John Donahoe talks about how you can't change people The New York Times had an interesting interview with eBay CEO John Donahoe where he talks about managing people.You can’t change people. As a leader, there’s a real temptation to try to change people or help people get to where you want them to go. And I learned, actually through experience, that you can’t change someone. All you can do is help them help themselves.And so I spend a lot less time than I used to trying to make people do something that either they can’t do, or don’t want to do, and spend more time illuminating what needs to get done. And if they make the choice to do it, great. If not, get them into a role where they can do what they’re good at.And on lessons learned as a manager:Be more direct in communication. Don’t sugarcoat tough news, bad news. Second, there are certain really important decisions to take thoughtful time on, because once you make them, you can’t unwind them. There are a lot of other decisions that you’re better off making quickly, even if the decision is not the perfect one, and then adjusting down the road, rather than taking too much time.Sure, it’s basic management. But it is surprising how often in large organizations, the basics are ignored, people are in jobs they’re simply not good at, and important decisions are made too slowly–if at all. No doubt Donahoe has brought in significant changes since he’s become CEO, and I’m sure the same is happening at Yahoo under Carol Bartz. Likely the boards of these companies are happy they’ve made the change and perhaps wishing they had done so sooner. Technology Industry