 |
 |
When I call you knucklehead, I mean it in a good way |
Managing people is not easy, and although there are many good people managers, there are perhaps as many bad ones. Corporations work hard to find good managers, but at the same time are partially responsible for allowing poor managers to remain in place for long enough periods of time to do significant damage to their subordinates.
Here is a particularly sad story which happened to a friend of mine, and a person I was lucky enough to manager for about a year. When he worked for me, Rick was a very enthusiastic, upbeat, confident, and an overall good employee. We worked as a team, and I believe did quite well to move corporate objectives ahead. Through a corporate merger, I was fortunate to be able to take an early retirement. Unfortunately for Rick, he found himself moving into a new organization whose culture was extremely "top down". There was talk about improving the corporate culture, allowing it to evolve into an open, caring and overall friendlier place to work. For whatever reason, this simply did not happen. Rick was particularly unfortunate because he inherited a manager who epitomized this top down, uncaring, unfair and unforgiving old corporate culture. In his very first meeting with his new manager, she informed him that she had never asked for an assistant and believed she did not need one to do her job. She told him she believed his position would just be temporary, and was not sure what would happen to Rick if his job suddenly dissipated. The poor guy had just gone through one of those "pins and needles" years where every day you worry about the pending merger, and now this was piled on his plate. Rick was about to be served a three year meal of degradation, lightly seasoned with blatant disdain and topped with an unhealthy sprinkling of nasty notes and nastier comments you probably wouldn't even whisper to your neighbor's barking dog. When he phoned his manager, she would answer his calls, not with the customary "Hi Rick" most folks might expect, but instead with the words "WHAT DO YOU WANT". Wow, 4 little words that say, "Did you realize how unimportant you are, and most anything you have to say to me is just going to annoy me". Can you imagine having to call someone several times a day and receiving this kind of a greeting?
Many managers don't realize how important they are to their employees. I submit to you these questions. How many people are there in the world that can cause you to lose your appetite? How many people are there in the world that can cause you to lose sleep? Think about it, your husband, wife, or significant other? More than likely your boss or supervisor is actually at the top of this very short list.
I give my friend Rick credit for sticking it out for three years although he did spend some part of this time searching for other work. The three years did take its toll however. In the end Rick had developed acute stomach problems, having to be rushed to the hospital on one occasion. The doctor insisted he have a colonoscopy performed. He scheduled the test immediately and had it done. His boss' comment after the test? "How are you feeling Rick, did everything go okay". You'd expect such a response but her response went something like this, "Rick, things have been really hectic around here and I‘d really wish you could have found a more convenient time to schedule all this stuff". After three years Rick was not the confident individual I once knew. He was in counseling, riddled with health concerns, and finally told his boss he was quitting the company. Surprisingly he had always maintained a high performance rating on his job, but he knew he could not sustain this level of performance very much longer, and for Rick that meant it was time to quit. He was a 45 year old man and between the old and new organization had compiled 20 years of service. He'll get some retirement, but as most of us know, retirement plans typically impose substantial penalties for service years short of the required 30. Rick was losing something he would probably never be able to get back.
This sort of managerial horror show is not new, and really not all that different. I am certain all of you know someone whose quality of life was reduced to nil by a person who just did not know how to manage people. Often these folks are accomplished sales people, technical wizards or administrative giants, but when it comes to people they seem to simply lack the good sense to be able to manage.
Many organizations ask departing employees, such as Rick, to do exit interviews, but typically the worst of these organizations do little with them. So I write this not so much for organizations, but for people who manage other people. It is tantamount to torture to work for someone who makes you feel worthless. If you have been privileged by an organization to manage others, please understand the importance of your position. You must realize that the instant you were GIVEN the job, you became immensely important to those people you were selected to manage. From a day-to-day point of view, you may be the MOST important person within the lives of these individuals. They will be hanging on your every word, even words that you believed were said in a "just off the cuff" manner. They are actively recording your smiles, your frowns, your gestures, your concerns. What you drink, eat, and the kind of clothes you like to wear are now a matter of interest to them. They will ask others where you are, what you thought, what you said and how you felt about anything from politics to pole vaulting. And they do all this because when you became their boss, what you thought and felt suddenly became important. Not to the world, the world thinks as little about your opinions as it always did. But to them they are important, and simply understanding this, will make you a better manager. |
|
|
 |
|
