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IM fighting this same battle with my staff. there are two types of managers - the ones who will willfully accept and shoulder the problems brought to them and solve it FOR their staff. Employees LOVE this type of manager
The other types use problems brought to them as a learning opportunity for their staff and hand the problem BACK to the employee with some coaching. Employees sometimes dont like this type of manager b/c they're forced to actually THINK and be empowered to do some problem solving on their own...
IM fighting this same battle with my staff. there are two types of managers - the ones who will willfully accept and shoulder the problems brought to them and solve it FOR their staff. Employees LOVE this type of manager
The other types use problems brought to them as a learning opportunity for their staff and hand the problem BACK to the employee with some coaching. Employees sometimes dont like this type of manager b/c they're forced to actually THINK and be empowered to do some problem solving on their own...
Exactly right.. I have told my team members that I will help them as much as possible and pitch in in an emergency, but I expect them to self manage and that they are empowered to solve things on their own. The common schpiel I give with that its.. If you can explain why you decided something, as long as its not crazy I'll be cool with it for that time.. if I need to give coaching I will for the future but for one offs I expect them to be able to use their best (key word there) judgement. I also say that if I do the job for them, it signals to others that we don't need them.
As one of my early managers said, "do not come to me with a problem unless you have a suggestion for a solution." That advice served me well for the rest of my career.
It doesn't mean that your suggestion will be acceptable, of course, but it will get you to THINK. It's not training, or having lots of help that makes a successful.employee. It's being smart, and believe it or not, barring a disability, that is usually a choice.
It's always going to be questions because like I said the job is unpredictable.
I had a job that I was able to make fit the proverbial square peg into a round hole - in an extremely short amount of time I was promoted (before/above everyone else who had MUCH more seniority than myself) into management.
I took the proverbial Bull by the horns for better or worse very many (as you stated "unpredictable") times. I showed initiative as well as showing guts/courage/trying to get the job done without someone holding my hand was respected and appreciated even if the resolution wasn't the perfect one. In just a handful of my decisions my superior suggested a way they would resolve/do it. I had several superiors, but I showed my "can-do" or "make-do" to resolve the scenarios and to "fight" my own battles.
I think the OP was saying this tongue in cheek. I also think most of us realized that. But if it helps you, this one should be more along the lines of what the OP meant.
This is all that the manager is asking for. Some initiative and personal responsibility. Not sure why some have heartburn with this....
Because a lot of people have been trained to be terrified of liability. If a McDonald's employee exercised personal judgment and decided the coffee was too hot, they would be reprimanded for not following procedure. However, when an old woman needs skin grafts after spilling her coffee, the employee whom served it is not liable because it wasn't their personal responsibility to decide the temperature of the coffee. That is the tip of the iceberg, but the moral is that avoiding liability is the cultural and legal expectation for responsible citizens.
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