Solid Promise
Wave 518
Friday
The 5th of November, 2004 at 04:50 PM
As I opened my Dove Milk Promises chocolate, I remembered my grandma. She used to always buy those for us kids. I used to eat a whole bunch, just to see what the inside of the wrapper said. I opened mine, popped the chocolate into my mouth, and carefully read the promise. Savor every happy moment. I slowly rolled up the shiny silver wrapper into a little ball as tears came to my eyes. Other people were throwing their wrappers at each other mocking the messages contained within. It’s amazing how something so simple can be so powerful to some and so meaningless to others.
I took my final today. I forgot to study a pertinent section which made the test more frustrating than difficult. I vented to significant people via phone. I guess I just need to be more in-tune with my schedule. Finding out about a final the day before it occurs is not professional nor is it smart.
Speaking of professionalism I have some words to type. I’ve been meaning to type this post for quite sometime, but haven’t been able to because of recent life. I would like to address the topic of management. My views here are strictly my opinion no nothing should be taken verbatim. My words are not intended to ridicule, upset, or harm anyone. They are just a reflection of what I’ve learned being a manager.
I have been a manager now for two years. I’ve managed a number of people and had to deal with an array of situations. I’ve also had the privilege to observe management of my peers, supervisors, and friends. I feel that I have a good idea of what it takes to be a good manager and what it takes to be a poor one.
Let me dive into this objectively. I’m going to start with a manager’s responsibilities:
- Observe your employees’ working environment. How they interact with each other, how they interact with people. Evaluate their integrity based on their independence and willingness to work. Understand their temperament. Know boundaries.
- Be a manager. It has been said that you can’t be your employee’s friend, but you can’t be their enemy either. To be a good manager you need to find the happy medium between these two extremes.
- Listen. Get all sides of a story before taking an action. It is not fair to lean on someone’s story without knowing what’s on the other side of the fence.
- Express your point of view passionately, but keep you ears open for change. Even though you strongly believe something, another’s advice may be more advantageous. Don’t be too close-minded, be open to change if it is better for the workplace.
- Keep your cool. You will receive a lot of stress being in a management position, but one characteristic of a manager is being able to deal with it. If you can’t handle the stress, leave the environment. Nothing said in the heat of the moment will heal the current situation.
- Be yourself. Don’t lose your identity as a manager. People grow attached to someone they can relate with and communicate with. Acting lofty and superior will make others feel uneasy when working around you. Just be down-to-earth.
The manager doesn’t only have responsibilities. Yes, the employee also has responsibilities. This doesn’t just include the job description. There are a certain number of inferred responsibilities that employees need to follow:
- Choose your attitude. If you choose your attitude before walking into work, you’re usually going to stick with that attitude. Choose an attitude that people will be satisfied with.
- Take breaks in moderation. Everyone needs breaks from work, but they can be addictive. If you don’t take enough breaks you can get stressed out and lose your cool. If you take too many you can get into trouble.
- Don’t lose your cool. Just as it is important for managers to be level-minded, it is also important for employees. Your anxiety and frustration can easily rub off creating an emotional bomb. Be strong and confident.
- Understand your manager. Most of the advice that comes from your manager comes from other places and other people. Although advice can seem critical, it is to make you a better employee. The intention is only to help.
- Managers can be stressed out just like you. Try to nudge them along if they have been having a bad day. Once again, know their boundaries.
- Listen. Most managers are going to give you loaded supervision that you will need to carefully follow. Most of the times you may forget a certain part that may be essential to the message. It can be difficult to decipher everything, but it is a necessary skill.
- Go straight to the source. Even though it may appear managers are fed up with your problems, they love to give advice and supervision. Getting the story or job task straight the first time is imperative in good communication. It will help you create a good relationship with your manager and even better relationships with your co-workers.
All of this I’ve learned as a manager. It may have some bias here and there, but I’m been in both situations so I have a good perspective on how things work. Granted, this isn’t the “rules” to good management or successful business. It is just my thoughts on what can become a shady subject to many. Lots of people do not understand why managers do what they do, and vice versa. Hopefully these lists of responsibilities will give you a better idea of where he/she is coming from, and how to learn and benefit from a misunderstanding. There, John’s Philosophy on Management. In stores never.
Well, I await a call from Nikki and Maria. Going to eat out with them and then its on my way to Matt’s house. We are watching Dawn of the Dead. But before all this blunder I need to shave off my goatee, yeah, I was playing around with my facial hair. Gnight everyone.
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