Managing as a Manager

So I lead other people. There are about a thousand things that you have to think about when you start. There are some things that others will tell you, there are things that you will read in books, and there are some things that you only find out after you have crashed and burned a couple times. Those are the lessons that really stay with you. Here is the start of my a thousand steps to managing other people. They are in no particular order, and with all thing are up for debate and discussion.

Step one. Relax. I know that there are important things that I have to every day to ensure the success of my store and the people that work there. With that being said, it's hard to handle the everyday things when you are freaking out about something that doesn't have some sort of long term impact.

One of the worst managers that I ever had gave me one of the best pieces of advice. When you feel yourself wanted to tackle something ask yourself, "Do I really want to die on this hill?" If the goal is to win the war, and you die on some hill that doesn't help the cause, was it really worth the pain in the butt of dealing with it? Now the reason that the manager that I had wasn't that effective was because he in the war at work he was more like a deserter. He was back at the barracks while the rest of us were in the trenches. He never died on any of the hills, because he never got his rear over to one.

Step two. Delegate. I know that there are areas that I could use some improvement in. These are things that even if I try my hardest to improve I still am not overly great at it. Maybe passable. If there is someone that is better than I am at a task I am happy to have them do it. Trying to control every little thing that goes on is going to give you an ulcer. I will admit that there was a time that I wanted a finger in every pie in the place. That left me exhausted. It goes a long way in employee relations if you show them that you trust them to do things also. Win, win. With all things I still check in to make sure things are done. That still takes less time.

Step Three. Don't be an ass. Just because you have an office it doesn't mean that you should park yourself in there all day. There is no way that you are going to know what is going on with your people if you aren't there to observe them yourself. Also, your poo stinks too. Don't forget it, because your people won't.

Step Four. Avoid the words but and however when giving feedback. You have just witnessed an interaction one of your people has had, and you want to give feed back. "Well Sue your rapport building with the customer was good, but you didn't get the sale." Do you think the first part of the sentence was even remembered after the "but"? Not likely. All I hear when that is done is, "Blah blah blah, but you still suck." Give the positives and then start a new sentence with the constructive. You wouldn't think this has that big of an impact. Try it both ways and see what works better. However has the same effect. Just don't use it.

Four seems like a good number to start with. I'm sure that I will follow up with more.