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- Be An Example
When
Hannibal brought his army, with its USP…. elephants, across the Alps
(what a 
feat!), he set a mighty example to his men. Whenever the
going got tough, it was Hannibal (and his equally valiant brother, Hastrabal)
who dismounted and waded through river or snowdrift to spare the elephants. At
night, they ate last, after all the men had eaten and rolled into their
blankets. And they were good fighters, leading from the front in hand-to-hand
combat. For such leaders,
men give their lives readily, happily.
The winner? Hannibal, of course!
We learn the nuances of social behaviour from those around us.
Signals from those higher in the pecking order register the
strongest. This is the most powerful learning
experience.
In the office environment, we, as bosses, have to be aware every moment of
this phenomenon. Our staff is watching our reactions to situations and
people; and will react in similar ways. For bosses are the most powerful
influence on people, apart from immediate family, and how you treat customers
will strongly determine how your staff will treat them. The next time you curse
‘that stupid idiot' of a manager of a buying house, the staff will also do so
when he next calls .The
contradiction between ‘talk' and ‘action' will lead to cynicism among your
people, not a happy situation.
Do staff see you in the following negative roles?
- long,
unexplained absences from your seat?
-
Giving them ‘Dirty Harry' jobs?
-
Juggling expenses, personal calls
-
Sending staff on personal errands?
-
Giving junior staff time for discussion, then letting all and sundry interrupt?
-
Making disrespectful comments about he boss, or his boss---it's
demoralizing and will backfire on you
-
Indifferent response to clients
-
Unnecessarily interrupting subordinates' work
-
Settling for ‘good enough' instead of for excellence
Adopt positive attitudes:
-
Share
developmental information/ experience (including mistakes, and how you would it
now) with staff
-
Relate
value-based anecdotes to strengthen their sense of organizational ethics/
values
-
Treat them
as you would like to be treated by your own boss
-
Be
enthusiastic about work; it's infectious!
-
Respect
people, their time, company's goods, and be seen doing so
-
Maintain
high standards of sincerity and honesty
QUESTION:
1.
Do you, as manager, set a fast pace?
Is your's a tough act to follow?
What are the reactions of staff to your attitudes and approach to work?
2.
How are we influenced by our bosses? Why do we do as
they do? What are the dangers inherent in this tendency for us, as managers?
What do we have to do, to project positive images?
