You're also asking what are the headaches of supervising People? What would you recomment to people before they take on a supervising position? What are the benefits of managing people compared to a position where you just manage yourself?
It's all in the following.... Read on!
Managing and supervising people is not always about the money. It is as if leading a squadron into battle, are you ready to take on more being a leader? Many decisions lie upon your lead, your direction. I enjoy being a manager/supervisor. Do not always care for the politics, but with every good, there does come evil. You have to accept and move on or retreat to a different position. The ultimate victory is to achieve a win/win scenario. Not always an easy task. You do have to combine your leadership tactics with a servant’s attitude. You have to be ready to please all sides, your upper leadership giving you expectations and their direction as well as your subordinates ensuring they understand your direction and expectations. Again not always an easy task.
I feel it is the ability of being a contributor, a decision maker. Being there to help make a difference and rise to the level beyond bureaucracy, possibly influencing the decision making process. Sure, you can always offer ideas in any position and many just want to be the follower. Getting people involved is like a village raising a child. Motivating, achieving the uncertain. You cannot be indecisive; you have to be a quick study, know what is being asked of you and know without a doubt that you are going to succeed. In most cases, you do not have a choice but to succeed. That is what makes it interesting and forthcoming. A challenge. We are challenged everyday we awake. However, more so working with people to push an idea through, get it noticed, complete a job, and bask in the unknown. Be the one who made it work. I am not talking about recognition. That is another story or question. It’s helping, it’s assisting, it’s building, it‘s teaching, it‘s succeeding. Like an engineer who creates something from the bottom up and gets the joys by seeing it function. Being a manager and/or supervisor is the same joy. Sure, you have bad apples, what baskets do not have one that spoils. What project in an engineer’s eye will not have a bad bolt or screw? Nevertheless, you get the opportunity to watch your department, your business, your district, your people grow and achieve and feel good about being part of that and steering it toward success.
What are the benefits of managing others compared to managing yourself?
It is different but not very different. As a team you work together, you have group input, you are the person who keeps things under control. You manage the time and the final decisions. Managing yourself, you have to have just as much initiative and ambition to complete the task on time successfully, on schedule within guidelines given. You have the reigns so to speak to motivate others who unlike you might see things differently. You can drive hard and the results achieved are slightly different. You choose to motivate yourself regarding time as long as it is completed within the expected time frame. Not so much leading a group. You have to prod some to stay on task, to meet target and you have to accept responsibility for others. For yourself you accept responsibility for yourself. With teams, you have to depend on others, their direction, their uncertainties and certainties. With steering yourself you are either confident in your own decisions or not. Like a battlefield, you make the call, and you hope it is the right call and your troops will follow you into battle. With yourself, you depend on yourself. At the end, it all depends upon your comfort zone. Are you willing to step out the box and be challenged with your team or would you rather relinquish success to just yourself. Everyone has their own reasoning’s for doing and choosing what they do.
What would you recommend to people before they take on a supervising position?
I do believe managing and supervising is not for everyone. I do think it takes a certain type of person that must want to do it; there must be an inert feeling that drives them toward such a success. Managing people comes in many different styles. No one style will work best for every situation. Know your strengths, weaknesses and limitations. Continually learn, read books, white papers, publications in management and utilize self help to personally grow yourself, take advantage of all learning tools, never stop learning and achieving the unexpected, but don’t stop there enable your people to grow too. Get them involved in learning to become better. The more they become better the better you will become. Learn to build trust. Trust is enabled by truth. Building trust can be as easy as delegating, which frees up your time for other opportunities that need attention. However, know the ones you delegate. Know that you can depend on them and let them know you have their back and they will have your back. Learn that there are different styles of management.
Expect challenges and disagreements. Learn how to handle and at times get around them. Learn to have thick skin. Not every personality will click with yours or yours with theirs. Do know that as a manager you are accepting a higher level of expectations, and responsibility. Learn to set yourself and your employees goals. This gives everyone an opportunity to strive. It puts people on a level playing field seeking to achieve what is expected of them.
Do know as a manager/supervisor you have to be a people person to the extent of Human Resource management. You will undoubtedly come against some of the best people in your field but you will also come against some of the most unruly people at times. You have to know what to do and how to handle situations without being judgmental and defensive. Oh it is so easy to become defensive when backed into a corner. Are you ready for this. You are not always going to be right.
In addition, you have to be a good and effective communicator. You have to provide a positive and safe work environment. It all lies on you. Are you ready to handle the stress?
In the end, it does not hurt to have a mentor, someone you can seek advice from and learn, but never be something you are not. Do not be a fake. Be upfront, truthful, and transparent. You will learn your own style of managing in time but do not be a copycat. Your employees need to know what expectations are required of them and how to achieve them.
Below is some great reads that if you want to be successful at managing/supervising I suggest you consider these.
1.The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell
2.How to Manage People (Creating Success)
3.Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...
4.It's Your Ship
5.You Lead, They'll Follow: How to Inspire, Lead and Manage People.
I also recommend reads by Zig Ziglar and one person I recommend reading his techniques and is known as the granddaddy to leadership and management is Peter Drucker. There are many books written by him in his time. He had the foresight to see things as they changed.
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