Give Yourself a Boss Day Gift, Part 2: Are You the Position or the Person?

Are you the position or the person?

Bosses can lose their own identity sometimes. It's easy. It happens a lot. The results are devastating to both the workers and to the supervisor.

When we are the boss, there are many dangers in becoming you the 'position' instead of you the 'person'. There are many reasons why supervisors morph into being the serious, alienated, distracted, unapproachable boss. One is that we want so badly to do a good job, and we think one way to do that is to take the job very seriously.

But other reasons are that we don't know how to be a good supervisor and we don't know what this job is that we have been promoted into. The reason is that we don't know how to spend our time, what to concentrate on and what or how to delegate. So we take it all so seriously because we really don't know what we are supposed to do as a supervisor. This creates stress, distress, anxiety and toxicity. This is not only true for new supervisors. It remains true for many veteran bosses for whom people do not like to work.

So supervisors must concentrate on three things, and only three. When they know what these three things are, a lot of the pressure that turns them into the position will be lifted. Then, they can lighten up and be the person they know they are again, as they will know what to do with their time as a supervisor. And, you won't be surprised to learn that these three things are the antidote for staff turnover!

Let's start at the beginning. The top three reasons people leave their jobs:

1st reason, they leave because their supervisor as a jerk;

2nd, because they don't feel acknowledged, recognized or appreciated;

3rd, they have no say in their work

The solution is to prepare and develop self-managed staff who are loyal, stable productive and, for the most part, happy in their jobs.

How do you do that? Let's break it down to the basics, to the ABC's.

We need first, to act (A) upon basic positive beliefs (B) about people. This means we treat them with respect, dignity and make them and their needs our priority. And, second, we need to be clear and specific in our coaching (C) of people to help them do the right job, the right way. This includes teaching them, and listening to them, so they become more responsible, therefore have more say into their work and the products they create.

You'll notice that supervisors are being told to concentrate on the people who work for them and not the job or the final product. If supervisors spend their time attending to these needs of the workers, the products will be superior. Happy workers produce excellent products. And you will be a boss who will eliminate the three reasons above why people leave their jobs.

'Well', you say, 'I can't spend all my time doing that. My bosses have expectations of me, too!' And you are right! Those are the second and third things you do. So here are the three things you spend your time on to remain you as a person, not become you as the position:

  • Act, Believe and Coach with the staff, making them your priority.

  • Any administrative work expected by our bosses, i.e. reports, budgets, meetings.

  • Any tasks that only you can do and that are required by any special credential, education or experience you hold.

    See! Simple as ABC!

    About The Author

    Linda LaPointe, MRA, is author of The New Supervisor, who has taught thousands successful supervisory techniques. See part two of this article, buy the book, and sign up for Linda's FREE E-Tools News at www.thenewsupervisor.com; soseniors@yahoo.com

    Latest News


    PAR Technology Corporation Releases Next Version of SpaSoft(R) Spa ...
    MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
    With a unique booking engine, advanced resource inventory, scheduling, yield management and reporting tools, SpaSoft is the system of choice for today's ...

    UPDATE 1-Owners battle over fate of 65 Steve & Barry's stores
    Reuters - 1 hour ago
    ... the new owners of Steve & Barry's -- investment firms Bay Harbour Management and York Capital Management -- filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday ...
    Steve & Barry’s to liquidate Bizjournals.com
    Steve & Barry's again files for bankruptcy Newsday
    Steve & Barry's to begin liquidating stores The Associated Press
    Bizjournals.com - Bizjournals.com
    all 254 news articles

    Founders & Former Executive Management Team of LCA-Vision Seek ...
    MarketWatch - 1 hour ago
    The three of them worked together as the executive management team of LCAV to grow the market capitalization of the Company in excess of 1000% from ...
    LCA-Vision Names Michael J. Celebrezze CFO MarketWatch
    all 28 news articles

    MassMutual Announces Promotions for Two Co-Chief Operating Officers
    MarketWatch - 6 hours ago
    Bill has also proven his exceptional capabilities as a leader in the asset management business and in building strong financial services organizations," Mr. ...
    MassMutual Life promotes COOs Bizjournals.com
    OppenheimerFunds Names CEO Markets Media (press release)
    Mass Mutual promotes COOs InvestmentNews
    MarketWatch - MarketWatch
    all 35 news articles

    Angiotech Terminates Note Repurchase Agreement With Ares ...
    RTT News, NY - 7 hours ago
    TO) said it terminated the note purchase agreement with Ares Management and New Leaf Venture Partners. Earlier, Angiotech said it had notified Ares and New ...
    Private equity firms pull out of Angiotech financing agreement The Canadian Press
    Firms pull out of Angiotech agreement Toronto Star
    Angiotech announces termination of note purchase agreement with ... Trading Markets (press release)
    all 39 news articles

    AFP

    Treasury to Buy Reserve Government Fund's Holdings (Update3)
    Bloomberg - 10 hours ago
    3, according to statements today by the department and New York- based Reserve Management Corp., the fund's owner. Shareholders can expect their money by ...
    Treasury Will Help Liquidate Reserve Fund Wall Street Journal
    Treasury to Support a Frozen Money Fund New York Times
    Treasury to backstop mutual fund The Associated Press
    MarketWatch - Bloomberg
    all 100 news articles

    TOWONA Strengthens Management Team; Li Jieling, Lin Ming, Kong ...
    MarketWatch - 7 hours ago
    The TOWONA group formed the complete management framework headed by Zhang Zhenzhong as Chairman of the Board and CEO, Zhang Leyang as president, ...

    NTN Buzztime, Inc. Announces Management and Board Changes
    MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
    ... will be comprised of Terry Bateman, Kendra Berger, the company's chief financial officer and other members of the management team. ...
    Wi-LAN Appoints New Chairman of the Board MarketWatch
    all 38 news articles

    Innerscope Research Strengthens Management Team With Three ...
    MarketWatch - 3 hours ago
    ... healthcare and service sectors, brings to Innerscope significant experience in marketing, customer relationship management and operations. ...

    Miami Daily Business Review

    US Sugar Corp. Statement Regarding The Lawrence Group
    MarketWatch - 22 hours ago
    As would be the case with any such proposal, our Board of Directors will carefully review it with its professional advisors and the Company's management ...
    Florida's Everglades Deal With US Sugar Faces Challenge From New Bid Wall Street Journal
    Nashville firm wants to purchase US Sugar land Bizjournals.com
    Florida Gets a Rival in Effort to Buy Everglades Land (Update2) Bloomberg
    New York Times - WBBH
    all 148 news articles

    Resources