Yes, I know it goes without saying.
But when you're new you want to do a good job. You want everyone to think that you've got everything under control. And when you don't, you want everyone to know that you're dealing with the issues.
Yes, I have made this mistake.
I was concerned that fellow employees and superiors would notice the issues with my newly inherited team and would be sure to label me as a bad manager and so when I saw the problem occuring, I noticed it in a public way. To be honest, I actually thought there was no one around. Make that one Mistake #1.2.
Of course, someone (or multiple someone's) did overhear my public dressdown and also of course, reported it nearly immediately to one of my superiors. And then I got the dressdown. In private. By that time I had already regretted my actions and knew that I needed to make it right.
The biggest problem with a mistake like this is the damage it does to a relationship - particularly one that is already tenuous. Another problem? I can never, ever, take my words or actions back. They're out there and potentially damaging to another human being. And when that human being is already insecure, down on themselves, or in a position they don't enjoy, it makes it hard for them to come back to be a happy, productive worker. Oh, and did I mention I was wrong in my position? In my frustration, I didn't even listen or allow for an explanation. I get a total fail for this one.
Yes, I have vowed never to make this mistake again.
Not only did I hurt someone else, I hurt someone in a less powerful position. That person doesn't have a lot of recourse when it's they're supervisor. And not only did I hurt that person, I could have potentially done a lot of damage to my reputation. I could have closed a lot of other doors to communication with my team. Fortunately, I recognized what I had done and worked to repair the damage. And I made a personal commitment never to do this again.
Have you made this mistake? What was the end result?
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Perception & Reality
A wise manager once told me that my perception and someone else's reality may not be the same.
Their perception is their reality.
Their perception is their reality.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Work It!
First, enjoy this throwback which I am reminded of every time I say, hear, or read the words "Work It" http://tinyurl.com/ylbe434
And now, down to business. I work in the head office of a construction company which tends to be on the casual side of "business casual". I established rules for dressing with my team pretty quickly when I hire them and do a spring reminder about my personal rules for dressing in the office. I'll save that little bit of fantastic wit and wisdom for another post. Because my idea of dressing down is dark jeans and a jacket, I try to be flexible with varying styles while still maintaining a professional appearance. I want to be a good example while still being mindful of the other less formal departments in my company.
Every year, my girlfriend's and I take a road trip to shop and it has become a tradition that I bring along some sort of book relating to fashion tips, How Not To Look Old (yes, the actual name of a book), or how to study The Science of Sexy (also the actual name of a book).
One of my recent purchases was a book published in 2009 "Work It! Visual Therapy's Guide to Your Ultimate Career Wardrobe" by Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo.
What intrigued me about the book was the fabulous suit on the cover AND the comprehensive quizzes to discover your colourtype, Styletype, Workplace style, and personal Baseline Workstyle. In fact, nearly 30 pages are dedicated to learning your personal profile for dressing. While not ideal for the driver, the other two of us had a blast matching eye and hair color to the charts and determining where are styles fit. Turns out I'm a Sexy Lady Director and the advice for me is to "Remember Demi Moore in Disclosure. . ." Good, sound advice!
The remainder of the book focuses on real women of different sizes, shapes, ethnicities, and personal profiles. The stylists amped up each woman's style and gave several outfit options. The book is laced with practical advice on shoes, jewellery, a must-have "career capsule", "wardrobe capsule" for each style, and interviews with and advice from women in hiring-authority positions.
It was a lot of fun to do the quizzes and flip through the "real women" section even though the paragraphs regarding each woman's makeover were not necessarily applicable. Work It! is fun, gives some good advice, is in full colour, and has interactive quizzes - all a big + for me! Like all the books we've read on our road trips; however, the advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Take the little "nuggets" that are applicable and use them. Don't worry about the rest.
My best "nugget"? Never wear pantyhose.
And now, down to business. I work in the head office of a construction company which tends to be on the casual side of "business casual". I established rules for dressing with my team pretty quickly when I hire them and do a spring reminder about my personal rules for dressing in the office. I'll save that little bit of fantastic wit and wisdom for another post. Because my idea of dressing down is dark jeans and a jacket, I try to be flexible with varying styles while still maintaining a professional appearance. I want to be a good example while still being mindful of the other less formal departments in my company.
Every year, my girlfriend's and I take a road trip to shop and it has become a tradition that I bring along some sort of book relating to fashion tips, How Not To Look Old (yes, the actual name of a book), or how to study The Science of Sexy (also the actual name of a book).
One of my recent purchases was a book published in 2009 "Work It! Visual Therapy's Guide to Your Ultimate Career Wardrobe" by Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo.
What intrigued me about the book was the fabulous suit on the cover AND the comprehensive quizzes to discover your colourtype, Styletype, Workplace style, and personal Baseline Workstyle. In fact, nearly 30 pages are dedicated to learning your personal profile for dressing. While not ideal for the driver, the other two of us had a blast matching eye and hair color to the charts and determining where are styles fit. Turns out I'm a Sexy Lady Director and the advice for me is to "Remember Demi Moore in Disclosure. . ." Good, sound advice!
The remainder of the book focuses on real women of different sizes, shapes, ethnicities, and personal profiles. The stylists amped up each woman's style and gave several outfit options. The book is laced with practical advice on shoes, jewellery, a must-have "career capsule", "wardrobe capsule" for each style, and interviews with and advice from women in hiring-authority positions.
It was a lot of fun to do the quizzes and flip through the "real women" section even though the paragraphs regarding each woman's makeover were not necessarily applicable. Work It! is fun, gives some good advice, is in full colour, and has interactive quizzes - all a big + for me! Like all the books we've read on our road trips; however, the advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Take the little "nuggets" that are applicable and use them. Don't worry about the rest.
My best "nugget"? Never wear pantyhose.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Management Without Micromanaging
Tricky stuff trying to allow people the space to do their work while still mentoring and advising. Here's an article from Harvard Business Review for your reading pleasure.
http://tinyurl.com/3ve92k7
http://tinyurl.com/3ve92k7
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Transitions out of support into leadership
I believe that one of the most difficult transitions is to move from a support role into a management role. Any time you move above your peer group, there can be difficulties but I view the support to management transition as being one of the most difficult.
The reasons to me are clear. When bosses and co-workers are used to you being delegated work, it's very difficult to be accepted as the one now delegating the work.You must be able to move from the "can you please do this?" perception of others to the "can you please find someone to do this?" that you are now in. This can be made even more complicated if you are still in a role where you are transitioning out of support and into management at the same time. Still assisting but also managing!
I have found that having a firm but cooperative stance has been the best approach. When I'm asked to "fill in" for minute-taking, I decline and suggeste an alternative very capable administrator. When I schedule training sessions for various in-house items, I choose which ones I'll attend. I don't feel the need to hold hands nor do I want to be the "go-to" person for all administrative tasks in the building.
Further to that, having another cooperative administrator to take tasks off my desk has been a key transitional piece. Little things can be moved off quickly, larger heavily detailed items take more time. In my case, I have plenty of time. I assist the CEO until he retires. That's the deal that I happily agreed to. After all, part of the reason I wanted to transition to a new role was that I didn't want to be anyone else's assistant. The level of respect, authority, and decision-making leeway he has given me is part of the reason I can move more successfully into a management role. He has allowed me and encouraged me to learn critical thinking skills and to think more "linear". He has coached me in my relationships with other senior members of our company and has allowed me to grow and make mistakes. How could I leave a boss like that with no support?
Being firm and having assistance are only two pieces of the puzzle. Flexibility has also been key. Getting former peers to trust that I "have their back" and ensure they understand the reasons why this is a really good idea. Getting across that my goal has always been to elevate the perception of abilities of administrators has been helpful. And developing a strategy for the team effort that is well thought out and logical in its approach develops trust. Gaining the trust of people I formerly took direction from has also taken time. It took me a year to work towards having all branches turn to me for hiring, terminating, and training issues. And now to stay ahead of the curve!
My new role has been very rewarding and I wouldn't change it to reduce the challenge of the transition piece. I have found that I have more skills than I knew and that I have a keen ability to recognize appropriate candidates for the department or person I'm hiring for. I am much more patient in training my team than I ever imagined I would or could be. I can more often deal with the crappy stuff in an appropriate way. And I learn daily that my new role has interesting and diverse challenges and that I have much more capacity to learn and grow. My chosen path has been to continue to move towards progressive management roles. My goal has always been to elevate the status of administrative staff and work with managers in our company to help them see all of the hidden potential that exists in our team. That being said, administrators who excel at and are happy in their role as an administrator should be encouraged to stay where they are and "shoot the lights out". I firmly believe that excellence at all levels from reception to CEO is what keeps the wheels turning.
The reasons to me are clear. When bosses and co-workers are used to you being delegated work, it's very difficult to be accepted as the one now delegating the work.You must be able to move from the "can you please do this?" perception of others to the "can you please find someone to do this?" that you are now in. This can be made even more complicated if you are still in a role where you are transitioning out of support and into management at the same time. Still assisting but also managing!
I have found that having a firm but cooperative stance has been the best approach. When I'm asked to "fill in" for minute-taking, I decline and suggeste an alternative very capable administrator. When I schedule training sessions for various in-house items, I choose which ones I'll attend. I don't feel the need to hold hands nor do I want to be the "go-to" person for all administrative tasks in the building.
Further to that, having another cooperative administrator to take tasks off my desk has been a key transitional piece. Little things can be moved off quickly, larger heavily detailed items take more time. In my case, I have plenty of time. I assist the CEO until he retires. That's the deal that I happily agreed to. After all, part of the reason I wanted to transition to a new role was that I didn't want to be anyone else's assistant. The level of respect, authority, and decision-making leeway he has given me is part of the reason I can move more successfully into a management role. He has allowed me and encouraged me to learn critical thinking skills and to think more "linear". He has coached me in my relationships with other senior members of our company and has allowed me to grow and make mistakes. How could I leave a boss like that with no support?
Being firm and having assistance are only two pieces of the puzzle. Flexibility has also been key. Getting former peers to trust that I "have their back" and ensure they understand the reasons why this is a really good idea. Getting across that my goal has always been to elevate the perception of abilities of administrators has been helpful. And developing a strategy for the team effort that is well thought out and logical in its approach develops trust. Gaining the trust of people I formerly took direction from has also taken time. It took me a year to work towards having all branches turn to me for hiring, terminating, and training issues. And now to stay ahead of the curve!
My new role has been very rewarding and I wouldn't change it to reduce the challenge of the transition piece. I have found that I have more skills than I knew and that I have a keen ability to recognize appropriate candidates for the department or person I'm hiring for. I am much more patient in training my team than I ever imagined I would or could be. I can more often deal with the crappy stuff in an appropriate way. And I learn daily that my new role has interesting and diverse challenges and that I have much more capacity to learn and grow. My chosen path has been to continue to move towards progressive management roles. My goal has always been to elevate the status of administrative staff and work with managers in our company to help them see all of the hidden potential that exists in our team. That being said, administrators who excel at and are happy in their role as an administrator should be encouraged to stay where they are and "shoot the lights out". I firmly believe that excellence at all levels from reception to CEO is what keeps the wheels turning.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
I have a few thoughts for you about your resume!
Learning to hire can be exhiliarating, frustrating, and downright befuddling. It's difficult to get past "resume noise" to get to the hidden gems of a terrific employee. Here's some suggestions (my opinion only, of course but if you want to work for me, my opinion is the one that counts) on how to turn it down a notch and get me to notice you.
1. Please put your cover letter and resume together in one document. I don't want to open two. It may sound like I'm lazy but you want a job with me, right? So you want to make it as easy as possible for me to see you're information.
2. Ever heard of .pdf? It's not a complicated program and I'd like to know that you know how to use it.
3. Proofread. Don't just spellcheck. Print out your cover letter and resume, take out a pencil, spell out every word as you read it. Ask your friends to read it and solicit their objective opinion. Don't get mad. Everyone wants the best for you.
4. Choose your fonts wisely. Use readable, serif fonts wherever possible. And whatever you do, do not use Comic Sans. If you do, the message is that you're very, very young.
5. Don't make me search for information. I want to clearly see where you worked, what your position was, and how long you were there.
6. Don't put your "month started/ended" in the dates you worked for someone. Are you really living your working life month to month? Because I don't want to do this again in a month if I don't need to. Or two. Or six.
7. It's ok if you take out that job you were only at for three months. You're not being dishonest, everyone works somewhere that isn't a good "fit". It's hard to get the feel for somewhere in an interview or two. Remove it. And if you achieved some unbelievable skillset in those three months that don't show up in any other job, show me somewhere else in your resume.
8. Five pages. Really? If you need that much space to tell me about you, you're really wasting my time.
9. Be consistent. If you state something in your objectives, skills, profile, strengths, accomplishments, etc. you need to show me where you developed those objectives, skills, profiles, strengths, and accomplishments. If I can't relate what you FEEL you're good at to what you actually DID, what's the point even mentioning it?
10. Show me how you match what we're looking for. You have the ad I posted. You can figure out what I need. Show me you're what I need!
11. Do your research. Look at our website. See if our company feels like a cultural match for you. Tell me why you'd like to work for us. Here's a great example - if you're from the city our head office is located in and you'd like to relocate to the branch office we're hiring for, why don't you tell me how great it is that our head office is in your city. It's a little thing that doesn't mean you'll get the job but it tells me you cared enough to discover who we are before applying for the position.
12. Don't send a generic cover letter. You know, the same one that is focused on a different industry but you forgot to read it before you sent it to me. If you want a job, you have to show me you want it.
Any additions/disagreements?
1. Please put your cover letter and resume together in one document. I don't want to open two. It may sound like I'm lazy but you want a job with me, right? So you want to make it as easy as possible for me to see you're information.
2. Ever heard of .pdf? It's not a complicated program and I'd like to know that you know how to use it.
3. Proofread. Don't just spellcheck. Print out your cover letter and resume, take out a pencil, spell out every word as you read it. Ask your friends to read it and solicit their objective opinion. Don't get mad. Everyone wants the best for you.
4. Choose your fonts wisely. Use readable, serif fonts wherever possible. And whatever you do, do not use Comic Sans. If you do, the message is that you're very, very young.
5. Don't make me search for information. I want to clearly see where you worked, what your position was, and how long you were there.
6. Don't put your "month started/ended" in the dates you worked for someone. Are you really living your working life month to month? Because I don't want to do this again in a month if I don't need to. Or two. Or six.
7. It's ok if you take out that job you were only at for three months. You're not being dishonest, everyone works somewhere that isn't a good "fit". It's hard to get the feel for somewhere in an interview or two. Remove it. And if you achieved some unbelievable skillset in those three months that don't show up in any other job, show me somewhere else in your resume.
8. Five pages. Really? If you need that much space to tell me about you, you're really wasting my time.
9. Be consistent. If you state something in your objectives, skills, profile, strengths, accomplishments, etc. you need to show me where you developed those objectives, skills, profiles, strengths, and accomplishments. If I can't relate what you FEEL you're good at to what you actually DID, what's the point even mentioning it?
10. Show me how you match what we're looking for. You have the ad I posted. You can figure out what I need. Show me you're what I need!
11. Do your research. Look at our website. See if our company feels like a cultural match for you. Tell me why you'd like to work for us. Here's a great example - if you're from the city our head office is located in and you'd like to relocate to the branch office we're hiring for, why don't you tell me how great it is that our head office is in your city. It's a little thing that doesn't mean you'll get the job but it tells me you cared enough to discover who we are before applying for the position.
12. Don't send a generic cover letter. You know, the same one that is focused on a different industry but you forgot to read it before you sent it to me. If you want a job, you have to show me you want it.
Any additions/disagreements?
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Hey world - it's me!
What started with email and Classmates took a meandering path through Facebook and blogging and then grew into a garden of texting, BBMing, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Being connected, networking, and staying in touch is hard work!
As a new manager, I struggle with knowing how much "staying in touch" is enough contact. After a few days away, I do the rounds with my team, spending a few minutes chatting with each and finding out how "things" are going. Is it enough? Should I be calling them into my office for regular sitdowns? Should I BBM them in the evening when they've been sick to see if they're ok? Or do I wait for them to come to me? What's caring and what's too much?
I have a vastly different group of people in my team. From university students to seasoned administrators and they each have different needs. I've learned that the key is finding the balance for each individual person. In my short time as a manager, I've discovered that it's about leading and mentoring, helping every employee flourish and grow, and ensuring I have a happy and productive team.
Management is the ultimate selfless effort. An exercise in knowing oneself and pouring energy into the discovery of others.
As a new manager, I struggle with knowing how much "staying in touch" is enough contact. After a few days away, I do the rounds with my team, spending a few minutes chatting with each and finding out how "things" are going. Is it enough? Should I be calling them into my office for regular sitdowns? Should I BBM them in the evening when they've been sick to see if they're ok? Or do I wait for them to come to me? What's caring and what's too much?
I have a vastly different group of people in my team. From university students to seasoned administrators and they each have different needs. I've learned that the key is finding the balance for each individual person. In my short time as a manager, I've discovered that it's about leading and mentoring, helping every employee flourish and grow, and ensuring I have a happy and productive team.
Management is the ultimate selfless effort. An exercise in knowing oneself and pouring energy into the discovery of others.
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