adminShelter Cheza Change Management
Relationships that surround you are a powerful trump card that you as a manager must hold dearly to.
Of course your relationship with your boss significantly contributes to your success in achieving your goals within the company.
Most bosses hold the door to your raise, your promotion, and getting other perks and opportunities.
All these special incentives are dependant on how well you manage your boss, not how well the boss manages you.
A boss has the potential of ostracising you out of potential doors that might unlock ahead of you.
Furthermore your relationships with your subordinates also matter. I believe there are not too many ways to get people to do anything; and that is by making the other person want to do it.
There are several other options that managers use to make their subordinates respond to their requests; some use the revolver technique to force them to take action.
You can make your employees give you cooperation by threatening to fire them.
This has, however, proven to be ineffective because as soon as you turn your back, they go back to their old ways.
You can make a child do what you want it to do by a whip or a threat. These, however, are crude methods that have been proven to have sharply undesirable repercussions.
I have often seen managers that feel the urge to flex their muscles in public by criticising their subordinates.
Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself.
Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person’s precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment.
I like what B F Skinner, the world-famous psychologist proved through his experiments that an animal rewarded for good behaviour will learn much more rapidly and retain what it learns far more effectively than an animal punished for bad behaviour. Later studies have shown that the same applies to humans.
By criticising, we do not make lasting changes and often incur resentment. Hans Selye, another great psychologist, said, “As much as we thirst for approval, we dread condemnation.”
In the hierarchy of wants, we have a want that most of the time is never fulfilled, and that is the desire to feel super and important.
You see, human nature likes to be a complimented.
Human beings are craving to be deeply appreciated. Do not neglect to appreciate a good effort.
Most relationships that you are part of at the workplace are important, you will notice that one day the security guard that you have been shouting at holds an important part of your success rate as a manager.
If we want to make friends, let’s greet people with animation and enthusiasm. When somebody calls you on the telephone use the same psychology.
Train your telephone operators to greet all callers in a tone of voice that radiates interest and enthusiasm.
The caller feels the company is concerned about them
Show a genuine interest to the people that surround you.
Appreciate their concerns, if their child is sick in hospital, take a trip and visit the child.
If you want your boss to be your friend, manage him or her. Your boss is an important resource in your professional life.
They are able to make decisions in your favour. You should be the kind of person that can easily be relied on. If given a deadline, make sure you adhere by it.
Make sure that you establish clear communication lines with your boss. Avoid last minute delivery of bad news to the boss as this has the potential of straining your relationship.
Some bosses have the tendency of shooting the messenger; you must study your boss to know how safe it is to inform him of bad news.
As a manager, you must be prepared to admit your mistakes.
If you know you are in the wrong and may be rebuked or attract criticism, I believe it is far better to beat the other person to it and do it ourselves. Isn’t it much easier to listen to self-criticism than to bear condemnation from alien lips?
Say about yourself all the derogatory things you know the other person is thinking or wants to say or intends to say and say them before that person has a chance to say them.
The chances are a hundred to one that a generous, forgiving attitude will be taken and your mistakes will be minimised.
Take charge and take responsibility of successes and failures that you both share.
Remember that building a successful relationship with your peers has a direct bearing for you to achieve your professional goals.
Your behaviour, your attitude and the type of information you are equipped with will help nurture that relationship.
In the hierarchy of communication, your peers are your internal customer; treat them with ultimate respect and sensitivity.
Till next week, may God richly bless you!
Shelter Chieza is a Management Consultant. She holds over a decade of Management Experience. She can be contacted at [email protected]
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