'Working Wounded': Teaching the Boss
Feb. 11, 2005 — -- DEAR WOUNDED: I have 10 employees who are working for me and they all seem to be moving in slow motion. What can I do to get them to perform better?
ANSWER: The U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the "armed" robbery conviction of Deshon Odom. Sure he was carrying a gun when he robbed the bank. But since the gun was in his waistband, he hadn't intended for anyone in the bank to see it, he was considered not "legally" armed. The court said the federal statute only applied to using a gun, not merely carrying one.
Odom escaped his armed robbery conviction because he wasn't armed in the eyes of the court. Unfortunately, most managers would be unable to use that defense. I'm not saying that you're carrying a gun, but as long as you have the ability to discipline an employee, you're indeed "armed and dangerous" in the eyes of the people who report to you. There are ways to overcome this challenge and to earn the trust of your people. For more, check out "I Wish You Would Just…" by Todd McDonald and Kyndra Wilson (www.walkthetalk.com).
Do you tell them what's going on? Most managers have access to a lot more information than the people who report to them do. Executive briefings, reports and meetings can provide more information and context on what is really happening with your company. How ambitiously do you share this information with the people who report to you?
Do you let your people learn from their mistakes? Think back on your career; when did you learn the most at work? If you are like most people, you learned the most when you screwed up. Welcome to the club. Yet most managers tend to create a zero tolerance attitude around mistakes. I'm not saying you should encourage mistakes, but appreciate that a certain number of non-fatal mistakes will allow your people to grow and develop.
Do you do what say you'll do? My mail is full of people who complain about bosses who don't do what they say they'll do. Or worse, who say one thing and then do something totally different. Your people appreciate it when you are as dependable as you expect them to be.
Do you say thank you? I can hear what you are thinking, "Isn't a paycheck thanks enough?" In a word, no. Everyone likes to be acknowledged and thanked for their contributions. Go out of your way to thank your people and you'll quickly find that they'll go out of their way for you.
Do you ask for feedback? We are all customer-focused today. Well here is a simple question, who is the customer of your bossing? Your employees. When was the last time that you asked that customer for feedback? Even if your company doesn't do 360 evaluations, you can do your own.
Follow these tips and you won't need to be armed and dangerous, your people will do the right things for the right reasons.
We'd like to hear your strategy for becoming a better boss. I'll give an autographed copy of "Working Wounded: Advice that adds insight to injury" (Warner, 2000) to the best submission. Send your entry, name & address via: http://workingwounded.com or via e-mail: bob@workingwounded.com. Entries must be received by Wednesday (February 16).
Here are the results from a recent workingwounded.com/ABCNEWS.com online ballot:
Have you ever had to deal with a bully at work?
Our winning strategy for dealing with a bully comes from A.R. in Montville, N.J.:
"I started making copies of receipts, purchase orders, invoices and time cards for anything the company purchased or paid for that was used for personal reasons. Within a period of two years I had several hundred pages of documents. I called the IRS and scheduled a meeting with them. They were very excited to see what I had. I left the companies [sic] employment shortly after that by my choice. About one year later I heard that the IRS ran in one day with warrants and seized a lot of the companies [sic] records. This process took a long time but last I heard he had to sell assets to raise money to pay his back taxes and fines. He does not know I am the one that did this but I know I got back at him for the bully he was and for all the years of hell he put me through."
Where the talent is…Managers reveal their hiring secrets
Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, speaker and internationally syndicated columnist. His newest best seller, "GRAY MATTERS: The Workplace Survival Guide" (Wiley, 2004), is a business comic book that trades cynicism for solutions. Ask Bob a question: bob@workingwounded.com or http://graymattersbook.com
ABCNEWS.com publishes a new Working Wounded column every Friday.
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