Stress, Management & Leadership

I have no idea why I seem to be posting on business/work related stuff lately, but that’s what’s on my mind so I’m going with the flow.

I had a good conversation yesterday with a couple guys I work with about managment/leadership etc…

One thing we talked about is how your Manager/Leader deals with you when you come to them with problems or when an issue comes up.

Here’s some examples we’ve experienced as subordinates that leave you less then confident in your Manager/Leader.

1. Manager/Leader goes on a tirade, yelling screaming about the issue…making statements like “We’re not doing our job”, “We’ve got to do better”, “We’ve got to work harder”, etc…

First – Most people like don’t like getting yelled at, and once the yelling starts they automatically shut down.

Second – By the manager/leader immediately going into yelling/screaming/tirade mode it simply reinforces to his/her subordinates that they do not understand the issue and have no solutions to offer, but simply to yell. (Maybe this is their idea of motivation???)

Third – Most people want to do a good job, want to succeed. Be-littleing their work ethic, knowledge or ability doesn’t motivate them. Give them the tools they need to do the job. Communicate to them the expectations. Here’s a great idea – Make the expectations reasonable. When they’re not met work out a plan together to reach them.

Fourth – By separating yourself from the solution you’re reinforcing an us vs. them mentality. It comes off as being arrogant and does nothing to build moral or team work.

I appreciate managers/leaders that admit they don’t have the answers, but are more then willing to sit down with you and work through the issues to some type of solution.

Next Scenario

2. You go to your manager/leader with an issue. They don’t give you the time, attention you feel the issue needs or they say they’ll help but do nothing.

I’ve had this happen to me on a number of occasions with one manager in particular. It’s very frustrating. I’ve lost all respect, confidence in this individual and he has become essentially useless to me. I no longer go to him with my issues, because there’s no point. I feel like I have to figure it out on my own and I do.

Works out great for the leader/manager – He gets to take credit for all the success and he’s not culpable for any of the mistakes. Maybe that’s what he wants…

Last Scenario

3. This happened to me today, which prompted this long discourse. My immediate supervisor is under an extreme amount of stress and he’s flipping out today. He’s a yeller, a curser, a not my problem, it is what it is, woe is me, I need more help, we’re setup to fail, type of guy. Very smart…very good at what he does, but hard to work with because he rubs people the wrong way.

So my problem… I’ve set across the cubicle for him for the last three days not doing much. I’ve offered to help, which I’ve been given small things to follow up on and closed out in a matter of hours.

Delegate… Learn how to let other people help you. I think most people fail at this because the initial investment is a difficult one to make when you’re already swamped. But the payoff is worth it. Take the time and walk through where you are at and what’s got to be done and let someone help you. No…It’s not easier to do it yourself.

Last thing…Deal with your stress in a way that doesn’t stress people out. I can’t stand to talk to supervisor. Every “What’s up” leads to a 10 minute conversion about how everything is F*****d up. I don’t need your stress…I’ve got issues of my own to deal with, plus you’re wasting time…that apparently you don’t have.

Organize…manage your time…Manage your todo list…plan ahead…you can’t always do the Urgent Task first or you’ll never get out of operating in that Urgency mode and you’ll continue to run around putting out fires. A little planning up front saves a lot of time and headaches later…especially if it’s stuff you know you have to do, you know you have to get out….and then wait.

I like to get ahead of the game…so I can play around bit…as you can tell.