hold people accountable.

You lose your credibility when you bring in HR to have the tough conversations. When your employees aren’t performing, talk to them. Find out why and rather than focus on how hard they’re working or the amount of hours they’re putting in, focus on the work itself. What do they need to do to succeed?

Break time? Lunchtime? Attendance policy? Absence pay? Personal time? Tardiness policy? Look at the policies and rules and throw out the ones that are stupid!

Many policies were written decades ago and haven’t changed —and companies copy one another’s policies because that’s what work is. Many policies are not government-regulated policies—they’re internal rules that make children out of adults. We need to get real about the employee manual. It’s culture that makes the place go, not rules in a book nobody reads except the people in HR.

Reward employees based on results, not on how much “time” they put in at the office.

Instead of saying, “James put in a lot of extra hours this month—good