When a member of the team becomes a manager for the first time, the initial rush gets tempered pretty quickly. The reason? The manager is no longer a “peer” to his or her teammates. Making the transition from peer to leader is more difficult than you might think.

    Can there be a distinction between friendship and business? There has to be. The more problematic issue is whether a manager can be a fair boss during the day and a great friend—to the same people—after work. As a peer, the manager could be friend with everyone. As a manager, there have to be boundaries. There are rules that both the manager and the employees have to follow. An employee who tries to exploit a friendship with the manager to get special favors (easier workload, extra time off, a better work space) isn’t helping anyone. And if the manager gives in—the message to the rest of the staff is, “It’s who you know if you want to get ahead.”

    Managers have to be respectful of their employees—and vice versa. If an employee gets angry at the manager and becomes verbally abusive, the excuse of “Well, he used to be my friend” won’t carry much weight. And if the manager is abusive as well, for the same reason, it sends a bad message to the rest of the staff.

    Lead by example if you want to be respected, acknowledged, and appreciated—by everyone you work with.

Do you lead by example?

Do you let friendships take over?

Are all of your employees your best buddies?

Tags: best buddies boss boundaries darling distinction excuse extra time friendship friendships initial rush problematic issue teammates time off transition work space
 

How hard can it be for a manager to compliment each employee every once in a while? It costs a business lots more money to replace an employee than to retain one—so why not keep your current employees happy?

    Now, there will always be some employees who will perform so outstandingly that they just seem to generate more praise than others. There’s no question it’s important to recognize truly outstanding efforts. But every employee has the potential to go above and beyond in some area. Watch for each employee’s strengths and find something to praise.

    Watch out for something else as well. Sometimes employees who receive large amounts of praise let it go to their heads. If they take the ongoing tribute as a hint that they’re above the law in the company, their merits will quickly fade. So that’s another reason not to give the appearance that you’re playing favorites.

    The manager has to make it very clear that each and every employee plays an important role in the company. “Both committed and non-committed respondents agreed on the importance to see the organization set examples. For the former, exemplarity was a motivator factor in the sense of Hertzberg (1959) while for the latter the absence of exemplarity was a reason for rejection (as an unsatisfied hygiene factor)”.⁸

    The best teachers are those who will always have a good word for everyone; no matter how good or bad the outcome. Can you imagine what would happen if we decided not to encourage the toddler who just starts to walk, no matter how often she falls down in those early attempts?

You are the best horse in my stable…

Who do you motivate?

How do you motivate?

⁸Tessa Melkonian, Change Acceptance: The Role of Exemplarity, p. 9. Dr. Melkonian is Associate Professor of Management and Human Resources at the European Institute for LifeLong Learning. She holds a Ph.D. in management from the University of Paris and a degree in clinical psychology from the University of Lyon.

Tags: absence appearance attempts clinical psychology compliment european institute good word hertzberg human resources hygiene factor lifelong learning lyon merits money motivator factor playing favorites rejection respondents stable tessa melkonian tribute university of paris
 

Besides the 13 deadly sins there are many others that can cause—at the very least—deep trouble for people trying to work together and run a business. If you combine a few of those, the result might be even worse for your business then having to deal with just one deadly sin.

Tags: deadly sin deadly sins deep trouble
 

Many years ago I worked for a man who believed that there were two kinds of people: himself and the rest of the world. Management was his “passion” and so was horseback riding. (Come to think of it, I bet he treated the horses’ way better than he treated any human.) You might wonder why I mention his hobby. Many say that horseback riding is a great example for perfect teamwork. Even to the casual observer it’s clear that the overall performance of a rider and the horse deeply depends on how good a team they are. Each depends on the other and they both have to pay attention to each other all the time.

    You might think that a horseback rider would be a better manager precisely because riding increases one’s understanding of teamwork. That wasn’t the case with this fellow.

    The first time I saw him exert his management “style”, it was astonishing. He came over to an employee who had made some sort of error. That wouldn’t have been particularly memorable, except that the manager was armed with a whip—and he used it! He actually whipped the worker’s fingers and unleashed a stream of insults at him. (As an aside, this manager eventually became a judge in a court dealing primarily with business cases.)

What would you do in such a situation?

    A manager climbed up the corporate ladder while his former co-worker stayed in the position he was hired for. For a long time, each time this employee came by his office she would just jump in—no matter if the door was closed, a meeting was going on. The manager was too polite (and perhaps too shocked) to say anything, and so the situation persisted. An employee who could invade a manager’s private space like that clearly doesn’t know the meaning of the word “respect”; or understands true friendship.

Do you respect each and everyone in your team?

More important—does the team think the manager is respecting them?

Do you step in when you see someone being disrespected?

Tags: business cases casual observer co worker corporate ladder dignity fellow fingers frank barron horses insults lao tzu long time management style meaning of the word passion private space respect rest of the world teamwork true friendship two kinds whip world management
 

The Associated Press issued an article that hospitals in the University of Michigan Health System have been encouraging doctors since 2002 to apologize for mistakes. The system’s annual attorney fees have since dropped from $3 million to $1 million, and malpractice lawsuits and notices of intent to sue have fallen from 262 filed in 2001 to about 130 per year, said Rick Boothman, a former trial attorney who launched the practice there.

    Unfortunately this seems to be an isolated incident. The news is full of stories highlighting alls sorts of mistakes made by companies and their employees. Yet what we rarely see is one of the first words children learn (and frequently get told to use):

    “Sorry.”

When was the last time you said sorry?

When was the last time you as a customer were told “sorry”?

Or one of your team members?

Is sorry part of dealing with disgruntled customers or suppliers?

Tags: 1 million associated press attorney fees doctors hospitals malpractice lawsuits michigan health system sorry sorts system team members trial attorney university of michigan university of michigan health when was the last time