Workshop 13
March 22, 2007
Thirteen things I learned at the Preparing for Supervision Workshop I attended yesterday:
1. Perfectionism is a barrier to excellence.
2. Employees with problems are coachable; problem employees are not.
3. Malicious Compliance is when an employee only does what you ask of them; no more, no less.
4. During probation, the job is not the employee’s property. After probation, however, it does become their property, and can only be taken from them by due process.
5. Priorities (or, How to Plan Your Day)
a. Things I MUST do today.
b. Things I SHOULD get to.
c. Things that would be NICE to do. (a/k/a: a dream sheet)
6. Delegation is giving someone the authority to do work on your behalf. It also teaches employees to get along without you.
7. You don’t CHOOSE to become a role model, someone CHOOSES you.
8. Give feedback and thank employees often (but sincerely) for a job well done.
9. A weed is just a flower out of place.
10. Delegation helps you develop talent, discover talent and use talent.
11. The “Lone Ranger Mentality” is when a supervisor jumps in to fix the problem without teaching the employees how to fix the problem themselves or deal with the problem in the future.
12. Leadership and Supervision:
a. Encourage the heart.
b. Enable others to act.
c. Remove obstacles to performance.
d. Use unconditional (but sincere) empathy.
e. Inspire a shared vision.
13. People already have power; supervisors help them USE their power.
