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You may have heard of a book published several years ago called Rich Dad, Poor Dad, about
how differences among people in how they think about money, and the choices
that flow from those mindsets, can make an impact on financial success and
independence. I can’t say if this book
is true or not, but I do know that supervision, like money management, is largely
dependent on the mindset of the supervisor and the choices she makes as a
result of that point of view, so today, I want to summarize some of the recent
supervision tips I’ve seen and provide you with links if you’d like to know
more. Think of it as the supervision
version of Rich Dad, Poor Dad.
First, let’s talk about the things bad supervisors do:
They call too many meetings and
then show up late while others wait. This
is according to a
leader who regularly surveyed his staff but it is often true in many places. It’s a small thing but it sends the message
that their team’s time isn’t important, and no one works well where they think
they aren’t respected.
They actively or passively
stymie progress on work projects. These
roadblocks can be created in innumerable ways:
supervisors not understanding the actual duties of their teams and the
time it takes to accomplish certain tasks, not providing clear vision or
guidance, giving conflicting goals, and not responding to requests in a timely
way. The feeling that their boss is creating
roadblocks kills an employee’s desire to work hard and accomplish things.
They lack self-awareness and are
clueless about how their actions influence their teams. Bad supervisors do a lot of things to get in
the way and, when the team reacts to this, bad bosses blame them instead of
looking in the mirror. That’s not to say
that individual employees who are ineffective don’t exist, but…if a supervisor thinks
his entire team is ineffective or dysfunctional, the first step is to figure
out how the supervisor is contributing to it.
They blame or retaliate against
those who try to speak up about problems.
Shakespeare told us not to “shoot the messenger,”
and some supervisors have missed this important lesson. This punishment of anyone delivering bad news
stops the flow of any constructive information and what organization can
survive with it?
Now that we’ve seen some of the “don’ts” of effective supervision, let’s
talk about the things good supervisors do:
They understand the power of
relationships. They know that the
work world is more of an ecosystem, with partnerships and collaborations, than
a war that needs to be won. This approach
increases flexibility and information flow, which leads to better decisions.
They treat employees as
colleagues, not robots or naughty children.
They set high standards – and, yes, that means holding people
accountable – but they understand that every person is important, from the
person who empties the trash to the CEO.
They set a vision and direction, hire and train good people, and inspire
their teams, not crush them with rigid processes and excessive control.
They help their teams understand
change. They neither worship the
status quo, nor change things just for the sake of change. They preserve effective practices and change
the ineffective….and they know the difference between the two. The also involve people in the change process
where possible and explain the changes to make people more comfortable.
They do what they can to make
work satisfying. Work is going to
have at least some drudgery or administrivia as part of the day – otherwise it
would be called “vacation” -- but good bosses want their teams to be happy and
satisfied and they work hard to make that happen.
What other “good boss” or “bad boss” beliefs or practices have you
observed?
Want to know more? Here are the
resource pieces for this post.
