Addressing common managerial pitfalls
Avoiding vague environments
Recognizing the difference between fix-it tactics and resolution
Taking a realistic view of your skills
If there's a problem on your team and you're wondering where to start, one of the first places to look for change may be with you. Without knowing it, you may be playing a part in creating or perpetuating a conflict.
Imagine if you were known for your great people skills, for your ability to grow even the most entry-level performer, and for your talent to get the job done successfully. You'd have people clamoring at the door to work for you! Imagine, also, if you were someone who had unintentionally made a few missteps as a manager but were given the opportunity to add new techniques to your usual approach. What would that mean for your reputation as a professional and as someone with an aptitude for problem solving?
This chapter outlines some of the common pitfalls you may make in your attempts to handle problems, whether the bickering is contained between two people or you think that a mutiny is about to happen. You also find proactive ways to manage a group, resolve issues firmly but creatively, and get on with the business at hand.
Ask just about any employee what the number-one attribute of a "bad boss" is, and he'll probably answer with one word: micromanaging. Taking an inappropriate role in employee projects adds unnecessary friction to already stressful situations. Why? Because when an employee feels that his time has been wasted or that his work was for naught, he blames you.
"Hey, wait a minute," you say. "I'm not being a micromanager! I'm leading a team that's having trouble sticking to a routine and lacks the discipline necessary to complete their jobs!" That may be true — every organization has its share of wonky employees who aren't enthusiastic about hard work or creative thinking. The Wendy Whiners who want you (and everyone around them) to hold their hands, make decisions for them, and generally turn even the simplest of tasks into an excruciating exercise in patience probably do need additional attention from you, so manage them accordingly. But decide who's who before you take handholding to new heights.
Let employees take the lead on a project and it'll become clear pretty quickly which ones just need some independence to shine and which ones still need your assistance. This approach helps you direct your attention where it's needed most while allowing the employees who need less TLC to flourish.
Tip
Consider these ideas as a way to micromanage less and empower more:
Instead of relentlessly asking questions, set mutually agreeable check-in points for an employee to update you on his project. He can prepare a thorough briefing that you can reference later if you feel the need to examine a particular area of concern.
Instead of stressing about every detail, add value where your strengths shine. If you're not that into fashion, don't worry about the color of the golf shirts that the reps are wearing in the sales booth at the conference. Instead, offer to be a keynote speaker or simply a great cheerleader for everyone else's efforts.
Instead of swooping in at the last minute to criticize a detail, set a vision in the beginning of a project and trust your team to update you as necessary.
Note
A marketing coordinator I mediated for told me that he had worked for months putting together a large conference with a few co-workers. He put his heart and soul into the project working long hours and weekends to pull everything together. The employee had given his manager regular updates and, on the day of the event, was crushed when his boss arrived and, before he even said good morning, said, "I don't like the signage — who did it?" The signage may have very well been inadequate, but had the manager saved his comment for a later time, he could've avoided the finger-pointing and frustration that took place throughout the day.
Instead of allowing a temporary fix to become a long-term management method, do what you have to do to put out a fire, but then consider coaching an employee into more independent roles. Pair him up with a co-worker so he can learn by example, or mentor him yourself while you observe his progress.
Take a hint! Some employees will try subtle and diplomatic ways to get you to back off. Some may even tell you straight up that you're meddling or smothering them. Listen and find other ways to add value instead of steamrolling over them. If you want to feel like you're part of the group, the event, or the project, ask how your staff would like you to add value.
Warning
Hovering over employees makes for an untrustworthy workplace. You take away an employee's opportunity to show that he's proficient when you micromanage. Ease the burden on yourself by spending less time perched over shoulders and more time focused on building strategies, relieving stress, coaching him for the next big job, and showcasing your collective successes.
Every person on a team isn't going to get along 100 percent of the time with every one of his co-workers — that's a given. Doctors take an oath to "first, do no harm," and you, as the leader of a group, will benefit from doing the same when it comes to setting the tone for workgroup relationships. Without even knowing it, you may be causing existing problems to inflate rather than settle down. At a minimum, assess to see whether you are
Bringing up topics in public forums that you know are uncomfortable for one or more people in your group
Pitting people against each other in what you think is friendly competition
Asking members of your team to critique their co-workers
Using sarcasm to make a point
Publicly asking for updates on an already strained situation
Using belittling or shaming language
Allowing bad behaviors to become the norm
Ignoring tension
Playing favorites
Every once in a while, you may feel like the scolding parent who wants to put the kids in timeout by separating them and telling the whole lot to go to the naughty corner. That approach may give you a bit of a breather, but it doesn't solve the problems. Even if the corner you're sending someone to is a different department or simply another task, one of the employees involved is going to feel as if he's being punished — and now you've possibly made a situation worse than it was before you intervened. Temporarily separating a team that's in conflict gives you time to think, but putting yourself at the center of their communication doesn't do much to meet a goal of solidarity.
Warning
Here are some not-so-obvious ways you could be dividing your team:
Using divisive language: Using subtle language like "they" and "them" is a way of dividing a team. An employee is more apt to feel ownership in a solution if you use words like "us" and "we" and work to unite the sides instead of playing into any perceived or real separations.
Holding exhaustive general brainstorming sessions and staff meetings: In your endeavor to include everyone in the decision-making process, you take it a little too far and spend too long in the idea-generating phase. Then people start taking sides and the dynamics of the meeting change. One person gives up the debate and shuts down, another pulls out the soapbox and demands that the others see it his way, and before you know it you've created an underlying animosity in the group that didn't exist before your attempt to "pull everyone together." (For tips on how to manage the brainstorming process, check out Chapter 10.)
Making concessions for an employee: When a manager was given a new instruction about mandatory off-hours staff meetings, he immediately recognized that one of his employees wouldn't be able to attend at the appointed time due to a temporary commitment. The manager went to his team and asked their permission to make an exception to the rule for the sake of the employee, moving the staff meeting to a time when the employee would be able to attend. His heart was in the right place, but what happened next was, in his words, "the worst decision" of his career. The favored employee was shunned, other employees asked for their own exceptions, and he had unintentionally set a precedent that every decision would be up for a group vote. He later approached similar situations in which he needed to apply some flexibility differently — by letting his team know about temporary variations, without naming names or seeking permission.
Creating a false sense of security: Even the most skilled listener can unwittingly create a feeling of betrayal in a staff member. Keep up the active listening skills, but be sure you're not just telling everyone what they want to hear. Set accurate expectations, coach employees through behaviors that may be contributing to conflicts, and be specific about how, why, and with whom you'll follow up.
Note
I mediated with a team who initially gave their manager high marks for his ability to actively listen and truly understand their issues. An employee would leave a closed-door meeting almost walking on air because he knew that the manager had his back and trusted that he would make things right again. Then, time went by and two things happened: Some employees discovered that the manager made everyone feel that they were right, and he never did anything to move employees past the initial conversations. A day would pass, a week, and then months with no follow-up whatsoever. Because of their false sense of security, employees reacted to any new conflicts with a righteous attitude (based on the positive feedback each had received from the fatherly manager) and even small problems became World War III.
You may wonder how you're not supposed to take sides when the higher-ups are looking to you to manage situations on your team. You should be able to make decisions, but how you go about making them matters to employees. There's a big difference between assuming Margaret is always right and Leonard whines too much, so you'll just go with whatever Margaret wants, and listening to all sides, asking pertinent questions, fully understanding the situation, and then making a decision.
Warning
Assuming that the sales team is always right or that the apprentice has no place having a different perspective than the journeyman may get you into trouble. If you manage a team, you're everyone's manager — not the manager of just a select few. You may take a lot of pride in your mentoring skills, but choosing just one or two of your staff members to groom could backfire by causing the other team members to turn against your protégé.
Tip
Instead of showing favoritism, demonstrate that you're equally interested in everyone's career and growth path by looking for opportunities to further individual education or experience levels.
Busy, busy, busy. When you have your head down in the books or when you're barreling along to meet an important deadline, you may cause ripples in the pond without even knowing you threw the pebble! Not slowing down long enough to understand the broader picture or focus your attention in the other direction shortchanges your staff and weakens your reputation.
How you present situations to your team impacts their reactions. If you're always fired up, your crew will likely follow suit. A hyper-emotional approach to problems cultivates the feeling that no one has an eye on finding solutions. Keep day-to-day reactions below a simmer, so when things do get tough, your employees don't boil over. You set the example, and your team is looking to you for direction.
Looking at the surface issues of disagreements and ignoring the underlying values and emotions at play means you're missing an opportunity to find better, more durable solutions to problems. You can accomplish a lot more if you know how to read between the lines and capture what's most important for your employees. It may take some time and a little research to really get to the root of the problem, but it'll be worth it when you're able to help employees resolve the real issues. Assessing a problem can be tricky, so refer to Chapter 5 for some assistance. Chapter 2 can help you figure out what makes employees tick and Chapters 6 through 9 cover the steps for holding a successful mediation.
You may be tempted to ignore a problem when you don't know what you can do to stop behaviors that adversely affect your team. But overlooking signs of unrest erodes your authority and your reputation. Watch for the following:
Bullying: Bullying is one of the most obvious yet commonly overlooked behaviors. It can be subtle or overt, and you may find yourself ignoring it because, well, you're a bit intimidated by the bully yourself. Badgering and baiting is never acceptable, so gather whatever resources you need to address the situation, but handle it nonetheless.
Power struggles: Playing tug of war is a fun activity at the company picnic, but it has no place on a functional team. If a staff member is trying to one-up a colleague, is putting a team member down to build himself up, or is lobbying against his co-workers, check out what may really be happening with that person. If it makes sense for the personalities involved, consider strengthening the weakest link rather than taking away from the strongest. (For more tips on understanding power issues, check out Chapter 3.)
Less obvious but perhaps just as frustrating for your staff is when you ignore their requests for your time. Sure, you're busy, but being available only via e-mail or agreeing to meetings and then not showing up is disrespectful to your crew. Scheduling, and keeping, face-to-face time is essential. And when you do meet with an employee, move away from the computer and turn off your cellphone — he'll appreciate the attention.
If someone has the courage to talk to you about an issue, pay attention. Disregarding emotions or anxiety an employee feels about a situation with his co-workers (including you) may cause him to skip coming to you next time. Instead, he may go behind your back, go over your head, stew, or adversely affect the company by carrying out negative actions.
Here are some ways in which you may be dismissing an employee:
Telling him it's his imagination, that he's being hypersensitive, or even that he's exaggerating. Just because you're not seeing what your employee is seeing, doesn't mean it isn't happening for him. Ask good questions, do a little investigating, and coach him to handle it himself (see Chapter 5 for tips on empowering your employees). Be sure to check back in with him to see how it's going, and if he still needs your help, consider mediating a conversation between the two parties.
Defending or speaking for the other person. When an employee comes to you with an issue that involves a colleague and you immediately defend the other person's actions, you may be causing a tense situation to become even more strained. It's okay to offer a bit of conjecture as you ask him why he thinks his co-worker may be doing what she's doing, but taking on the role of defender won't sit well with the confider.
Saying, "Let's get back to some real work, okay?" Listening patiently for a few minutes, acknowledging that what an employee is telling you is very likely taking place, and then dismissing his distress with an edict to get on with his job not only keeps a conflict brewing, but it also adds you to the list of individuals he's upset with. Choosing between a task and a person isn't necessary. You can do both by hearing out an employee and by working with him to solve his problems so he can get back to work.
Making a commitment to look into concerns and then not following through in a meaningful way. You may wholeheartedly believe that what an employee is telling you is true and, with the best of intentions, promise to take care of the problem. However, if you take too long to address the issue, try to cure the symptom rather than the disease, or simply muff up the whole situation, the employee may interpret your actions as a way to dismiss him and his concerns.
Note
For example, a lead shift worker assured an employee that he would handle a co-worker's abrupt and abrasive method of keeping the line moving. The lead had witnessed the behavior and knew the employee had a valid complaint. He went to the other worker and said, "Listen, Raj complained about the way you talk to the line and he can be sensitive about stuff, so just don't talk to him when you're giving instructions, okay?" Imagine what that did for the relationship between the two!
Limiting what you think an employee can contribute. I mediated a case in which a conflict between a manager and an employee had been going on for three years. When we got down to what had sparked the clash in the first place, the employee recounted the day he walked into the manager's office while the boss was trying to cut spending and balance the budget. The employee asked if he could help, and the stressed manager abruptly responded, "You don't really have experience with this and I need to get it done." The employee had ideas about saving the company money, but he was so annoyed at the dismissal that he never shared them and, instead, enjoyed watching the manager struggle to find answers. The manager could've easily taken a few minutes to hear the suggestions — and saved himself some time and trouble in the process.
How you discuss what you're doing, what your staff are up to, and what's happening on a daily basis really matters to your team. If employees feel you have their backs, they're more likely to watch out for one another and demonstrate their loyalty to you. The more informed your team is the less likely they are to fill in the blanks with erroneous or hurtful information.
Though most employees complain about micromanagers (see the earlier section "Micromanaging"), your staff most likely wants you to show them you're doing something. Simply saying, "Wow, I can't believe how busy I am!" probably isn't enough. You don't need to share every detail from your calendar or spend hours going over your business plans for the year, but letting an employee know what you're doing and why you're headed in a particular direction makes it easier for him to have your back with others in the company and may keep him from badmouthing you as a manager.
Tip
Instead of trying to fly under the radar, try
Creating easy ways to update the group. Staff meetings, conference calls, or e-mails go a long way toward getting the team up-to-date on what everyone is doing. Include yourself in any update conversations.
Doing what you say you're going to do. If you assign yourself a task, do it. Taking responsibility for a job and then having someone else do the work erodes your integrity. If you know you don't have the time, energy, or skill set to complete a task, set expectations from the start.
Explaining yourself. If you leave your employees in the dark, they'll find ways to assume you're doing nothing.
Note
A frustrated employee told me about a field superintendent who would check in daily with each of his foremen via cellphone. During the calls, a foreman would make requests for materials he needed for his job. Instead of taking the information right then and there, the superintendent would respond with, "After I hang up, call back and leave it on my voicemail." The foreman would do so and the materials wouldn't arrive the next day. Though the field superintendent may have had a valid reason for this protocol, it was far too easy for the foreman to compare notes with the other project managers and then collectively wonder what the supervisor did all day long while they were laboring away on the job sites. The employees were united in their frustration with his poor management skills, which ultimately caused friction and eroded the company's reputation. Truth be told, none of the foremen really knew whether the field superintendent was busy or lazy because he hadn't taken the time to clarify why he preferred voicemail to taking the information down immediately or why material deliveries were delayed.
Spending more time schmoozing with the top dog than working with your crew in the trenches makes it hard for employees to believe you're in tune with their career needs. Even when you have the best of intentions and all you're trying to do is make sure your team is recognized, the appearance of catering and pandering to the powers that be can damage your reputation back on the shop floor. The only thing your staff sees is you distancing yourself from them, which leads them to think you're only in it for yourself.
Note
To combat a self-serving perception, present your hard work as team-focused. Your employees will probably appreciate your efforts to lobby for additional funds or your endeavors to get them new tools. What they won't appreciate are overt actions that appear only to benefit you. People know the difference between the two approaches, and their reactions to you will be 180 degrees different. Working on their behalf and being a trusted representative of their concerns wins you loyalty.
Conversely, you may have a strained or difficult relationship with upper management that frustrates your employees. You can easily think negatively about the higher-ups when they make decisions you don't agree with, especially if it involves an ongoing issue. When continually fighting with the execs is the rule not the exception, you run the risk of alienating yourself and your team from the main decision makers.
Regardless of your approach with upper management, when an employee feels that you don't have his back, he takes steps to protect himself. His dissatisfaction most likely won't begin and end with you. He'll do what he feels he needs to do to step over others, deftly move around you, and capture whatever spotlight he can whenever he can. Elevators, lunch lines, and parking lots are great places for him to talk to upper management himself!
If you place employees in the predicament of having to fight for attention, they fight among themselves. Avoid an employees-versus-management mentality by being the bridge between the two. Make sure your staff knows that you're working the company hierarchy for everyone's benefit, not just your own, and work to improve any strained relationships with executives.
You're probably already aware that not having detailed job descriptions is an obvious cause for concern among employees. But what may be less obvious are the directives you give on a daily basis that also have the potential to cause problems between your employees, such as:
Using hazy terms to give what you consider to be clear instructions. Telling an employee "This is a priority" sounds pretty clear, but what's missing in that directive is a description of what this is a priority over. One person may construe your order to mean that he should drop everything and concentrate on the task. Another team member may take it to mean that she should make time for the priority task but continue with her other responsibilities, too. If he stops what he's doing, and she doesn't, she may be upset that he's stopped working on what she needs, and he may be upset that she's not giving the task enough attention.
Assigning a task or responsibility to more than one person. When you assign a task to more than one person, it almost always causes tension between those people.
Note
A manager confided in me that he was often so passionate about his new ideas that he would share them privately with particular staff members, who would then jump on the bandwagon and look into how they could bring his concept to fruition. The problem is, he didn't tell them who should do what, so they would all go off and make the same phone calls, investigate with the same vendors, and write business plans based on the manager's initial thoughts. The co-workers would eventually realize that each of them was thinking he was the "go-to guy" on the project, when, in reality, their efforts were being duplicated and their time was being wasted. The otherwise friendly team members would get angry with each other for stepping on toes, and a conflict would follow.
Couching language because you're worried an employee may not react well to an instruction. The people who work for you are pretty smart cookies, and if you're less than honest about your expectations, they'll soon figure it out. If you sugarcoat the fact that you need an employee to work overtime when you say, "Run those numbers when you can," he won't be too happy when he learns from someone else that you need the report for an 8 a.m. meeting tomorrow.
Making promises or setting expectations with vendors, customers, or people from other areas of the company and then expecting your staff to deliver disappointing news. Putting employees' professional reputations at stake is always a bad move. If you've mistakenly set an unrealistic expectation, cowboy up and admit the error to the outsider instead of ordering your employees to do it for you. If you had time to make the promise in the first place, you have time to adjust expectations.
Setting expectations that are beyond what an employee can accomplish. Setting unrealistic expectations can cause your employee to have low self-esteem and feel overwhelmed and stressed, which, in turn, may lead him to give up, quit, or talk trash about his situation. Brainstorm with him about what you can do to ease the burden — and set more realistic expectations going forward.
Employing a military-type approach that includes barking orders at subordinates. On the surface, this approach may seem to be the most efficient way to get a clear and concise message out to the troops. But if you're leaving out important parts of the instructions (like the strategy behind them!), you run the risk of creating infighting while team members stumble into each other in their panic to react. It only takes a few more seconds to share with employees your strategy or thought process when you're handing out assignments. If your employees get where you're coming from, they have the opportunity to add to or refine tasks to help you meet your goals better, faster, and under budget.
Exemplary individual contributors commonly get attention and gain respect from management. You may have a staff member who does a bang-up job with every assignment you've ever given him. Perhaps the two of you have even developed a mentor-student relationship and you're ready to move him to the next step in his career. The only problem: You may be setting him, and the rest of the team, up for a conflict if you move him into a new role without first giving him the tools he needs to succeed.
It happens often — someone with no leadership experience gets promoted, and one of his peers, who didn't get promoted, reacts by quietly seething, publicly railing, or covertly looking for another job. Jealousy, disbelief, and hopelessness can infiltrate even the strongest of teams when a reward for one person feels like a punishment to the others. This is especially likely when the news comes as a surprise.
Hiring someone from the outside or allowing an internal lateral move can be just as tricky as promotions. Even though a person has received high marks for his work in one area, you can't assume that his skills will easily translate into another role. The best sales rep in the industry could be the worst operations coordinator your team has ever worked with. Any time a change occurs, it affects everyone — and not planning ahead can lead to an uproar.
Take steps to prepare a new employee and his co-workers for changes in team dynamics. Merely announcing a change and saying, "We're going to see how Ajani does" could make the rest of the staff wonder, "At whose expense?!" Here's how to prepare everyone for personnel changes:
Thoroughly discuss with an employee his strengths and areas for improvement. Build a plan to baby-step him into the new role before he takes the job. Consider training for certain job functions or additional people skills. Take the time to groom and prepare him for the next steps.
Ask other employees to share confidentially how they see a potential employee's skill set. What's his reputation in the industry? Where could he improve? Some of the answers you get may be the result of the employee wanting to be politically correct; others may be the result of jealousy and resistance to change. Use your best judgment to sift through the information and listen to the team. You may learn something!
Test the waters. If you're planning to promote a team member from an individual contributor to a supervisory position, consider creating situations that allow everyone on the team to try out bits of the change a little at a time. Can you form a committee or task force, putting the employee at the helm, to see how he does in the new role? Maybe putting him in charge for an interim period of time — say, while you're on vacation — will give all parties an opportunity to get used to the idea and bring any potential pitfalls to the surface. Think in terms of milestones rather than sweeping changes all at once.
Lessen the impact of the change. Be open with the team about the change and discuss how it will benefit them. Will the change ease the communication process, lighten workloads, or make for shorter days? What's in it for the team if an employee is promoted or newly hired?
There are only so many hours in the day and you have work to do, right? Moving projects forward, meeting deadlines, and getting some tangible results under your belt are all seemingly reasonable justifications for fixing a mess yourself instead of putting the onus for solutions on employees. After all, you're the boss and solving problems is your job. When a fire is burning, people appreciate the guy who grabs the extinguisher and puts it out pronto! But being a good listener, mentoring employees, and fully investigating the source of problems takes time. When there's a ton of work to be done, time is of the essence and you may have developed a few survival tactics that are causing strife among your employees. Avoid the following approaches to solving issues because they could be giving you more — not less — to do.
Who likes to listen to long-winded lectures and dry-as-dirt sermons? You probably don't, so why assume any of your subordinates like it. If you're guilty of pulling out a soapbox and spouting your view before fully investigating a conflict, consider a change.
Even though you're expected to handle flare-ups as they arise, be sure you really listen to what your employees are saying before you make decisions that don't consider their needs. If your only focus is on telling your team what you want to see rather than listening to what's happening, you miss out on key information and opportunities to improve the overall work environment. Your team is in the trenches every day, and they know what's getting in the way of good business or causing conflicts to recycle. Asking questions to understand gives you a better view of what's happening, so you can implement a strategy that reduces future conflict and increases productivity.
Warning
And, while you're at it, fake listening isn't a good idea either. Don't spend time asking your employees what they'd like to see happen or what ideas they have for viable solutions (making them feel as if they're part of a remedy) if you've already decided what's going to happen. You'll add another layer to the conflict — even if you have the best of intentions.
Jump into a sticky situation, make a few quick decisions, and everything's fixed, right? The problem with that is that not only are you most likely missing some of the key elements of the dispute, but you're also placing yourself at the center of every difference of opinion.
Being the judge and jury inadvertently creates a dependence on you as the only decision maker in the group. Over time, employees either resent you for not letting them be involved in solving their own problems or become completely paralyzed when faced with a decision: "Should I have chicken or fish? I don't know. Who can make this decision for me?"
Note
Work with individuals to come up with their own answers. People are capable of solving their own problems — sometimes they just need some assistance. Be a sounding board by listening to your employees' concerns and then ask questions to help them consider options. Questions like the ones in Chapter 7 help your staff get to the heart of a dispute and find satisfying solutions.
Occasionally, an employee in the center of a conflict may tug at your heartstrings. Taking on the role of caregiver every once in a while isn't unusual, but feeling sorry for or empathetic toward an employee's social awkwardness or lack of training keeps a conflict going. Telling his co-workers to overlook his need for development shortchanges everyone and doesn't solve anything; it can actually make the situation worse, by creating resentment in the employees who end up doing more and limiting the potential of the person you're trying to rescue.
Warning
An employee who wants and expects you to fix the situation for him may actually end up resenting you. He may even get angry when you tell him that you won't do for him what he can do for himself. Plus, you run the risk that you'll be put in a bad spot if things don't go well. The very person you're trying to help can easily turn on you if he doesn't get what he wants.
Coach and empower an employee to handle situations himself so that he gains the necessary skills to handle future situations better, improve his working relationships, and expand the skills that lead to less conflict overall. Help him identify the problem areas and brainstorm ways he can be more independent.
Always putting yourself in the role of the lifeguard makes for some pretty weak swimmers! If you've created a team of dependent employees, it's not too late to strengthen the aptitude for problem solving you already have. Use the skills in this book to mediate conflicts, arrange group meetings in which the team finds their own solutions, and reach out to others to find the resources your team needs.
Owning up to the possibility that you may not have every skill or quality it takes to be a perfect manager is tough. I won't ask you to reveal all your shortcomings to your team, but I will ask that, when you make a mistake, you're humble enough to admit that you were wrong. If you don't have all the information, be willing to ask for help. Admitting that you made a mistake or need assistance makes you human. It also allows your team to show its strength and feel closer by supporting you when you need it. Demonstrate your willingness to be vulnerable, and your staff will be more likely to admit their own shortfalls instead of going to great lengths to cover them up.
Taking credit for work you had little or no part in, dismissing the efforts of employees, or clamoring to get your name mentioned before those on your team is not only egotistical, but it also turns the very people who are there to support you against you. Be a cheerleader for your team, and they'll return the favor. Pushing a boulder uphill with all hands on deck is easier than going it alone.
Note
The best manager I ever had was a man who figured out early on in his career that he could get farther up the corporate ladder by shining a spotlight on the people on his team while he stood just far enough in the shadows for others to see he was still part of the limelight. My success was his success. Because he set such a solid example, it was pretty easy for the rest of us to revel in one another's accomplishments and genuinely celebrate a co-worker's accolades.
Pulling rank is your prerogative, and yes, sometimes it's necessary. Play the boss card when you feel that doing so is absolutely essential. Your team knows you're the manager — you don't have to remind them daily. They'll appreciate you showing them you're the manager rather than telling them. Use motivating language such as "I know you have what it takes to do the job" instead of "Because I'm the boss — that's why!"
Every once in a while, you'll come up against a situation that tests your knowledge and capabilities. Maybe it's that one employee who doesn't respond to your usual approaches or techniques. Or maybe your boss is pushing for more than you can deliver and you're simply out of your element.
Note
Knowing that you should do something but not getting the help you need to pull it off can get you in trouble. Take, for example, the manager who sensed problems between himself and a subordinate — problems that were starting to affect his entire group. Instead of addressing the issues with the individual directly, he decided to throw that person a surprise birthday party. The problem was, the boss ordered the other team members to put the event together, didn't explain the sudden interest in birthdays three-quarters of the way through a year in which no one else's birthday had been celebrated, and ignored the fact that the man's birthday was two months ago! The manager was on the right track with his attempt to acknowledge the tension, but his method resulted in an awkward party and created bad feelings with the rest of the team. The featured employee was mystified and irritated. The manager would've gotten much better results had he just admitted that he didn't quite know what to do and listened to a mentor or HR for possible solutions.
Reorganizations, budget cuts, new clients, or fresh strategies that are outside your comfort zone can be exhilarating for some people . . . and gut wrenching for others. I worked with a company whose employees had the saying "If you don't like the way things are, wait 20 minutes — they'll change." The only predictable thing in the organization was the constant unpredictability!
If you're a manager who doesn't do well with change and you're stuck in the middle of one, you may resort to
Hiding: Dropping off the face of the Earth when uncertainty is in the air gives you a few minutes of calm, but it doesn't change the fact that you have a responsibility to your team to keep them informed and to keep the chaos in check. If you're not available, employees have to deal with the stress and confusion on their own. Leaving your employees to fend for themselves breeds discontent. It goes without saying, then, that you have to show up and have a calm, consistent presence in the face of change.
Fighting: If you're uncomfortable or unhappy with changes that are occurring, you may decide to fight the new world order with everything you've got. You may be putting 110 percent of your effort into stopping what's happening and completely lose sight of the big picture.
Note
Yes, fighting for what you believe in is important, but don't forget to take a break once in a while and reassess the situation. Remind yourself of your ultimate goal, and keep your employees' interests in mind at all times. As the situation evolves, you don't want to find yourself so caught up in "winning" that you miss a key opportunity for positive change.
Surrendering: So you got some bad news. Maybe you tried to make things better, but now you're just phoning it in. Often, accepting the inevitable makes sense, and finding ways to communicate the benefits of a change (even one that on the surface doesn't appear to have any good points!) helps your employees work through disappointing decisions. But if your team is willing to come up with viable alternatives to a decision, and you just want to give up, their morale can be seriously affected and you could be setting the stage for irreparable harm.
Tip
A period of change is not the time to inadvertently bring your team together against you or sit on the sidelines as people get their résumés in order. Instead, put your energy to good use and help the group formulate a cohesive response that takes all sides into account. If the ideas are shot down and the group receives a clear "no," at least they can move on with you rather than against you.